The Russian government announced today (Monday) that it has charged 41 current and former Ukrainian officials with a "genocide" against ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine, the Moscow Times reported.
The indictment states that the officials acted “with the intent of committing genocide” in the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, killing 5,000 civilians since 2014.
The Russian Prosecutor’s Office claimed the ethnic Russian population of the area fell by two million by 2022. when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not among the officials named in the indictment.
The announcement comes as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Russia's counterclaims against Ukraine, including its accusation of "genocide," are admissible in the court.
The ICJ stated in an announcement published today (Monday): "By an Order dated 5 December 2025, the International Court of Justice has found that the counter-claims submitted by the Russian Federation in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation) are admissible as such and form part of the current proceedings. By that same Order, the Court has authorized Ukraine to submit a Reply and the Russian Federation to submit a Rejoinder. The Court has fixed 7 December 2026 and 7 December 2027 as the respective time-limits for the filing of those written pleadings."
It added: "In respect of the first requirement, the Court concludes that it has jurisdiction to entertain the counter-claims of the Russian Federation under Article IX of the Genocide Convention."