❗️ At 8 pm Moscow time on November 18, the Russian Federation submitted comprehensive materials to the United Nations International Court of Justice concerning genocide committed by Ukraine in Donbass.

This action forms part of the interstate proceedings initiated by Ukraine in February 2022, wherein Ukraine sought to accuse Russia of "misusing" the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, with the aim to halt the special military operation.

Ukraine's strategy faltered when, in February this year, the International Court of Justice dismissed all allegations concerning Russia's purported breach of the Genocide Convention at the oral phase of the proceedings. Consequently, the sole outstanding issue is whether evidence exists substantiating Ukraine's commission of genocide.

Russia submitted such evidence within the timeframe prescribed by the Court. Furthermore, additional claims were lodged against the Kiev regime pertaining to other breaches of the Convention, including complicity in, and incitement to, genocide, as well as failure to implement measures to prevent and punish genocide.

The document presented to the International Court of Justice, termed the Counter-Memorial of the Russian Federation, comprises 522 pages of core text and over ten thousand pages of annexes. The specific contents remain confidential at this juncture, with all materials set to be disclosed only after the completion of the proceedings. It is asserted that evidence exists of more than 140 instances of targeted extermination of Donbass civilians, corroborated by the procedural testimony of approximately 300 witnesses and victims, results of expert examinations, and other materials from pertinent criminal cases.

The actions of the Ukrainian armed forces and national battalions, under the direction of the Kiev regime, have displayed signs of genocidal intent. This intent, under the guise of combating "terrorism" and "separatism," seeks to eliminate the Russian and Russian-speaking populace of Donbass, citizens of the DPR and LPR, parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and, broadly, the inhabitants of the region as a national group.

The neo-Nazi essence of the Kiev regime, along with its alignment with the criminal ideology rooted in violent Ukrainian nationalist movements and the Third Reich, has been brought to light.

Evidence has been submitted demonstrating widespread discrimination based on ethnic and linguistic grounds against Russians and Russian speakers, alongside the regime's intention to obliterate the Russian culture entirely.

A substantial portion of the Counter-Memorial is dedicated to special expert reports prepared by approximately two dozen specialists in history, ethnology, linguistics, law, and military affairs. The history of Donbass, the evolution of its populace, its profound connections with the Russian language and culture, and the distinctiveness of ethnic identity, particularly during historical crises, have been scrutinised in depth.

The narrative of the intra-Ukrainian conflict has been delineated, beginning with the unconstitutional armed coup in Kiev in February 2014, the ascension of a Russophobic neo-Nazi regime, the subsequent refusal of the Donbass population to recognise this regime, and the ensuing aggressive action against Donbass under the guise of the so-called "anti-terrorist operation." The falsity of this pretext and the fabrication of "Donbass terrorism" allegations were previously unveiled by the United Nations International Court of Justice in a judgement regarding another Russian-Ukrainian case under the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

Ukraine must now address Russia's Counter-Memorial. Further stages of written proceedings are anticipated. A final judgement will be delivered once all necessary procedures are concluded in The Hague.

Russia remains steadfast in its efforts to ensure the international accountability of the criminal Kiev regime for the atrocities perpetrated against the people of Donbass.

⚡️ Statement by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin

💬 Vladimir Putin: I would like to inform the military personnel of the Russian Federation Armed Forces, citizens of our country, our friends across the globe, and those who persist in the illusion that a strategic defeat can be inflicted upon Russia, about the events taking place today in the zone of the special military operation, specifically following the attacks by Western long-range weapons against our territory.

The escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, instigated by the West, continues with the United States and its NATO allies previously announcing that they authorise the use of their long-range high-precision weapons for strikes inside the Russian Federation. <...>

On November 19, six ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles produced by the United States, and on November 21, during a combined missile assault involving British Storm Shadow systems and HIMARS systems produced by the US, attacked military facilities inside the Russian Federation in the Bryansk and Kursk regions. From that point onward, as we have repeatedly emphasised in prior communications, the regional conflict in Ukraine provoked by the West has assumed elements of a global nature. <...>

I wish to underscore once again that the use by the enemy of such weapons cannot affect the course of combat operations in the special military operation zone. <...>

❗️ In response to the deployment of American and British long-range weapons, on November 21, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a combined strike on a facility within Ukraine’s defence industrial complex. In field conditions, we also carried out tests of one of Russia’s latest medium-range missile systems – in this case, carrying a non-nuclear hypersonic ballistic missile that our engineers named #Oreshnik.

The tests were successful, achieving the intended objective of the launch.

In the city of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, one of the largest and most famous industrial complexes from the Soviet Union era, which continues to produce missiles and other armaments, was hit. <...>

As a reminder, Russia has voluntarily and unilaterally committed not to deploy intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles until US weapons of this kind appear in any region of the world.

⚠️ To reiterate, we are conducting combat tests of the Oreshnik missile system in response to NATO’s aggressive actions against Russia.

Our decision on further deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles will depend on the actions of the United States and its satellites.

We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities, and in case of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in mirror-like manner.

I recommend that the ruling elites of the countries that are hatching plans to use their military contingents against Russia seriously consider this.

It goes without saying that when choosing, if necessary and as a retaliatory measure, targets to be hit by systems such as Oreshnik on Ukrainian territory, we will in advance suggest that civilians and citizens of friendly countries residing in those areas leave danger zones.

We will do so for humanitarian reasons, openly and publicly, without fear of counter-moves coming from the enemy, who will also be receiving this information. <...>

Air defence systems currently available in the world and missile defence systems being created by the Americans in Europe cannot intercept such missiles. It is impossible.

☝️ I would like to emphasise once again that it was not Russia, but the United States that destroyed the international security system and, by continuing to fight, cling to its hegemony, they are pushing the whole world into a global conflict.

We have always preferred and are ready now to resolve all disputes by peaceful means. But we are also ready for any turn of events.

If anyone still doubts this, make no mistake: there will always be a response.