UNITED NATIONS, July 14 (AFP/Reuters): Dozens of countries from around the world called on Russia Wednesday to halt the war in Ukraine.
They included the United States, member of the European Union, and countries in Asia.
In a statement these 40-odd countries said they support Ukraine's proceedings before the International Court of Justice seeking "to establish that Russia has no lawful basis to take military action in Ukraine on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations of genocide."
This alludes to Russia's stated justification early in the war that it invaded to halt what it called genocide in pro-Russian areas of eastern Ukraine.
The statement recalls that the court based in the Hague called on March 16 for Moscow to end the war.
"We reiterate that Russia must be held accountable for its actions. In this regard, we consider that Russia's violations of international law engage its international responsibility," it said.
The statement added that "the losses and damage suffered by Ukraine as a result of Russia's violations of international law require full and urgent reparation by Russia."
Ukraine has said it will take at least $750 billion to rebuild after the widespread destruction inflicted by the Russian invasion force.
The International Court of Justice is the highest UN court and its rulings are binding and not open to appeal.
It bases its rulings mainly on international treaties and conventions but has no means of enforcing its decisions.
17 killed, dozens hurt in
Russian missile strike
Russian missiles slammed into the heart of the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday, killing 17 people including two children and wounding dozens, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office said.
It said residential buildings, and administrative and office premises had suffered "significant damage and destruction" in an attack which the Ukrainian military said was carried out with Kalibr missiles fired from a submarine in the Black Sea.
About 90 people sought medical attention and around 50 of them were in a serious condition following the attack, which also destroyed a medical centre and involved three missiles, the police said.
Video footage showed thick black smoke billowing out of a tall building and sirens blaring as emergency workers rushed to the scene.
Photographs posted online by the State Emergency Service showed grey smoke rising later from the twisted remains of burnt-out cars and smouldering rubble. One showed an abandoned, overturned pram lying on the street.
Ukraine severs ties
with North Korea
Ukraine said Wednesday it was severing relations with North Korea, hours after pro-Russian separatists in the country's east said their self-proclaimed republics had been recognised by Pyongyang.
North Korea's recognition of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic came after another Russian ally, Syria, made the same move last month.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry in a statement denounced North Korea's decision to recognise territories Kyiv described as "temporarily occupied by Russia".
"In response... Ukraine announces it is cutting diplomatic relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the statement said.
"Russia no longer has any allies in the world, with the exception of countries that depend on it financially and politically," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, according to the statement.
Kuleba said Russia had appealed to North Korea to recognise the territory in a move that "speaks more about Moscow's toxicity than Pyongyang's".
Russia recognised the self-proclaimed republics shortly before it launched its invasion of pro-European neighbour Ukraine on February 24.
Earlier Wednesday, the separatists' representation in Moscow issued a photo on Telegram showing its envoy Olga Makeyeva receiving what she described as a letter of recognition from North Korea's ambassador, Sin Hong-chol.
There has been no immediate comment from North Korea.
Donetsk and neighbouring Lugansk lie in the Donbas coal region in eastern Ukraine.
The region has been partially controlled by pro-Russian forces since 2014, a move that followed Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
