What the ICJ ordered Russia to do on 16 March 2022
A look back at the court order that came amid sanctions, protests and fighting in Mariupol.
What did the International Court of Justice tell Russia on 16 March 2022? It ordered Moscow to halt its invasion of Ukraine immediately, a directive issued as international pressure on Russia was building on several fronts.
The days before the order had brought a series of reactions. On 15 March 2022, the United States Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution declaring Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal. The resolution also called for his investigation by the International Criminal Court.
Sanctions and seizures
On the same day, Spanish police seized a superyacht at the Port of Barcelona. The vessel belonged to Russian oligarch Sergey Chemezov, who had been sanctioned by the European Union.
In London, anti-war protesters seized the mansion of Oleg Deripaska on 14 March 2022. Four of the protesters seen on the balcony were later arrested.
Dissent inside Russia
Also on 14 March 2022, Marina Ovsyannikova, a Russian state television journalist, interrupted a live news broadcast on Channel One Russia. She held a sign reading "No War" and urging viewers not to believe propaganda, and she was promptly arrested.
Fighting in Mariupol
On the ground, the siege of Mariupol continued. On 15 March 2022, Russian troops stormed the city's regional intensive care hospital and took around 400 people hostage. Local authorities confirmed that the damaged hospital was under Russian control.
Against that backdrop, the court's order on 16 March 2022 formed part of a widening set of legal, political and economic responses to the invasion.
