Allegations of genocide of Ukrainians in the Russo-Ukrainian War
During the Russo-Ukrainian War, national parliaments including those of Poland,[7] Ukraine,[8] Canada, Estonia,[9] Latvia,[10] Lithuania[11] and Ireland[12] declared that genocide was taking place. Scholars and commentators including Eugene Finkel,[13][14] Timothy D. Snyder[15] and Gregory Stanton;[16] and legal experts such as Otto Luchterhandt[17] and Zakhar Tropin,[18] have made claims of varying degrees of certainty that Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine. A comprehensive report by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights[19] concluded that there exists a "very serious risk of genocide" in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Allegations of genocide of Ukrainians in the Russo-Ukrainian War
Ukrainians as a national group[3]
Incitement to genocide and genocide (mass killings, deliberate attacks on shelters, evacuation routes, and humanitarian corridors, indiscriminate bombardment of residential areas, deliberate and systematic infliction of life-threatening conditions by military sieges, rape and sexual violence, and forcible transfer of Ukrainians, including deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia) with the intent to destroy the Ukrainian national group[3]
Human rights lawyer Juan E. Méndez stated on 4 March 2022 that the genocide claim was worth investigating, but should not be presumed.[20] Genocide scholar Alexander Hinton stated on 13 April 2022 that Russian president Vladimir Putin's genocidal rhetoric would have to be linked to the war crimes in order to establish genocidal intent, but it is "quite likely" that Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine.[16] War crimes committed by Russian forces include sexual violence,[21] torture, extrajudicial killings and looting.[22]
On 17 March 2023, following an investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, for the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia during the invasion.[23] According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, over 307,000 children were transferred to Russia from 24 February to 18 June 2022, alone.[24] In April 2023, the Council of Europe deemed the forced transfers of children as constituting an act of genocide in with an overwhelming majority of 87 in favour of the resolution to 1 against and 1 abstaining.[25]
Background
Legal definition of genocide
Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide requires both genocidal intent ("intent to destroy, in whole or in part") and acts carried out to destroy "a national, ethnic, racial or religious group" with that intent; the acts can be any of:[26]
On 23 March 2022, the Sejm of Poland adopted a resolution on the commission by Russia of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of human rights on the territory of Ukraine. In accordance with the resolution, Poland condemned acts of genocide and other violations of international law committed by Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine. The resolution states that these crimes were committed "on the orders of the military commander-in-chief President Vladimir Putin".[7]
On 14 April 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a resolution, "On the commission of genocide in Ukraine by the Russian Federation", in which the actions of the Russian troops and the Russian leadership in Ukraine are recognized as genocide of the Ukrainian people.[45][8][46][47] In accordance with the statement of the Rada on the resolution, acts of genocide by Russia included:[8]
In June 2022, a bipartisan group in the United States Congress introduced a resolution characterizing Russian actions in Ukraine as genocide,[48][49] and in July the US Senate did so,[50] but neither has been agreed as of November 2022.[51]
Countries, which recognize the ongoing events in Ukraine as genocide:
Partial recognition (not approved as law):