Russian genocide: international responsibility and challenges for the world

Russia's war against Ukraine was the main topic at the recent Warsaw Security Forum (WSF). This reflects the perception of the security threats arising from Russia’s war on Ukraine for Europe and the entire transatlantic community.

Recognition of Russia's criminal actions as genocide against Ukrainians

One of the key events at the Warsaw Security Forum was a panel discussion on recognizing Russia's actions in Ukraine as genocide. This matter must go beyond debates of specialized researchers and lawyers. Recognizing that Russia is committing genocide against Ukrainians is critical for unlocking the right toolkit for the international community's efforts to counter Russia's criminal policy.

Since 2014, Russia has been conducting a systematic and directed policy of destroying the Ukrainian nation as a source of Ukrainian statehood. The very existence of a separate and distinct Ukrainian identity shatters the foundations of the Kremlin's ideology of ruscism, devised to rationalize Moscow's imperial claims over the Ukrainian people and their land. This is why the destruction of Ukrainians is at the core of Russia's evil strategy.

Ukraine’s western partners must stop turning a blind eye to the heinous nature of Moscow’s genocidal plan. Western political leaders must stop pretending that Russia’s only goal in Ukraine is the conquest of new territories.

From the very beginning of the war in 2014, Russia has been carrying out a deliberate and organized policy of committing mass crimes against Ukrainians. More than 137,000 war crimes have been registered since February 2022 alone. More than 20,000 Ukrainian children are confirmed to have been deported to Russia. 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers and approximately 14,000 civilians are suffering in Russian captivity. Russian occupation forces and administrations treat with particular cruelty those they perceive as a bearer of Ukrainian identity.

Moscow is carrying out a systematic and directed campaign of calculated destruction of civilian objects: critical infrastructure of energy generation and supply, heating and water supply, hospitals, educational institutions, residential buildings, cultural centres, ports, and commercial enterprises in order to create perilous living conditions for the civilian populations in Ukrainian cities and towns. Damage to more than 84,000 objects of civilian infrastructure has been documented so far.

Moscow is carrying out the illegal and forcible deportation of Ukrainian children and transferring them into the custody of Russian citizens where they are subject to extensive state-sponsored measures of "re-education" to become Russian. This is a clear-cut policy to erase their Ukrainian national identity, and thereby destroy part of future generations of Ukrainians. Russia is also applying enormous pressure by repressive apparatus to eradicate the Ukrainian identity of adults in Ukraine’s occupied territories.

A separate danger comes from the Kremlin's threats to use nuclear weapons. This is a calculated method of psychological terror against Ukrainians which at the same time is a threat for all of humanity.

On April 14, 2022, Ukraine’s parliament (the Rada) recognized Russia as a terrorist state and its government as a neo-Nazi regime. The Rada declared that Russia is committing genocide, noting mass murders in the cities of Bucha, Borodyanka, Gostomel, Irpin and others. The same year, the parliaments of seven other countries – Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Canada, Australia, Czechia and Ireland - passed political resolutions condemning the ongoing Russian genocide.

In November 2022, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, and initiated the creation of a Special International Tribunal to prosecute Russian crimes. Later, the European Parliament also adopted a resolution recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Recently, in its July Bucharest statement, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (PACE) recognized that the criminal actions of the Russian Armed Forces and its political and military leadership constitute genocide of the Ukrainian people. The Assembly also declared that "decolonization of the Russian Federation is a necessary condition for sustainable peace." It is the right answer to those in the world who seek false illusion of "peace" at the expense of Ukraine’s security.

Winter threat

From October 2022 to September 2024, Ukrainian energy infrastructure suffered a staggering 1,024 Russian attacks. As a result of this targeted campaign against the civilian population, two-thirds of Ukraine's energy capacities were destroyed, making the reconstruction of the infrastructure practically unfeasible.

Moscow is devotedly executing its plan to freeze Ukraine without facing any effective response from the international community. Attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure result in electricity blackouts and disruptions of heating and water supply creating conditions for a humanitarian crisis, particularly in large urban communities, in the coming winter months. A humanitarian disaster will hurt Ukraine’s military capability to mount defensive efforts — the only effective force preventing a larger number of casualties of the Russian genocide. 

Ukraine’s western partners must understand that in view of the looming risks, protecting the Ukrainian civilian population and infrastructure is an urgent and critical priority. Several policies can be employed immediately to achieve this goal:

• Ukraine’s Western partners can rapidly boost Ukraine’s military capabilities to minimize Russia’s capacity to target the civilian population. Several member states of the European Union support the lifting of restrictions on the use of weapons against Russia, as well as on the supply of necessary weapons to Ukraine, including missiles and air defense systems. The endless and embarrassing process of kicking the ball of decision-making from one western capital to another must end — it is high time for sovereign nations to make their own decisions.
• NATO member states bordering Ukraine should finally start cooperating with Ukraine to jointly defend against Russian air threats. It is absolutely unacceptable - and humiliating - for NATO countries that their airspace is repeatedly used by Russian forces to attack civilian targets in Ukraine. Joint efforts of shooting down Russian missiles and drones within the range of Ukraine’s neighbours’ air defence capabilities will also demonstrate that their governments act responsibly towards the security of their own citizens.
• A Coalition of Resolute nations must deploy a humanitarian military mission to provide air defence for Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure. Considering the escalating pattern of Russian intimidation tactics over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, and recent targeted attacks on  critical elements of Ukraine's nuclear infrastructure, it is in the direct safety and security interests of other European nations to help Ukraine urgently build up defensive capacity to prevent a deliberate or incidental nuclear incident that could result in a regional crisis.

These are but a few examples of truly actionable policies. Yet this historic moment demands more decisive actions to increase the international pressure on Moscow.

Widespread recognition of Russian genocide will mark the point in high level political decision making that the world is ready to confront Moscow’s genocidal plan in Ukraine. The international community must realize that the only way to stop Russia from fully realizing its destructive intent is to deprive it of any capabilities to carry out its criminal actions.

Special Tribunal for Russian crimes

Many speakers at the Warsaw Security Forum emphasized the importance of creating an international tribunal to prosecute Putin, his clique, and other perpetrators of crimes in Ukraine. Yet after almost 11 years of the Russian war, the international community is still struggling to agree on an authoritative modality for the tribunal to ensure at least symbolic justice for the victims of Russia in Ukraine. 

In March 2023, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for Putin's arrest on charges of committing a war crime. The court is also investigating four more cases involving some of the most cruel crimes against Ukraine’s civilian population. This shows some promise that the suffering of Ukrainians will not be ignored, but the current situation is strikingly incommensurate with the industrial scale of Russian crimes in Ukraine. The lack of legal consequences has only emboldened Russian leadership to blatantly ignore international humanitarian law. The ICC must start investigating the crimes of genocide committed by Russian perpetrators, starting with Putin - the architect of Russia’s genocidal policy against Ukrainians.

It is important to emphasize that Putin is not acting alone. Russia’s genocidal policy is directed by the criminal ruscist regime which is supported by the political elite, military, religious, and other social structures in Russia. This aggressive regime unambiguously pursues the policy of demolishing the international rules based order. The problem is aggravated by the fact that as a result of state-sponsored brainwashing by the totalitarian ideology of ruscism, more than 70% of Russians support this regime and its objectives. 

International response to Russian threat

Despite many right political decisions, neither Europe, the West more broadly, nor the wider international community have undertaken measures that could effectively bring Russian criminal actions to a halt. Some countries even continue enabling Russian crimes by conducting economic cooperation that reinforces Moscow’s potential for further aggression.

Our joint goal must be to stop Russia’s aggressive genocidal imperialism. Defeating Russia is important not just for Ukrainians. Humanity needs the international rules based order restored for peace and security. Humanity needs Russian genocide against Ukrainians recognized and thwarted to create an effective mechanism to prevent genocide against other groups in every corner of the globe. Humanity needs to stop Russia to send a signal to other rogue regimes that aggression and genocide have no place in the modern world.

Hanna Hopko – Chairwoman of Board National Interests Advocacy Network ANTS, Co-founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, Member of the Executive Committees National Council of Reforms and the Anti-Corruption Action Centre. Former member of Ukrainian parliament (2014-2019), and the former head of its committee on foreign affairs.

Roman Sohn – International law expert, researcher of the Russian genocide, coordinator of the international campaign to recognize Russia as the aggressor state, Chair, Direct Initiative International Centre for Ukraine, Senior Advisor, Centre for Eastern European Democracy.

Ariana Gic – Canadian political and legal analyst, Director, Direct Initiative International Centre for Ukraine, Senior Advisor, Centre for Eastern European Democracy. Ms. Gic is sanctioned by the Russian Federation.