Ukraine’s Prosecutor General: Russia’s actions in Mariupol might count as genocide

Kateryna Tyshchenko – Monday, 28 March 2022, 18:18

Iryna Venediktova, Prosecutor General of Ukraine, believes that Russia’s actions in Mariupol might qualify not as war crimes, but as genocide.

Source: Iryna Venediktova in a press briefing

According to Venediktova: "The situation in Mariupol is more than a war crime. Wars have rules. This is against all rules. I’m looking at it from the perspective of the possible qualification [of this situation] as genocide.

As a prosecutor, I am very cautious when I say there is a possibility of [the situation in Mariupol] qualifying as genocide. But as a citizen, I understand all too well what is happening to our people."

Details: Venediktova reminded that the entire city of Mariupol is held hostage by the Russian troops. The remaining residents of the city have no access to water, food, or heating, and Russian occupying forces are firing on the convoys that are trying to leave the city. She added that adults and children have also been deported from Mariupol to the Russian Federation.

"Is this only a war crime? This is much more than a war crime," Prosecutor General underscored.

She believes that "Putin wants to destroy Ukraine as a state, to destroy the Ukrainian people as a nation."

Background: Mariupol has been under siege since 1 March. According to a government estimate, nearly 5,000 people have died, including 210 children, as of 27 March. Around 170,000 Mariupol residents remain in the besieged city. Russian troops have forcibly deported nearly 30,000 people to the occupied territories in the east of Ukraine or to Russia.

2,340 buildings in Mariupol have been damaged by Russian shelling and airstrikes (90% of buildings), including 1,040 buildings (40%) that have been completely destroyed.

Vadym Boichenko, the Mayor of Mariupol, said on 28 March that all residents of Mariupol have to be evacuated.