Ukrainian Parliament has recognized the actions of the Russian Federation as genocide against Ukrainians

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO - THURSDAY, 14 APRIL 2022, 18:36

The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) has recognized the actions committed by Russia during the military attack on Ukraine as genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Source: The website of Verkhovna Rada 

Details: On Thursday, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Resolution №7276 on the statement of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "About the Russian Federation's Genocide in Ukraine".

Quote: "… The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by this statement:

• Recognises the actions committed by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and its political and military leadership during the recent phase of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which began on 24 February, 2022, as genocide of the Ukrainian people.
• Calls on the United Nations, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the governments and parliaments of other countries to recognise the Russian Federation's genocide of the Ukrainian people and crimes against humanity and war crimes against Ukraine and its territory."

Details: The justification for this decision mentions, in particular, numerous public statements by the Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials of this state, as well as decisions of authorities at all levels to support and implement these statements, which "together indicates the existence of official Russian policy on non-recognition of the right of the Ukrainian people to self-identification, self-determination and, as a consequence, to existence".

It also mentions Russia's centuries-old policy of "de-Ukrainization", and the absorption of the Ukrainian nation by distorting and appropriating its history and its achievements in the fields of science, culture, and art.

It is noted that the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine against the civilian population are being carried out with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, the Ukrainian people as a separate national community.

The statement declares that acts of genocide in the actions of the Russian Federation are manifested, in particular, in:

• committing mass atrocities by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine (in particular, in the cities of Bucha, Borodianka, Hostomel, Irpin and many other settlements in Ukraine), and manifested in numerous cases of murder, abduction, cruel imprisonment, torture, rape, and mockery of the bodies of the killed and tortured;
• systematic cases of the premeditated murder of civilians and deliberate creation by the Russian Armed Forces of living conditions that cause exceptional suffering to the Ukrainian people, aimed at their complete or partial destruction, and ultimately leading to the physical destruction of the Ukrainian population in many settlements in Ukraine, in particular, through the blockading of settlements, the prevention of humanitarian aid and obstruction of civilian evacuation;
• The capture and deliberate destruction of infrastructure that provides basic needs and livelihoods;
• The forcible relocation of Ukrainian children to the territory of the Russian Federation and their transfer to foreign countries in order to destroy their self-identification as Ukrainians, as well as the eviction from their homes and the deportation of thousands of civilians from Ukraine to Russia;
• widespread cases of physical and psychological violence against the population of Ukraine, representatives of Ukrainian public authorities and local governments, representatives of public organisations and other local activists, journalists, clergy and other respected people in Ukrainian society;
• systematic actions of the Russian Federation aimed to create conditions which lead to gradual destruction of the Ukrainian people through the weakening of economic potential and security, manifested in the destruction of economic infrastructure (damage to granaries, obstruction of sowing programmes, blockading of sea trade routes, infrastructure, etc.)

It is possible to read more about why the actions of the Russian Federation should be interpreted as genocide and what it will mean in this article: "The greatest crime of the Russians. Why proving genocide in Ukraine can change the world".