Russia’s War on Ukraine: An Unprecedented Act of Genocide Targeting Ukraine’s National Identity and Existence

From mass killings and destruction of infrastructure to the forced assimilation of children, these actions bear all the hallmarks of genocide, supported by open rhetoric of hatred and denial of the right of Ukrainians to exist. Will the world respond to Russia's systematic attempt to destroy the Ukrainian nation?

Russia's current war against Ukraine is an unprecedented example of an attempted genocide in the twenty-first century. This aggression goes beyond mere political ambitions and violation of state borders. It is aimed at the complete destruction of the national identity of Ukrainians, which is a sign of genocide in the international legal sense. This is confirmed not only by the actions of the Russian army, but also by the open rhetoric of Russian leaders and propagandists, which devalues the very right of Ukraine to exist as a state and of Ukrainians as a separate nation.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), genocide is an act committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

These acts include killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, intentionally creating living conditions designed to bring about the total or partial destruction of the group, measures aimed at preventing births, and the forced transfer of children from one group to another.

Russian propagandists and officials openly advocate the destruction of Ukrainians as a nation. Kremlin commentators have called for the elimination of the Ukrainian language, education, and culture, and portrayed Ukrainians as a “biological error” that needs to be “re-educated or destroyed.”Statements such as “Ukrainians are an underdevelopment” or “they should not exist” are heard on federal Russian television every week.

The scandalous statements are systemic: Vladimir Solovyov and Margarita Simonyan called for “strikes on the energy system” of Ukrainians in order to “force them to submit.” Such actions are part of the overall policy of terror. It is noteworthy that such strikes had no other purpose than terrorizing the civilian population, attempting to make life unbearable for Ukrainians, forcing them to leave their homeland, freeing it up for Russian expansion. No one in Russia has hidden the latter either.

In 2022-2023, Russia systematically shelled Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the fall and winter, depriving millions of Ukrainians of access to light, heat, and water. These attacks serve no military purpose other than to create unbearable conditions for the survival of the civilian population.

In response to these attacks, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash and Admiral Viktor Sokolov, each of whom is allegedly responsible for war crimes of attacking civilian objects and causing excessive incidental injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects, as well as a crime against humanity of “inhuman acts.”

As stated in the commentary of Amnesty International: “By issuing arrest warrants for Kobylash and Sokolov, the ICC has demonstrated that it will pursue cases up to the highest levels of command. As Russia launches missile strikes that continue to destroy Ukraine's critical civilian infrastructure, the ICC has signaled that war crimes suspects will be held accountable, regardless of their rank.”

The Russian aggression was also accompanied by direct mass killings of civilians with a purely genocidal purpose. In March 2022, after the liberation of Bucha from Russian troops, the world saw footage of mass killings of civilians: people with their hands tied, traces of torture, shot in the streets. According to the UN, more than 400 bodies were found, most of which showed signs of execution.

The Russian siege of Mariupol lasted more than 80 days. The city was almost completely destroyed by Russian artillery, aircraft and rockets. A maternity hospital and a drama theater with hundreds of people sheltering (including children) were destroyed, despite clear signs saying “CHILDREN”. According to the city council, at least 25,000 people died in the city.

The most egregious example of genocide is the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. According to Ukrainian authorities, more than 19,000 children were illegally deported from the temporarily occupied territories. Some of them were placed in foster families in the Russian Federation, where they change their identity - surname, language, citizenship. This is a violation of Article 2(d) of the Genocide Convention.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin and the Children's Commissioner for Human Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for this crime. This is one of the most serious crimes, as international law considers changing a child's identity as an attack on his or her personality and on the survival of the group as a whole. The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab reportclassifies abductions as part of a nationwide program of forced assimilation.

Russian aggression meets the key features of genocide:

physical extermination (Bucha, Mariupol)

creation of unbearable living conditions (destruction of energy);

forced displacement of children (deportations);

ideological training through propaganda;

denial of the right to exist as a national group (public statements about the “absence of Ukrainians”).

According to the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Center, Russia is not only committing genocidal acts, but also demonstrating clear genocidal intent. This is important from the point of view of identifying genocide, since it is the existence of the relevant intent that determines the interpretation of the relevant criminal acts as genocide.

The Russian war against Ukraine is an attempt to destroy a great European nation. This is not just a conflict - it is an attempted genocide that has a systemic, ideological and practical character. To forget this war means to allow the tragedies of the twentieth century to be repeated. The international community must not only document these crimes but also ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Historical truth and justice require action, not forgetting. No crime against humanity can go unpunished.

Petro Oleshchuk, Political scientist, Ph.D, Expert at the United Ukraine Think Tank