The United Nations Organization cannot yet qualify the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine as genocide, said the head of the UN Independent Commission to Investigate Violations in Ukraine, Eric Möse.
“At the moment, we do not have sufficient evidence that would meet the legal requirements of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” Möse explained, adding that in order to recognize the crime as genocide, the intent to physically or biologically destroy a specific group is required.
At the same time, the head of the commission emphasized that, according to available data, the Russian army probably committed many war crimes in Ukraine, and called on the Russian authorities to ensure that all the guilty are brought to justice.
On September 18, the UN International Court of Justice will consider Ukraine’s claim against Russia in the case of violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly accused Russia of the fact that the large-scale invasion, which began in February 2022, has signs of genocide. At the same time, they pointed in particular to the forced removal of children from Ukraine – on suspicion of involvement in it, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. However, there is no genocide among those accused of genocide.
- At the end of August, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a monthly report, according to which the number of civilians killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion exceeded 9,500, and more than 17,000 were injured. Among the dead – 549 children. At the same time, the UN emphasizes that it is only about documented cases. The real number of victims may be much higher, as it is difficult to obtain information from places where intense fighting is going on, as well as from areas occupied by Russian troops.