How Russia Seeks to Resolve the“Ukrainian Question"

A Russian tank drives past destroyed residential buildings in Popasna, in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. Source: Radio Free Europe, credit: Alexander Ermochenko (Reuters)

The publication "How the Russian Federation Seeks to Resolve the “Ukrainian

Question”. Certain Indicators of Genocide by the Russian Federation in the Context

of Its Armed Aggression against Ukraine" is an analytical study produced by the

Luhansk Regional Human Rights Centre Alternative (LRHRC Alternative).

It is devoted to the analysis of actions undertaken by the Russian Federation in the temporarily

Occupied Territories of Ukraine, as well as in the broader context of its armed aggression against Ukraine.

Previous publications by LRHRC Alternative have addressed various aspects of life under

occupation and documented systematic violations of the rights of the civilian population,

recurring across different regions and affecting key areas of everyday life. In particular,

they examined access of residents of the temporarily occupied territories to food,

water, healthcare, education, and housing, and documented crimes related to filtration

practices, unlawful detention and deportation of Ukrainian citizens from the Occupied Territories.

These publications also addressed policies of Russification, the eradication of Ukrainian identity,

targeted practices of population assimilation, specific features of Russian propaganda,

and the creation of a “digital ghetto” in the temporarily occupied territories.

The title of this publication deliberately alludes to the policy of the Third Reich towards

Jews, known as the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” (German: Endlösung der

Judenfrage). The euphemism “final solution” referred to the “cleansing of Europe of Jews”

through the mass extermination of the Jewish population.

Accordingly, this publication draws parallels between the genocide perpetrated by

Nazi Germany against Jews and the attempts of the Russian Federation to destroy

Ukrainians and the Ukrainian people — albeit through somewhat different methods,

yet with the same intended outcome.

This publication is intended for a broad audience, including all those who monitor,

document, study, and research crimes committed by the Russian Federation in connection

with its armed aggression against Ukraine. It may also be of interest to Ukrainian and

international experts working on issues related to territories occupied by the Russian

Federation and life in Ukraine under conditions of armed aggression.

The analytical review will be useful for experts and human rights defenders engaged in monitoring,

documenting, and legally analyzing crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine;

for officials and representatives of public authorities; for lawyers and legal practitioners

defending the rights of Ukrainians before international judicial bodies; for individuals

involved in seeking reparations from the Russian Federation for the damage caused;

and for representatives of civil society who advocate Ukraine’s position in international

forums.

The publication consists of two parts: a theoretical and a practical one. The first,

theoretical part provides an overview of the international legal definition of genocide

and analyses the instruments governing the recognition and punishment of genocide

under international law. It also examines the distinction between the political and legal

uses of the term “genocide”, as well as the historical evolution of its interpretation.

This part further analyses the defining elements of the crime of genocide, including genocidal

intent, protected groups, and the forms that the crime of genocide may take. Particular

attention is paid to the specific aspects of implementing the provisions of the 1948

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide into the national

legislation of Ukraine and other European states.

The second, practical part focuses on specific acts committed by the Russian Federation

in the context of its armed aggression against Ukraine that display indicators of genocide

against the Ukrainian people (including killing, causing serious bodily harm, deliberately

inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about destruction, the forcible transfer of

children to another group, and others).

A separate section of this part is devoted to an assessment of the Holodomor

and the destruction of the Ukrainian intelligentsia in the Soviet Union in the 1930s,

examined through the lens of genocidal indicators based on the expanded concept

of genocide developed by Raphael Lemkin (the author of the term “genocide”

and a co-author of the 1948 Genocide Convention).

Turning to historical events of the twentieth century that predate the adoption of the

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide makes it

possible to demonstrate the continuity of crimes currently committed by the Russian

Federation and previously perpetrated by its predecessor, the Soviet Union, against

Ukrainians and the Ukrainian people.

This approach provides a broader perspective, situating contemporary actions

of the Russian Federation not in isolation, but within a wider historical context

of practices aimed at destroying the Ukrainian national community.

Accordingly, the totality of documented actions by the Russian Federation is

analysed in terms of their recurrence, scale, and coherence — factors that are crucial for

assessing the presence of elements of a genocidal policy.

Report in English:

Геноцид_en.pdf

Download PDF • 1.96MB

Report in Russian:

Геноцид_укр.pdf

Download PDF • 1.92MB

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