US lawmakers introduced a draft resolution that defines Russia’s war in Ukraine as a genocide

A bipartisan group of US House of Representatives members has introduced a draft resolution to recognize Russia’s war aggression against Ukraine as an act of genocide, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, reported on Facebook on Jan. 7.

The resolution seeks to punish Russian criminals and deter similar crimes in the future.

Its preamble states that the atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine, as well as the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, including children, to Russia and the temporarily occupied territories, meet the criteria set out in Article II of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

“In the first week of its work, Congress paid important attention to the fact that Russia commits crimes every day in the war against Ukraine. A draft resolution calling for the recognition of Russia’s actions against Ukraine as genocide has been reintroduced in the US House of Representatives,” Oksana Markarova wrote on her Facebook page.

A bipartisan group of Congressmen introduced the initiative, demonstrating the consolidated support for Ukraine among U.S. lawmakers. The Embassy of Ukraine in the United States is actively cooperating with the congressmen and the Ukraine House organization, which, along with 20 other members, support the resolution.

The preamble to the draft resolution states that the atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine, as well as the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, including children, to Russia and the occupied territories, meet the criteria set forth in Article II of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The resolution condemns the Russian Federation for committing acts of genocide, calls on the United States, in cooperation with NATO and EU allies, to take steps to support the Ukrainian government to prevent further acts of Russian genocide against the Ukrainian people, and supports tribunals and international criminal investigations to bring Russian political leaders and military personnel to justice.

The draft resolution emphasizes that Russia systematically violates human rights, commits massacres, abducts children, destroys infrastructure, and targets attacks on civilians. The lawmakers call on the international community to recognize these crimes as genocide and bring the perpetrators to justice.

We remind that in June 2024, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution in which it recognized Russia’s actions as genocide against the Ukrainian people as well as the need to decolonize Russia.

The resolution contains a call to all 53 OSCE member states to make efforts to achieve the liberation of Crimea and all occupied Ukrainian territories by supporting the Peace Formula and the Crimean Platform.

OSCE states call for the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute the Russian Federation for crimes committed during the aggressive war against Ukraine and to conduct international and national investigations into mass atrocities, murders, torture, and rape committed by Russian troops.

It emphasizes the urgent launch of a mechanism for the use of frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine and an invitation to OSCE countries to join the Agreement on the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation Against Ukraine.

It also labels the 2024 presidential elections in the Russian Federation as fraudulent, thereby undermining the legitimacy of the entire electoral system there.

The resolution supports the creation of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, as well as efforts to ensure the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians.

OSCE also called for a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas to the European Union, re-exports, and transit through EU ports.