PACE report highlights genocide risk in Ukraine

Ukraine is facing a genocide threat and its allies ought to help it defend against this "genocidal attack," the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) said in a statement.

In a report by German representative Knut Abraham, which was unanimously approved, it was stated that the messages of the Russian leadership and the methods of conducting the full-scale war against Ukraine have revealed a desire to "deny the Ukrainian people's very right to exist as an independent nation." As evidence, the report cited mass killings in Bucha and Irpin, the use of powerful weapons by Russian soldiers to strike densely populated areas, the abduction of children, the persecution of political prisoners, and other atrocities.

PACE called on all member states, as well as observers and partners of the Council of Europe, to prevent any further attempts at genocide against Ukrainians in accordance with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The organization also urged the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague to find a way to consider the report on genocide against the Ukrainian people as a whole and regarding displaced citizens.

In June, a majority of Ukrainians stated that Russia's goal in the war against Ukraine is the destruction of their nation and genocide, according to a poll.

On June 30, the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE recognized the 10-year armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine as genocide.