Russia Charges Ukrainian Leaders with Genocide Claims Amid Ongoing Conflict in Eastern Ukraine

On Monday, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office revealed that it has charged 41 former and current Ukrainian officials with genocide against ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.

The list of accused includes former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, National Security Adviser and Secretary of the Defense Council Rustem Umerov, and Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Russian authorities assert that these officials have been engaging in the intentional targeting of civilians in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, aiming to perpetrate genocide since hostilities erupted between Ukrainian forces and Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

The indictment cites that nearly 5,000 civilians lost their lives and 13,500 were injured during this timeframe. The Prosecutor’s Office in Russia noted that factors such as “migration, declining birth rates, and increased mortality” contributed to the drop in the local population from 6.5 million to 4.5 million between 2014 and 2022.

President Vladimir Putin has continually accused the Kyiv authorities of attempting to “exterminate” ethnic Russians in the Donbas area. He asserted that he initiated the full-scale invasion in February 2022 to safeguard Russians in eastern Ukraine from persecution.

On Monday, Russian law enforcement announced that arrest warrants had been issued for all 41 officials implicated in the charges. The Basmanny District Court in Moscow has placed them in absentia detention while awaiting their extradition to Russia.

“The authorities are actively pursuing efforts to locate and extradite the accused. However, the likelihood of their involvement in the criminal proceedings appears minimal,” stated the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The case has been referred to the Donetsk Supreme Court for additional legal action.

There has been no immediate reply from Kyiv, although Ukrainian officials have previously dismissed Russia’s claims that their forces intentionally target civilians.