US Congress to consider recognizing Russian actions as genocide

A draft resolution to recognize Russia's actions in Ukraine as genocide has been registered in Congress. The document was authored by a bipartisan group of House members.

This was reported by Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova on Facebook.

Russia's actions are to be recognized as genocide

"In the first week of its work, Congress paid important attention to the fact that Russia commits crimes in the war against Ukraine every day. A draft resolution calling for the recognition of Russia's actions against Ukraine as genocide has been reintroduced to the U.S. House of Representatives," the statement reads.

Markarova said that the preamble to the draft resolution states that the atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine, including attacks on civilians, direct attacks on maternity hospitals and medical facilities, and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, including children, to Russia and the occupied territories, meet the criteria set out in Article II of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

According to her, the resolution part of the document is as follows:

• Condemns Russia for committing acts of genocide against the people of Ukraine;
• 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; 
• Supports tribunals and international criminal investigations to bring Russian political leaders and military personnel to justice for aggressive war, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

It should be noted that a draft of such a resolution was already submitted to the 118th Congress on February 24, 2023.

As a reminder, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on human rights in Crimea. A total of 81 countries voted in favor of the document.

In October, the PACE adopted its first resolution on Ukrainian prisoners. It supported the idea of an "all-for-all" exchange.