Public statements by Russian news outlets and propagandists that contain calls for violence against Ukrainians are part of Russia’s systemic policy of denying Ukrainian identity and are part of a genocidal campaign targeting the Ukrainian nation, Institute of Mass Information’s lawyer Volodymyr Zelenchuk told Radio Liberty‘s project Krym.Realii.
Zelenchuk pointed out that the key difficulty when assessing such statements from the legal perspective lies in the speakers’ attempts to narrow down the circle of potential victims. According to the lawyer, propagandists often refer not to all Ukrainians, but to the soldiers, activists, political groups or people who are outspoken about their Ukrainian identity, creating the illusion that what is happening is not genocide, but a political or military confrontation. However, these groups are an integral part of the Ukrainian nation, therefore calls for their extermination fall under genocidal rhetoric.
“Russian propagandists and media figures are quite actively trying to conceal their genocidal intent. That is why they make such statements specific, only targeting specific groups, and add some rhetoric they consider mitigating, saying, look, you won’t have your political leadership over there and the peoples will unite, and everything will be fine,” said Volodymyr Zelenchuk.
The lawyer said that such rhetoric false and pointed to the historical context, wherein such statements have already led to mass repression and extermination of Ukrainians. Zelenchuk believes that these narratives become even more dangerous in times of a full-scale war.
“We know perfectly well how things ended up in Ukraine’s territories historically, how Ukrainians were exterminated. And especially now, given the aggressive war that the Russian Federation is waging against Ukraine, these attitudes in society, media, and politics aim to destroy Ukrainians as a nation,” IMI’s media lawyer emphasised.
The lawyer added that court rulings against those who utter such statements in absentia are crucial: they state that such rhetoric is illegal and may serve as evidence in international trials or launch international mechanisms for searching for wanter persons.
“It may take many years, but some country will find this person, apprehend them, deport them to Ukraine, and a real sentence will be passed,” said Volodymyr Zelenchuk. A court ruling may also become grounds for the introduction of sanctions by the European Union and the Ukrainian government, he added.
Moreover, Volodymyr Zelenchuk said that establishing an international tribunal against media figures and propagandists who incite genocide is quite realistic even though it takes time and requires a body of evidence to be collected.
“If we see that a tribunal for the crime of aggression is being created, its statute is already there, it is beginning operations and gathering evidence, then it is clear that a tribunal against these propagandists is also realistic,” said Volodymyr Zelenchuk.
