A draft resolution to recognize Russia’s war against Ukraine as genocidal was among the first bills submitted to the new U.S. Congress on Jan. 6., the Congress’ website showed.
The draft resolution was submitted by a bipartisan group of legislators, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova said in a Facebook post.
"Systematic actions against the Ukrainian people committed by Russian forces under the direction of Russian Federation political leadership meets one or more of the criteria under Article II of the Genocide Convention," the draft resolution’s preamble read.
The resolution cites the Russian military’s intentional targeting of civilians, civilian infrastructure, systematic sexual violence against Ukrainian women, men, and children, as well as the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
"All crimes committed by the Russian Federation must be reflected in U.S. law to ensure that Russian criminals are punished and to prevent such heinous crimes in the future," the Ukrainian ambassador wrote in her post.
"Currently, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has opened 170,090 cases of crimes related to the aggression of the Russian Federation (151,698 for war crimes)," Markarova added.
The draft resolution calls on the U.S. to condemn Russia and support Ukraine and international jurisdiction against those responsible for Russia’s actions.
In early 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian official allegedly overseeing the forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia.
