U.S. Senate Committee Recognizes Russian Actions In Ukraine As Genocide

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday approved the Ukraine Genocide Resolution, paving the way for it to be voted on the senate floor, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

“The crimes being committed against the Ukrainian people throughout Putin’s illegal and unprovoked war go against innumerable international conventions and can only be summarized as genocide,” said Senator Ben Cardin, chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

“Putin has made it incredibly clear in his actions and words that his goal is to erase the Ukrainian people’s existence. I have seen firsthand his brutality in Irpin and the Kyiv region,” said Senator Jim Risch, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“This resolution condemns the active genocide against the Ukrainian people, calls on the U.S. government to work with our allies to prevent future acts of genocide, and supports investigations to bring these terrible crimes to justice. We must continue to do all we can to support the Ukrainian people in their fight for survival,” he noted.

The same statement specifies the resolution does the following:

* Condemns Russia for committing acts of genocide against the people of Ukraine;

* Calls on the United States, along with NATO and EU allies, to support the government of Ukraine to prevent further acts of Russian genocide against the Ukrainian people;

* Supports tribunals and international criminal investigations to hold Russian political leaders and military personnel accountable for a war of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide;

* Urges the (U.S.) president (Joe Biden) to use Global Magnistky sanctions on those responsible or complicit in the Russian Federation’s genocide in Ukraine.

Thus far, Russia’s systemic war crimes in Ukraine have been recognized as genocide by the parliaments of the following countries: Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Canada, Estonia, and Latvia, among other.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.