Genocide And Crimes Against Humanity In The Conditions Of Large-Scale Armed Aggression Of The Russian Federation Against Ukraine

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the main features of genocide and crimes against humanity, outline the characteristics of these concepts, define these criminal acts, and provide examples of genocide of the Ukrainian people in the context of large-scale armed aggression by the rf against Ukraine.
The novelty of the article lies in the characterization of the concepts of genocide and crimes against humanity as a special phenomenon in international law. It is shown that the concept of crimes against humanity has undergone certain changes over the decades. It concerned both the expansion of specific types of acts included in this category and the essential features – the characterological features of crimes against humanity. The attitude to the situation of armed conflict; the scale of implementation, coverage by the framework of the illegal policy carried out by states and other participants were taken into account.
Conclusions. Genocide is often considered the most serious crime against humanity, but in fact the two concepts are legally distinct. Both genocide and crimes against humanity are legally distinct concepts that share a common historical root, linked to the events of the Holocaust. Crimes against humanity and genocide have different mens rea. The range of underlying offenses that can qualify as genocide is more limited in scope than those that can qualify as crimes against humanity. Crimes against humanity must be committed in the context of an armed conflict, while genocide can be committed in peacetime or wartime.
As in the times of the Holodomors of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, so now the cruel imperialist terror and cynical genocide are unchanged. And this cannot be justified by the guilt of the victim herself, who allegedly threatens the aggressor. What threat did the innocently killed or forcibly displaced Ukrainian children pose to the Russians?
The independent international commission of inquiry into violations in Ukraine has sufficient evidence to state that the russian government has a coordinated state policy that has systematically committed crimes against humanity in the form of torture. The world community also recognizes what is happening in Ukraine today as genocide. However, it is the political will of states that determines the international legal system and the establishment of a tribunal for the crime of rf aggression against Ukraine.