Russia is committing genocide against Ukrainians — American political scientist
On February 1, Russian forces struck a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia, injuring six people.
This incident is just one episode in a systematic campaign by the Kremlin against Ukraine’s civilian population. Political scientist Alexander Motyl of Rutgers University, writing for 19FortyFive, describes these actions as outright genocide.
The expert emphasises that Moscow is systematically destroying civilian infrastructure — residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and theatres. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, but the facts contradict these claims.
“What better way to demonstrate genocidal intent than by killing newborns and their mothers?” Motyl asks.
Ukrainians have dubbed the current tactics “Holodomor” — a play on the words “cold” and “to starve.”
This echoes the Holodomor of 1932–1933, when millions died. Russians are abducting thousands of Ukrainian children, destroying the energy system during winter, and carrying out mass killings.
The UN Genocide Convention includes killing members of a group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately creating conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children.
Russia’s actions meet several of these criteria simultaneously. The abduction of children is the clearest evidence of an intent to erase the Ukrainian nation.
Earlier, two people were killed in Dnipropetrovsk region as a result of a nighttime drone attack.
The enemy also shelled dozens of settlements in Zaporizhzhia region.
