Of Course It’s Genocide!
Genocide was a hallmark of the USSR throughout its history. It is hardly surprising that the Russian way of war has not changed as Russian military professionals, many of whom proudly accessorize their uniforms with Soviet emblems, commit genocidal acts with the full support of the State.
NAZIs, NATO, popular support, biological warfare, historical ties, illegitimacy; perhaps the list of fabricated reasons for the invasion of Ukraine can expand no further. Russia simply wants the territory and is willing to execute all Ukrainians in pursuit of that objective.
Fortunately, Putin’s administration has proven to be so corrupt that the much-celebrated military has been poorly maintained over the years in favor of personal enrichment of all those with fiscal authority. The example was established when the oligarchs appropriated national assets many years ago and then were ultimately legitimized with state protections by Putin; so, who are they to condemn their long list of subordinates who continue to do the same, even down to the most junior enlisted man who sells military fuel and food to subsidize his own meager salary?
Although many military intelligence professionals in the West were always suspicious of the quality of training and maintenance within the Russian military, it seems all were shocked by how little new technology and warfighting principals had been adopted and practiced by the world’s second largest defense exporter. Technology that was aggressively marketed at global defense exhibitions and often seen as a more affordable, maintainable, and often technologically superior product to that sold by the West has proven to be far less capable in a “special military operation” that should have been a showcase event affirming the marketing message.
With respect to warfighting principals, Russia has shown to have not evolved at all since 1945 in terms of the operational art of war, nor with respect to the use of technology to minimize collateral damage. Why? On the topic of the operational art, it is almost certainly due to the lack of professional commitment, training, and a government that seems to have favored investing in espionage and subterfuge to try to undermine foreign political threats instead of simply winning the ideological war through honestly proving to have a better system. The conventional military forces were believed to be very capable of tackling conflict with the non-nuclear states, while the Russian Strategic Forces maintained the Super-Power balance.
The lack of concern for collateral damage, is simply because, in the case of Ukraine, Russia just doesn’t care. The statements by political and military leaders, news commentators and citizens-at-large are simply ones that do not recognize the legitimacy of the Ukrainian nation, nor the distinction of a Ukrainian people. Therefore, an invasion of Ukraine and the slaughter of Ukrainians is effectively an internal issue if I were to make a Russian argument. However, the argument fails since Ukraine was established as an independent nation via the dissolution of the Soviet Union, recognized by Russia and the UN in 1991.
From the perspective of the UN, by their own definitions (here in Article II), Russian conduct is genocide. Intent is a key element of the crime and has been established repeatedly by persons with authority in Russia. And, of course, we have the acts, of which there is currently evidence of four of the five enumerated in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (it only takes a single act to be guilty of genocide once intent is established).
To what degree will the UN and the world respond to the invasion and genocide remains to be seen. I hope that we all have the courage and commitment to moral principles to enforce and sustain economic and political sanctions that isolate Russia, and those nations that stand by Russia, until the people of those nations acknowledge the criminality and choose to change their countries’ approach to humanity.