The General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation announced the approval of an indictment against a group of Ukrainian high officials, accusing them of the so-called ‘genocide’ of the population in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
This is reported by Kyiv24
List of the Accused and Case Details
According to the Russian investigation, since April 2014, the Ukrainian leadership, which includes the fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, former head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak, SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky, former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, and others, allegedly issued orders to use weapons, armored vehicles, and aviation against the civilian population of Donetsk and Luhansk.
A total of 41 individuals are mentioned in the Russian prosecutor’s press release. They have all been charged in absentia under the genocide article, and the case materials have been transferred to the so-called ‘court’ in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region.
“According to the Russian investigation, since April 2014, ‘the accused and other officials with the intent of genocide’ against the population of Donetsk and Luhansk regions ‘issued orders to subordinate military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other armed formations to use firearms, armored vehicles, and combat aviation against peaceful residents.'”
Context of the International Legal Proceedings
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not mentioned in the Russian indictment. The individuals listed have not yet commented on the accusations from the Russian Federation.
It is worth recalling that in February 2022, on the third day of the full-scale war, Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia in the International Court of Justice. Kyiv stated that the Russian authorities are using accusations of ‘genocide’ to justify military invasion and requested the court to recognize that Ukraine did not commit genocide in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and that Russia has no right to take any actions on its territory. In February 2025, the International Court of Justice in The Hague decided to consider this case on its merits.