While the world is belatedly realizing Russia’s genocide agenda in Ukraine, Putin is actively preparing the ground for new war crimes
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Vladimir Putin expressed his tacit approval of further Russian war crimes in Ukraine, publicly honoring one of the military units most closely associated with atrocities against Ukrainian civilians.
By Putin’s decree of April 18, the honorary title «guards” was assigned to the 64th motorized rifle brigade of the Russian army, which is accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine. In an accompanying note to this token of appreciation, the Russian ruler personally congratulated the brigade for its “courage, dedication, professionalism and performance of military duty” during the invasion of Ukraine.
These allusions to military glory are, to put it mildly, unconvincing. In fact, the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade has achieved little in Ukraine to be proud of. She was involved in a catastrophic Russian offensive into northern Ukraine, defeated in the Battle of Kyiv, followed by a humiliating retreat across the border into Belarus. Therefore, we can say with confidence that the brigade did not deserve its new title on the battlefield.
Instead, the most notable contribution of the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade into the Russian invasion was made during her stay in the Kiev suburb of Bucha. This previously little-known satellite city has gained worldwide notoriety in recent weeks as the site of large-scale Russian atrocities against civilians, including rape, torture and massacres.
So far, Ukrainian authorities have been able to identify hundreds of victims in Bucha, many of whom were found with their hands tied before being executed. As more graves are discovered, the death toll is likely to rise.
Russia’s genocidal intentions became apparent in the first two months of the conflict
The systematic nature of the crimes and the sheer scale of the massacre uncovered in Bucha and other recently liberated cities in the Kyiv region have led to widespread accusations of genocide by international leaders, including US President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump. In recent days, the parliaments of Latvia and Estonia have become the first to officially recognize Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine as genocide.
As one of the military units stationed in Bucha during the month-long Russian occupation, the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade is seriously implicated in these crimes. Ukrainian officials accused this particular brigade of involvement in war crimes and promised to bring individual members of the unit to justice.
An international investigation into Russian atrocities is already underway. Following a mid-April visit to Bucha, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan confirmed that «there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC are being committed” by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Faced with growing global outrage over Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine, the Kremlin initially reacted in a traditional manner, combining reckless denials and conspiracy theories. Now, however, Putin appears to be confident enough to go further, and is openly demonstrating his support for Russian troops accused of war crimes.
By awarding the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade special praise and public honors, the Russian leader is not only challenging the outside world. He also makes it clear to his soldiers that those who commit atrocities on behalf of Russia will not have to answer for their crimes. Instead, they will continue to enjoy the full support of the Kremlin and will be rewarded for their service to the Motherland.
Putin’s statement of impunity for atrocities has dire consequences for the future conduct of the war and paves the way for the further destruction of the Ukrainian state and nation.
Russia’s genocidal intentions became increasingly evident in the first two months of the conflict. In addition to engaging in massacres of civilians in places like Bucha, Putin’s invading forces are also methodically reducing dozens of Ukrainian cities and towns to rubble. More than half a million Ukrainians have been forcibly deported to Russia, and community leaders in Ukrainian regions under Russian occupation have been kidnapped in sinister raids reminiscent of the Stalinist era.
All this criminal policy is fully consistent with Putin’s venomous rhetoric regarding Ukraine. The Russian leader has long denied Ukraine’s right to exist and has often claimed that Ukraine’s independence is a historical accident, while insisting that Ukrainians are in fact Russians.
In the period leading up to the current invasion, Putin went even further and began to stigmatize Ukraine as an artificial «Anti-Russia”, which can no longer be tolerated. Their stated goal «denazification” of Ukraine is actually a code for «de-Ukrainization” of the country, which is explicitly stated in an article published on April 3 by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Yale University historian Timothy Snyder called it “a guide to genocide.”
At a time when the world is belatedly realizing the Russian genocide agenda in Ukraine, Putin is actively preparing the ground for more war crimes. His decision to commemorate the soldiers involved in the massacre is a clear statement of intent and an indication of what lies ahead if Ukraine does not get the weapons it needs to defend itself. If the world is inactive and millions of Ukrainians are killed, no one will be able to claim later that he did not know this.
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