Russia’s winter strikes fall under Genocide Convention – FM Sybiha

Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during extremely low temperatures are aimed at creating conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction of the Ukrainian people, which falls under the definition of Article II (c) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

This was stated by Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha on the social media platform X, Ukrinform reports.

“It’s a freezing morning in Ukraine with extreme cold temperatures below -15°C. And this is exactly why Russia attacked Ukraine overnight using over 300 drones, 18 ballistic and 7 cruise missiles, targeting energy to deprive people of power, water, and heating.,” the Foreign Minister said.

“Russia is deliberately trying to inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction of the Ukrainian people – which falls exactly under the definition of Article II (c) of the Genocide Convention,” he added.

Sybiha also reported that four people were killed as a result of a Russian strike on an ordinary civilian post terminal in the Kharkiv region; many more were injured across the country. In the Kyiv region alone, hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity.

“There must be no illusions about what Russia is trying to achieve. And therefore, no pauses in support for Ukraine and pressure on Moscow to force it to end its genocidal war. Cynically, Russia undertook this attack right when the emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York focused on its previous barbaric attacks against civilians in Ukraine,” the minister stressed.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy is convinced that Moscow is demonstrating complete disregard not only for the UN Charter, but also for peace efforts led by the United States, and he called for concrete steps to increase the cost of the war for the aggressor.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, during the night Ukraine’s air defense forces neutralized two Russian Iskander-M ballistic missiles, five Iskander-K cruise missiles, and 240 UAVs. During the night of January 13, a Russian missile strike on Nova Poshta’s Kharkiv Innovation Terminal almost completely destroyed the cargo terminal and partially damaged the postal terminal. Four employees were killed – two sorting center workers and two drivers of a partner freight forwarder.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the main target of the Russian attack was the energy sector.