As evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine mounted, U.S. President Joe Biden pointedly accuseed Vladimir Putin of carrying out a genocide.
This is not a word U.S. presidents or other Western leaders use lightly. But the intentional bombing of civilian targets as well as the mass executions and torture of civilians in Bucha and elsewhere suggest that Biden’s remarks were appropriate – if not overdue.
But Genocide also involves intent — the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. And statements by Putin and other Russian leaders and the content of Russian state-controlled media suggests that intent is also present.
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks to Anton Shekhovtsov and Aleksandr Khara about Russia’s genocidal rhetoric and what it portends as Putin’s war against Ukraine enters its eighth week.