The legal nature of ethnocide and the expediency of its incorporation into the Criminal code of Ukraine

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, the issue of legal recognition of ethnocide is becoming extremely relevant. Along with the physical destruction of our population, the occupied territories of Ukraine are systematically pursuing a policy aimed at destroying the cultural, linguistic, religious and national identity of the Ukrainian people. At the same time, the criminal legislation of Ukraine does not contain the concept of «ethnocide» as a separate crime, which makes it impossible to provide a full legal response to these actions, as well as to qualify them in accordance with international standards for the protection of human and peoples' rights. Therefore, this research article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the legal nature of ethnocide, its historical and legal formation, as well as the feasibility and possibility of incorporating the relevant crime into the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The author analyses the sources of international law, in particular the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948, where the term ‘cultural genocide’ (ethnocide) was discussed but removed from the final text. Attention is paid to the provisions of Article 442 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which criminalises genocide, namely, it is established that the current version of this article reflects only the physical or biological destruction of an ethnic group, without covering cases of spiritual, cultural or linguistic destruction, which can be no less destructive. The example of Ukraine demonstrates how ethnocide is manifested in modern aggression: forced «re-education» of children, prohibition of teaching in the Ukrainian language, destruction of monuments and libraries, prohibition of cultural symbols, etc. In this regard, specific ways of implementing the concept of ethnocide into the national legislation of Ukraine are proposed. Therefore, ignoring the legal nature of ethnocide is not only a gap in legislation, but also a serious threat to our national security, identity and historical memory of the Ukrainian people, and the introduction of an appropriate legal mechanism will not only allow such crimes to be recorded under criminal law, but also strengthen Ukraine's position in the international arena in the fight for the recognition of the crimes of the Russian Federation as having signs of ethnocide. In addition, this will be a step towards fuller protection of the rights of national minorities and indigenous peoples in peacetime, which is also relevant within the framework of Ukraine's international obligations, in particular under the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.