“The current attack of the occupiers in Donbass may make the area uninhabited,” Zelensky said in his televised daily speech, accusing the Russian forces of seeking to “flatten” many of the cities and towns of this mining basin.
He added that the Russian forces are practicing “deportation” and “mass killing of civilians” in Donbass, considering that “all of this … constitutes a clear genocidal policy implemented by Russia.”
Thus, the Ukrainian president has directed the Russian forces the same accusation that Moscow directed his forces to justify their attack on his country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukrainian forces of committing “genocide” against the Russian-speaking population of Donbass.
In April, the Ukrainian parliament passed a text describing the Russian military’s practices in the country as “genocide”, urging countries and international organizations to do the same.
US President Joe Biden has previously used the same term to describe what Russian forces are doing in Ukraine.
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