The Lithuanian parliament has passed a resolution, saying the ongoing forced relocation of Ukrainians to Russia amount to criminal deportations. The document also calls on the international community to seek accountability for these crimes.
Put forward by 23 MPs and adopted with 50 votes in favour, the resolution recognises that the ongoing large-scale armed aggression and forced relocation of people by the Russian armed forces and its political and military leadership to Russia or territories temporarily under its control constitute deportations of the Ukrainian people.
“Unfortunately, that’s nothing new from an aggressive Russia. Eighty years ago or today, it is committing the same crimes against humanity, deportations, policies and military aggression, leading individual countries and entire regions to possible famine and other terrible things,” said conservative MP Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė, chair of the Committee on European Affairs Committee and one of the MPs behind the resolution.
The document condemns the expulsion of more than one million Ukrainian civilians from their homes and their forced deportation to Russia or territories under its control. According to the resolution, these actions are aimed at destroying the Ukrainian identity. The number of deported civilians includes around 200,000 children, the resolution states.
The Lithuanian parliament’s resolution says this amounts to “genocide of the Ukrainian people”. It also calls for legal measures to stop the deportations and create safe conditions for the deportees to return to Ukraine or any safe country.
The resolution also calls on other countries to prosecute those who organise and contribute to the deportation of the Ukrainian population, participate in forced deportations, commit crimes against humanity, genocide, and other war crimes.
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