What genocide means and what Joe Biden’s accusation mean for Russia

Here are specific legal implications of the US President’s words and why it’s hard to prove

US President Joe Biden has accused Russia of trying to commit genocide in Ukraine and doubled down when asked if he meant what he had said.

“Evidence is mounting,” he said on Tuesday, that Moscow is trying to “wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian”.

While Ukrainian officials and supporters have used the term genocide, other international leaders and organisations have shied away from using the word.

A boy rides a bicycle past a house that was damaged by shelling in Andriivka village, not far from Kyiv. EPA

A destroyed residential building in Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. Reuters

Firefighters at work on the outskirts of Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine. EPA

A torn Ukrainian flag in front of a ruined Mariupol apartment building. Reuters

Residents who cleared debris after Russian shelling eat lunch outside a damaged building in Makariv, near Kyiv. EPA

Children play with a therapeutic dog at a shelter organised by volunteers in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. Reuters

A girl stands by the door of a bunker in Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, as Russian troops intensify a campaign to take the strategic port city of Mariupol. AFP

A firefighter at work following a missile attack near Kharkiv International Airport. Reuters

A Ukrainian fighter walks in front of a destroyed house in Bohdanivka village, north-east of Kyiv. AFP

Two women hug outside a heavily damaged apartment block following an artillery attack in Kharkiv. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers guard the village of Barvinkove, as Russia's invasion on Ukraine continues. Reuters

Leonid Serdiuchenko, a Ukrainian commander, stands next to destroyed vehicles outside Barvinkove. Reuters

A woman carries the portrait of Dmytro Stefienko, 32, a civilian killed during the war, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

A Russian soldier collects weapons from inside the Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine. AFP

Relatives and friends attend the funeral of Andriy Matviychuk, 37, who served as a territorial defence soldier, who was captured and killed by the Russian army in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

Anatoliy Morykin, 45, left, mourns the death of his mother, Valentyna Morykina, 82, who died in a retirement home in Bucha during the Russian invasion. AP

Nadiya, 65, shows a hole in a wall of a building after shelling in Zalissya, Ukraine. EPA

A booby trap found by locals near their home in Zalissya. EPA

Debris of a school bus near a damaged school that was a base for Russian troops in Bohdanivka, Ukraine. EPA

A man examines the debris of a destroyed Russian tank in Bohdanivka. EPA

President Joe Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Des Moines International Airport, en route to Washington. AP

Valentina Saroyan sits in the basement of a school in Yahidne, near Chernihiv, Ukraine. AP

Vasyl Cherepenko stands next to a mass grave at a cemetery in Yahidne, near Dnipro, Ukraine. AP

Oksana, second from left, and Yevhen, right, talk with police officers next to their apartment building damaged by shelling in Irpin, Ukraine. AP

Women bid farewell to relatives as they leave the Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP

The partially destroyed Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine, hit on March 16 by an air strike. AFP

A man embraces his wife as she prepares to board a train at Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP

A woman walks through a damaged apartment building after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

A missile pierces the road in front of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. Reuters

A boy walks by unexploded Russian shells in the village of Andriyivka close to Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian tanks move down a street in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

A man walks past a storage place for burned armed vehicles and cars, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Local residents stand on top of a Russian tank on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian families, who have fled Kherson amid the Russian invasion, watch a dolphin show at a hotel in Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters

Residents stand outside their apartments as shops burn after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

Irina Szymanska holds her baby in a temporary shelter at the central train station for displaced people heading to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images

A man walks in his yard, damaged by shelling, in the village of Andriivka, Ukraine. EPA

Sixty-two-year-old Luba hugs a Ukrainian servicewoman in Andriivka. EPA

A woman washes clothes in the yard of a ruined house in Andriivka. EPA

Russian soldiers patrol a street in Volnovakha, in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. The picture was taken during a trip organised by the Russian military. AFP

Russian mine clearers search for explosive objects in a building the Russian authorities say was damaged by Ukrainian shelling. AFP

A woman reads a book as residents find shelter from shelling in a metro station in Kharkiv. Reuters

Firefighters try to contain a fire at a plant in Kharkiv following Russian shelling. Reuters

Farm owner Zlobina Lubov tends to her animals in the village of Malaya Rohan, Ukraine. Reuters

A bathtub is seen inside a building that was heavily damaged by shelling in Kharkiv. Reuters

A man looks out of his window, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Borodianka. Reuters

Soldiers 'came to my house and said go to the basement' Zinaida Makishaiva, 82, said, before they started to shoot around her. 'God saved my life,' she said. Reuters

A mother waits for police officers to exhume the body of her son from a well at a fuel station in Buzova, Kyiv region. According to the head of the village, he was killed by Russian soldiers. Reuters

Genocide, they point out, has a specific legal definition and carries severe implications.

Here is everything you need to know about the term and what Mr Biden’s comments could mean for Russia.

What is the definition of genocide?

The term genocide was coined by Jewish-Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, who studied linguistics in the now Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Disturbed that there was no specific crime for targeting an ethnic, racial or religious group with extermination solely on the basis of its identity, he made it his life’s work to have it defined as a crime in international law.

He wrote in 1948 that the use of the term genocide “is intended rather to signify a co-ordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves”.

Lemkin, who lost family members in the Holocaust, worked on the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. His work paid off.

After the Second World War, the crime of genocide gained international recognition with the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, or the Genocide Convention, for short.

The 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as a crime committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.

Criminal acts comprising genocide include killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, creating conditions calculated to destroy them, preventing births or forcibly transferring children to other groups.

The UN convention makes this illegal – but it’s far harder to prove.

The convention calls on all states that have ratified it to enact legislation to criminalise genocide. It states that anyone so accused should face trial in the country in which the action took place “or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction”.

Who has used the word genocide about Ukraine?

As well as Mr Biden, the Ukrainian government has called Russia’s offensive a genocide and has pressed the West to use the term. Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously accused Kyiv of committing genocide against Russian-speaking communities in Ukraine.

A boy rides a bicycle past a house that was damaged by shelling in Andriivka village, not far from Kyiv. EPA

A destroyed residential building in Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. Reuters

Firefighters at work on the outskirts of Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine. EPA

A torn Ukrainian flag in front of a ruined Mariupol apartment building. Reuters

Residents who cleared debris after Russian shelling eat lunch outside a damaged building in Makariv, near Kyiv. EPA

Children play with a therapeutic dog at a shelter organised by volunteers in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. Reuters

A girl stands by the door of a bunker in Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, as Russian troops intensify a campaign to take the strategic port city of Mariupol. AFP

A firefighter at work following a missile attack near Kharkiv International Airport. Reuters

A Ukrainian fighter walks in front of a destroyed house in Bohdanivka village, north-east of Kyiv. AFP

Two women hug outside a heavily damaged apartment block following an artillery attack in Kharkiv. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers guard the village of Barvinkove, as Russia's invasion on Ukraine continues. Reuters

Leonid Serdiuchenko, a Ukrainian commander, stands next to destroyed vehicles outside Barvinkove. Reuters

A woman carries the portrait of Dmytro Stefienko, 32, a civilian killed during the war, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

A Russian soldier collects weapons from inside the Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine. AFP

Relatives and friends attend the funeral of Andriy Matviychuk, 37, who served as a territorial defence soldier, who was captured and killed by the Russian army in Bucha, Ukraine. AP

Anatoliy Morykin, 45, left, mourns the death of his mother, Valentyna Morykina, 82, who died in a retirement home in Bucha during the Russian invasion. AP

Nadiya, 65, shows a hole in a wall of a building after shelling in Zalissya, Ukraine. EPA

A booby trap found by locals near their home in Zalissya. EPA

Debris of a school bus near a damaged school that was a base for Russian troops in Bohdanivka, Ukraine. EPA

A man examines the debris of a destroyed Russian tank in Bohdanivka. EPA

President Joe Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Des Moines International Airport, en route to Washington. AP

Valentina Saroyan sits in the basement of a school in Yahidne, near Chernihiv, Ukraine. AP

Vasyl Cherepenko stands next to a mass grave at a cemetery in Yahidne, near Dnipro, Ukraine. AP

Oksana, second from left, and Yevhen, right, talk with police officers next to their apartment building damaged by shelling in Irpin, Ukraine. AP

Women bid farewell to relatives as they leave the Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP

The partially destroyed Mariupol drama theatre in Ukraine, hit on March 16 by an air strike. AFP

A man embraces his wife as she prepares to board a train at Slovyansk central station in the Donbas region. AFP

A woman walks through a damaged apartment building after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

A missile pierces the road in front of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. Reuters

A boy walks by unexploded Russian shells in the village of Andriyivka close to Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian tanks move down a street in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

A man walks past a storage place for burned armed vehicles and cars, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Local residents stand on top of a Russian tank on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian families, who have fled Kherson amid the Russian invasion, watch a dolphin show at a hotel in Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters

Residents stand outside their apartments as shops burn after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

Irina Szymanska holds her baby in a temporary shelter at the central train station for displaced people heading to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images

A man walks in his yard, damaged by shelling, in the village of Andriivka, Ukraine. EPA

Sixty-two-year-old Luba hugs a Ukrainian servicewoman in Andriivka. EPA

A woman washes clothes in the yard of a ruined house in Andriivka. EPA

Russian soldiers patrol a street in Volnovakha, in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. The picture was taken during a trip organised by the Russian military. AFP

Russian mine clearers search for explosive objects in a building the Russian authorities say was damaged by Ukrainian shelling. AFP

A woman reads a book as residents find shelter from shelling in a metro station in Kharkiv. Reuters

Firefighters try to contain a fire at a plant in Kharkiv following Russian shelling. Reuters

Farm owner Zlobina Lubov tends to her animals in the village of Malaya Rohan, Ukraine. Reuters

A bathtub is seen inside a building that was heavily damaged by shelling in Kharkiv. Reuters

A man looks out of his window, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Borodianka. Reuters

Soldiers 'came to my house and said go to the basement' Zinaida Makishaiva, 82, said, before they started to shoot around her. 'God saved my life,' she said. Reuters

A mother waits for police officers to exhume the body of her son from a well at a fuel station in Buzova, Kyiv region. According to the head of the village, he was killed by Russian soldiers. Reuters

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week that the scale of atrocities “doesn’t look far short of genocide”.

But Ukraine’s call for the wider adoption of the term has yet to be adopted by other international leaders.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called Russia’s actions in Ukraine “a violation of international law” but has not used the word genocide.

While French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly condemned Russia’s actions, he said Mr Biden’s use of the term could be an unhelpful “verbal escalation”.

“I would say that Russia unilaterally unleashed the most brutal war, that it is now established that war crimes were committed by the Russian army,” he told France 2 TV. Yet, he said, it was best to be “careful” with terminology.

Who has a say on what constitutes genocide?

More or less anyone can brand an act of violence genocide but some accusations carry more weight than others.

Numerous instances of mass violence have been labelled genocide, by many countries and international bodies, since 1948. But only three cases since then met the threshold for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, although several charges filed have not yet been tried.

These are the Khmer Rouge’s slaughter of an estimated 1.7 million, including minority Cham Cambodians and Vietnamese, in the 1970s, the mass killings of 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994 and the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Bosnia the next year.

There have been convictions in all three cases.

The definition of genocide is quite specific and may not always be applicable, even to the mass killing of civilians.

“Genocide is a difficult crime to prove. Parties have to bring a lot to the table,” Melanie O’Brien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, told Reuters.

She said it requires the prosecutors demonstrate intent, the targeting of a protected group and crimes such as the forcible removal of children.

A young woman looks out the window as her train arrives from Pokrovsk, in the east of Ukraine, to Lviv in the country's centre. Getty

A truck carries black bags containing bodies exhumed from a mass grave for investigations in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

A child uses an air rifle to shoot at a target with the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty

Firefighters try to contain a blaze at a factory after Russian shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters

A woman reads as residents shelter from Russian shelling in a Kharkiv metro station. Reuters

Ukrainian rescuers try to put out the fire at a private building after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA

A couple of residents walk past burning shops after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

A destroyed Russian tank on the outskirts of Buzova village in Kyiv draws crowds of curious residents. AFP

The Russian offensive in the Kyiv region has left a huge crater on a bridge in Makariv. AFP

Workers put an Ukrainian flag on a pole in the centre of Makariv. AFP

A Ukrainian mother is comforted by relatives after the body of her son was discovered in a manhole in Buzova village, west of Kyiv. AFP

An injured Ukrainian on a medical evacuation train bound for the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP

A Doctors Without Borders team at work on medical evacuation train. AFP

A damaged building in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

Graves of the victims of the Ukraine-Russia conflict in Mariupol. Reuters

Emergency workers sift through debris of a damaged building in Mariupol. Reuters

The conflict has forced Mariupol residents to wait in line for drinking water. Reuters

A Russian military vehicle in Mariupol. Reuters

Food distribution at a church in the town of Borodyanka, north-west of Kyiv. AP

A visitor is in shock after returning to her church, which had come under Russian attack, in the Kyiv town of Makaro. AP

Mourners gather at the funeral of Ukrainian soldier Andriy Zagornyakon in Kamianka-Buzka. Getty Images

A resident returns with his dog to survey his damaged building in Kharkiv. EPA

A woman and a child are forced to sit on the corridor of a building in Kharkiv that is used as a bomb shelter. EPA

A Ukrainian guard in the eastern town of Barvinkove, during Russia's invasion of its neighbouring country. AFP

Ukrainian guards strengthen their position in the eastern town of Barvinkove. AFP

Emotional farewell at the train station in the eastern Ukrainian city Kramatorsk, which has come under Russian attack. AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman surveys the damaged cultural centre, in the town of Rubizhne, Luhansk region. AFP

A participant at the pro-Ukrainian demonstration outside Downing Street in London. Reuters

Colleagues bid farewell to Yuriy Dadak-Ruf and Taras Kryt, the Ukrainian soldiers killed in Russian shelling of the Luhansk region. Reuters

A villager warms himself in the yard of his house in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Vlad, the six-year old Ukrainian who lost his mother during their confinement in a Bucha basement amid the Russian invasion, plays with a friend inside his house. AP

A group of women wait to receive free food in Bucha. AP

Shakhtar Donetsk players carry the Ukrainian flag before their football match against Olympiakos in Piraeus, near Athens. AP

Rescue workers clear the rubble of an apartment building in Borodianka. Getty Images

A man repairs the roof of a house while standing on a ladder, in Andriivka, Ukraine. Getty Images

Valerii, 65, rides by his destroyed apartment building in Borodianka. Getty Images

A Ukrainian woman in Borodianka waits as rescue workers search for her daughter, her son-in-law and her granddaughter among the rubble. Getty Images

Family photos are scattered among the debris of a destroyed apartment tower in Borodianka. Getty Images

A distraught survivor of the attack on Borodianka. Getty Images

Debris of an apartment building in Borodianka. Getty Images

A writing on the gate of a destroyed building in Andriivka - 'Shells, mines?' - points to the threat faced by Ukrainians. Getty Images

Another writing on the fence of a destroyed building, in Andriivka, reads 'People children live here'. Getty Images

A bullet-riddled car near Ozera. Getty Images

Has there been a genocide in Ukraine?

That is not the official position of many countries but the International Criminal Court, which can try cases of genocide as well as crimes against humanity, opened an investigation into allegations of war crimes.

Ukrainian prosecutors have also been compiling what they say are hundreds of cases of possible war crimes.

But experts question whether there is evidence of genocide at this stage.

“It is not immediately apparent to me, on the basis of evidence available, that this standard is met,” said Philippe Sands, director of the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals at University College London.

“That said, there is genocidal rhetoric and it is important to be alert. Equally, it must be said, that there is no hierarchy of crimes in international law, and crimes against humanity, which appear to be occurring, are no less terrible than genocide,” he said.

This is an important point: even if a mass act of violence does not satisfy the legal definition of genocide it can still be a crime against humanity or a war crime which is also illegal under international law.

One of the key points that separate genocide from crimes against humanity is intent, which the UN says is the hardest to prove.

“Intent is the most difficult element to determine. To constitute genocide, there must be a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,” the UN said.

Rather than wrangle over whether genocide has been committed, Mr Sands pointed out there are other avenues to pursue in holding to account those who may have broken international law.

“I would also put the accent on the crime of aggression, waging a manifestly illegal war – it’s the only way to reach the top table with any degree of certitude.”

Mr Sands said Mr Biden’s remarks may not represent a legal accusation or even the US government’s official position.

“It may be that the term is being used in a political rather than legal sense.”

Eliav Lieblich, a professor of international criminal law at Tel Aviv University, picked up Mr Sands’ point that without a hierarchy in international law Ukraine could seek charges of crimes against humanity rather than genocide to avoid the wrangling over the definition.

“Charging Russians with crimes against humanity or war crimes is much easier legally since you don’t have to prove the special intent required for the crime of genocide, meaning, that the act was with intent to destroy a group as such,” Prof Lieblich said.

“There might be some marginal legal effects to classifying what’s happening in Ukraine as genocide, but clearly the key issue here is expressive. Genocide carries connotations of a supreme evil, beyond any tangible legal effects,” he said.

Sergey Vasiliev, an associate professor at the Amsterdam Center for Criminal Justice also highlights the political aspect of the term.

"In public discourse, genocide is often seen as the ‘crime of crimes’. The notion immediately evokes strong emotions and the imagery of past genocides such as the Holocaust, Srebrenica and the 1994 Rwandan genocide after which the international community made the solemn promise of ‘never again’ – broken over and over again," he says.

"Calling a situation in which mass atrocities are committed (such as what has come to surface in Bucha) as genocide often serves as a rhetorical trigger to spur the international community, especially its hesitating members, into more decisive action which may range from the harsher sanctions against the culprit state to joining as a party to the armed conflict."

Who tries cases of genocide?

As the 1944 convention states, cases should be tried in the country where the action took place. That’s not always possible and any signatory country can try a case as well as the International Criminal Court.

The case of the murder of tens of thousands of Yazidi and minority groups by ISIS in Iraq between 2014 and 2017 has been branded genocide by dozens of countries and UN bodies. The UN Security Council has formed an investigatory team to determine if the killings amount to genocide but has yet to instruct the International Criminal Court to take up the case.

That did not stop Germany last year from convicting Iraqi citizen and ISIS member Taha Al Jumailly, 29, to life in prison for genocide for his role in the killings.

Implications of genocide accusation for Russia

In the short term, the implications of Mr Biden’s remarks are likely to be limited.

There is no indication that the US plans to file charges against Russian leaders or military commanders or seek their extradition to face a trial.

So, unless more states start to adopt the position and a case is brought before the International Criminal Court, it is unclear that Mr Biden’s remarks will have any tangible legal impact on Russia.