CNN Exclusive: Leading Experts Accuse Russia of Inciting Genocide in Ukraine and Trying to 'Destroy' the Ukrainian People

Zelensky talks about the genocide by Russia 2:26

(CNN) --

Russia's actions in Ukraine provide enough evidence to conclude that Moscow is inciting genocide and committing atrocities aimed at destroying the Ukrainian people, according to the first independent report on allegations of genocide in that country.

The legal report, signed by more than 30 leading jurists and genocide experts, accuses the Russian state of violating several articles of the United Nations Convention on Genocide.

It warns that there is a grave and imminent risk of genocide in Ukraine, backing up the accusations with a long list of evidence that includes examples of mass killings of civilians, forced deportations, and dehumanizing anti-Ukrainian rhetoric used by senior Russian officials.

The report was produced by the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, a US-based think tank, and the Canada-based Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, and will be released this Friday;

the authors will send copies to parliaments, governments and international organizations around the world.

An advance copy of the report has been shared exclusively with CNN.

"We brought together leading legal experts from around the world who then examined all the evidence and came to the conclusion that the Russian Federation is responsible for violations of the Genocide Convention in Ukraine," Azeem Ibrahim of the New York Times told CNN. Lines Institute.

Ibrahim visited Ukraine in March to gather evidence for the report.

"This is a very comprehensive and detailed examination of extensive evidence," he said.

"What we have seen so far is that this war is genocidal in nature, in terms of the language that is used and the way that it is executed. That is very, very clear."

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• More and more voices accuse Russia of "genocide"

The destruction left by Russian troops in Kharkiv 5:06

There is a "high risk of genocide" in Ukraine by Russia

Under the UN Genocide Convention, its signatories have a legal obligation to prevent genocide, and the report urges the international community to act.

"We don't have time for anything, we believe there is a very serious risk of genocide," Ibrahim said.

"Every country that is a signatory to the Genocide Convention, and that's 151 countries, including the Russian Federation, every country has to do everything they can to stop this, otherwise they will also be in violation of the convention."

In one of the most chilling parts of the report, the group draws a direct comparison to the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, urging the world to act before it is too late: "Details of the mass murder of more than 7,000 boys and men Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica only came to the attention of the international community when it was already too late to prevent a genocide that occurred in a matter of days. In 2022, we have the ability to accurately track similar atrocities as they unfold and respond accordingly."

• New York Times investigation reveals possible war crime in Bucha involving Russian forces

Zelensky talks about the genocide by Russia 2:26

The report takes direct aim at Moscow, accusing Russia's top officials of orchestrating incitement to genocide and laying the groundwork for future genocide by repeatedly denying the existence of a Ukrainian identity.

The Kremlin has strongly disagreed with President Joe Biden's statement in April that he considered Russia's actions in Ukraine "genocide."

The New Lines and Raoul Wallenberg Center report says the Russian state is in violation of Article II and Article III(c) of the Genocide Convention.

Article II of the convention states that genocide is an attempt to commit acts "with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group."

Article III (c) refers to "direct and public incitement to commit genocide".

As examples of evidence that Russia is breaching the convention, experts point to the repeated statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has made it clear that he believes Ukraine has no right to exist as an independent state.

They also point to the dehumanizing language used by senior Russian officials to describe Ukrainians, including worlds such as "bestial," "subordinate," and "filthy," as well as their description of Ukraine as a "Nazi state" and an "existential threat." for Russia.

But the report goes further than alleging that Russia intends to commit genocide, accusing Russian forces of carrying out a "constant and widespread pattern of atrocities against Ukrainian civilians collectively" in the course of the invasion.

Says that the well-documented massacres and summary executions in Bucha, Staryi Bykiv, and in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, Russia's deliberate attacks on shelters, evacuation routes and health facilities, as well as indiscriminate attacks and shelling of residential areas, the rapes, sieges, grain thefts and forced deportations to Russia amount to a "genocidal pattern of destruction".

CNN has independently confirmed many of the atrocities mentioned in the report.

Is Putin committing genocide in Ukraine?

This is what the experts say 2:14

The New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Center previously investigated the Rohingya and Uyghur genocides in Myanmar and China respectively, and produced the first report to find that China's actions in Xinjiang constituted genocide under the Genocide Convention.

The team of authors includes David Scheffer, who played a pivotal role in the talks that established the International Criminal Court as the first US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues.

Former Canadian Ambassador to the UN Allan Rock, and Charles Taku, the lead attorney for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Court for Sierra Leone, were also involved.

In addition to legal scholars and genocide experts, the New Lines Institute team also includes open source intelligence researchers and linguists who examined testimony and communications intercepts.

-- CNN's Rebecca Wright contributed reporting.

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