Russian troops entering settlements, trying to eliminate community leaders is a marker of many genocides - researcher Totten

Samuel Totten, an American professor and researcher of genocides, shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

"Whenever Putin speaks on television or radio, collect these recordings and comments, because he has said certain things about Ukraine not being a sovereign state, that it is part of Russia, and that he wants to return what he considers Russian territory. But he is wrong. Ukraine is a sovereign state, whether Putin wants to recognize it or not," he said.

Totten added that Putin has committed international criminal offenses for which there are no excuses.

"Also, as part of the documentation, you record where exactly the fighting took place, what weapons were used, how many missiles were fired at a particular city. You are looking at the complete destruction of cities, villages and towns across the country. And all this can be documented. You go and film, talk to witnesses, to survivors, to Ukrainian soldiers who saw with their own eyes what these criminals were doing. This is invaluable information. So you collect evidence that will then show the world exactly what Putin did. The war crimes that he committed, the crimes against humanity that Russian soldiers committed on the ground, and the acts of genocide that they committed, particularly in Bucha. But there are many places of mass killings, and I feel that, unfortunately, even more will be discovered," the researcher noted.

In his opinion, this may lead to the decision that it was indeed an intention to try to destroy part of the Ukrainian people.

"And something else very important, if we talk about genocide, from the interviews I conducted, I realized that often when Russians entered a town or village, one of the first things they did was to find out who the leaders were and somehow eliminate them. This happened in many genocides, it happened in Cambodia, it happened in Rwanda. You go in, you take away the leaders, and then the community starts to disintegrate, so this is part of the genocide. So all this has to be taken into account. I think it's quite clear to the world, unless you're an ally of Russia who is falling for the lies that Putin is spreading about Ukraine not being a sovereign state," Totten said. 

The researcher believes that in many cases, the evidence collected will be used to consider schemes of attacks, schemes of the destruction of entire communities, schemes of destruction or murder of community leaders, and abduction of children.

"Therefore, I am convinced that the leaders, including Putin, will not be able to avoid responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide," he concluded.