Between Genocide and War Crime – Legal-Cultural Analysis of the Russian Aggression in Ukraine

The cultural context, where two neighboring Slavic nations are in a state of war and the Russian imperialistic approach has never gone away for good, must be taken seriously into consideration. The international legal analysis of the Russo-Ukrainian war is not enough to truly understand the essence – rationale – of this armed conflict and then to find a solution to how to solve it and punish the perpetrator – the Russian Federation. The arguments gathered here by the author come from her own experience during trips to Russia and Ukraine, as well as military courses facilitation where students are taught that in modern warfighting it becomes more and more valid to change the (Western) lens and begin thinking as the perpetrator does. Only then we are objectively able to see and understand if the atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine bear the hallmarks of a war crime or an act of genocide.