Lithuania’s parliament has declared that Russia will be viewed as a terrorist country and that their actions in Ukraine will be regarded as genocide. The Lithuanian Seimas posted a tweet on Tuesday May 10 stating that the members had passed the resolution unanimously, with 128 votes. You can also find this information shared on the Lithuanian Seimas Facebook page. The resolution reads as follows: ‘The war against Ukraine by the Russian Federation is a genocide of the Ukrainian nation carried out by Russia. The Russian Federation is a country that supports and executes terrorism.’
On Tuesday May 10 Ukraine’s centre for strategic communications and security also posted a tweet on the topic of Lithuania declaring Russia a terrorist country, sharing the information with their followers.
First to declare mindset
The passing of this resolution means that Lithuania has become the first country to declare Russia a perpetrator of terrorism. Lithuania’s resolution states that Russia’s armed forces and mercenaries have committed war crimes in Ukraine. The evidence for this has been drawn from the atrocities reported in Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol, Borodyaka, Hostomel and other cities as stated by public broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT).
Within the resolution, it was also stated that the Lithuanian parliament ‘recognizes the full-scale armed aggression – war – against Ukraine by the armed forces of the Russian Federation and its political and military leadership…as genocide against the Ukrainian people.’
The resolution finished by stating Russia, ‘whose military forces deliberately and systematically target civilian targets, is a state that supports and perpetrates terrorism.’
