Two of Russia’s recent missile attacks in Ukraine neatly convey its genocidal intent in pursuing its criminal war. They also remind us that when Vladimir Putin speaks of negotiations and peace, as he does with predictable regularity, he really means genocide, revanchism and war.

And when Western policymakers and analysts call for negotiations, they are in effect endorsing Putin’s agenda of destroying Ukrainians, enslaving Russians and terrorizing their neighbors.

On May 23, the Faktor-druk printing house in Kharkiv was hit by Russian guided aerial bombs; more than 50,000 books were destroyed.

Faktor-druk is, according to Ukraine Business News, “one of the largest full-cycle printing complexes in Europe, where books from almost all Ukrainian publishing houses were printed, including 50 percent of all textbooks in Ukraine.”

Two days later, Russia struck the Epicentr shopping center in Kharkiv, killing at least 18 and injuring 48. According to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, “This is pure terrorism.”

Not quite. Better to say, "It’s pure genocide."

Kharkiv is being bombarded daily, and the targets are invariably civilian. Until a few months ago, Russia terrorized the city’s residents by dropping occasional bombs. More recent attacks are far more frequent, intensive and sustained. Their goal is no longer to intimidate Kharkivites, but to turn them and their city into human ashes and heaps of bricks.

© The Hill