Depriving a people of language, education, and historical memory may be punishable by imprisonment and included in the definition of genocide

A draft Law "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine Regarding the Inclusion of the Cultural Component in the Crime of Genocide" No. 15331 dated June 15, 2026, has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The legislative initiative aims to clarify the composition of the crime of genocide, as provided for in Article 442 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, by including in its objective side acts related to the destruction of the cultural identity of the protected group.

The authors of the draft justify the need for changes by the necessity to take into account modern forms of aggression, which are implemented not only through the physical or biological destruction of people but also through the systematic destruction of the cultural foundations of the existence of a national community.

What changes are proposed to Article 442 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine

The current version of Article 442 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine defines genocide as intentional acts committed with the purpose of complete or partial destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group by killing its members, causing them serious harm, creating living conditions for physical destruction, implementing measures to prevent childbirth, or forcibly transferring children from one group to another.

The draft law proposes to supplement this list with a new method of committing genocide. It concerns the destruction, damage, appropriation, or systematic deprivation of access to objects of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, language, education, religious practices, traditions, historical memory, or cultural institutions of the respective group.

At the same time, such acts are proposed to be recognized as part of the crime of genocide only if they are aimed at eliminating the cultural identity of the group as a condition or means of its physical or social destruction.

Thus, if the draft law is adopted, the list of methods of committing genocide will be expanded from five to six.

Why is it proposed to expand the composition of genocide

The explanatory note states that the current version of Article 442 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is based on the classical model of genocide and mainly covers physical and biological methods of group destruction.

At the same time, the authors of the draft law believe that modern forms of genocidal policy can be implemented through the systematic destruction of the cultural identity of a people.

That is why it is proposed to consider as a method of committing genocide acts aimed at destroying or displacing language, historical memory, education, religious practices, cultural heritage, and other elements that ensure the existence of a national group as a separate community.

The authors of the draft associate the need for such changes, in particular, with the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

The explanatory note emphasizes that the destruction of cultural heritage objects, displacement of cultural values, displacement of the Ukrainian language, dismantling of monuments, imposition of alternative historical narratives, and liquidation of cultural and educational institutions in temporarily occupied territories are currently not directly covered by the crime of genocide, although they may be aimed at destroying the foundations of the existence of a national group.

What will change for criminal-legal qualification

The explanatory note emphasizes that the proposed changes are not intended to arbitrarily expand the concept of genocide. The authors of the draft consider them as clarifications of the composition of the crime by including acts related to culture as a basic feature of the identity of the protected group in its objective side.

It is expected that such clarification will allow taking into account during investigation and legal assessment not only physical manifestations of violence but also acts aimed at destroying the cultural foundations of the existence of a national community.

At the same time, the sanction of Article 442 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine remains unchanged. For committing genocide, as before, punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of ten to fifteen years or life imprisonment is provided.

Thus, the draft law aims to consider in criminal-legal qualification not only the physical or biological destruction of a group but also acts that may be aimed at destroying its cultural identity.

At the same time, if the new provisions are adopted, one of the key challenges in law enforcement will be proving the specific intent to destroy the group.

Investigators and courts will have to establish not only the fact of destruction of cultural heritage, displacement of language or historical memory but also prove that such acts were aimed precisely at eliminating cultural identity as a condition or means of physical or social destruction of the respective group.

The practice of applying the new norms will determine the limits of their use and the criteria for distinguishing genocide from war crimes and crimes against humanity, which may also include encroachments on cultural values and cultural heritage.

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