Russia has falsely claimed that Ukraine has committed genocide against Russian Ukrainians living in the Donbas since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014. This allegation was repeated by Russia's president Vladimir Putin with regard to the War in Donbas, which involved heavy fighting between Ukraine and Russian separatists for eight years, and was ultimately cited by him as a cause for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There is no evidence to support the allegation and it has been widely rejected among the international community.
In response to Russia's allegation, Ukraine submitted a case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), asserting that Putin's government had used false rhetoric to justify the "special military operation" in Ukraine and also highlighting "acts of genocide" in and beyond Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. During the proceedings of Ukraine v. Russian Federation, the ICJ stated that it had found no evidence of a genocide of Russians by Ukraine, with the International Association of Genocide Scholars expressing the same view. Further reports by 30 scholars of genocide and international law warned of Russia's engagement in the "accusation in a mirror" technique, which was indicative of the Russian incitement to commit genocide against Ukrainians.