Gulayim Tolibaeva, 30, sobs as she watches local residents help clear the rubble of a home that was destroyed by a suspected Russian airstrike that killed at least six people in Markhalivka, Ukraine, on Saturday.
Gulayim Tolibaeva, 30, sobs as she watches local residents help clear the rubble of a home that was destroyed by a suspected Russian airstrike that killed at least six people in Markhalivka, Ukraine, on Saturday.
In just the first 10 days of the 2022 Russian assault on Ukraine, tens of thousands of homes across the country have been deliberately targeted by Russian forces and left either severely damaged or completely destroyed. These numbers are on top of the estimated 55,000 homes destroyed since Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 and will likely continue to increase in the coming days as Russia’s assault on Ukraine gains momentum.
It is no accident that homes are specifically being targeted by the Russian offence. This tactic points to a historical pattern of Russian military doctrine. During the Chechen Wars from 1994 to 2009, Russian forces systematically destroyed rural homes and villages to punish the families of opposition fighters. The tactic of destroying homes was later expanded to cities where an attack in a busy urban environment could level many homes within a small area.
Chechnya’s capital city, Grozny, was named the most destroyed city on earth as a result of the punitive Russian destruction of public infrastructure and civilian homes. In the more recent Syrian War, Russian forces have razed Syrian communities — what Human Rights Watch has described as “wiping neighbourhoods off the map” — to prop up the Bashar Assad regime. Russian forces are applying these same tactics in Ukraine.
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Destroying the homes of civilians has no strategic advantage for Russia. But these actions are extremely effective at compounding the resisting population’s suffering and thereby breaking collective morale. To experience one’s home being destroyed can cause significant distress and in some cases contribute to increased rates of depression and anxiety. This loss can be one of the deepest wounds to one’s sense of self. Not only is the physical structure of the home destroyed, but past memories, a present sense of security and stability, and dreams for the future are also lost.
War is horrible. It destroys families, communities, and nations. Buildings and infrastructure are inevitably damaged and destroyed. But in Ukraine, the direct and wanton destruction of civilian homes outside of military necessity is another level of heinousness. It is a war crime.
Under international law, belligerents must discriminate between combatant and civilian targets to limit the destructive scope of war. Russian forces have ignored international law, directing warplanes and artillery pieces to intentionally and indiscriminately target Ukrainian homes. Russia has repeatedly violated its duty to respect civilian lives and property by using conventional weapons known to cause mass destruction, as well as cluster and thermobaric weapon systems, both of which have been criticized by human rights groups for their potential to cause mass destruction. If the war continues unabated and maintains its current grim trajectory, Russia will likely wipe most Ukrainian neighbourhoods off the map.
In classifying the destruction of home as a war crime, the international community must hold Russia accountable for every instance of such in the course of its invasion into Ukraine. Human rights organizations, humanitarian aid agencies, and community groups should help to document these cases in order to potentially provide future justice for those whose homes have specifically been targeted in the course of war.
To guide international actors who wish to hold Russia accountable for its actions, we propose a Convention Against Domicide as a framework by which to identify, hold accountable, and prevent the targeting of homes in current and future conflicts. Though there are many documents and conventions that allude to the right to home, none explicitly promote and protect the right to home in the context of war. The Convention Against Domicide will fill such a gap.
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Nothing good ever comes from war. But perhaps one fruitful outcome from the current devastation in Ukraine could be international efforts to ensure that Russia is held responsible. We can add the destruction of civilian homes to the long list of Russian war crimes.
Bree Akesson is the Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Global Adversity and Well-being at Wilfrid Laurier University. Andrew Basso is a researcher affiliated with the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy (LISPOP) at Wilfrid Laurier University. Their new book, “From Bureaucracy to Bullets: Extreme Domicide and the Right to Home,” was recent published by Rutgers University Press.
