The Ukraine Parliament, Thursday, labelled Russian actions ‘genocide’, AFP reported. The decision arrives on the heels of mass civilian graves being found in Bucha, a town near the nation’s capital, Kyiv after Russian troops retreated from the area.

President Vladimir Putin, after sending forces into the NATO-leaning nation, is already facing accusations of having committed war crimes.

After Russian forces faced slow progress on the ground, the army changed tactics to shelling, often having civilian targets, with Mariupol being among the cities experiencing the brunt of their attack.

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There have been predictions that Russia is now changing tactics in the war, deciding to attack from the east. With a new man in charge, Aleksandr Dvornikov, also known by the moniker the Butcher of Syria, fears have grown that he’ll bring over the tactics- airstrikes and chemical attacks – that helped President Bashar al-Assad stymy the civil war.

Ukraine had at one point been willing to launch peace talks with everything on the table, as President of the war-torn nation, Volodymyr Zelensky, hinted in, what he called a “compromise for all“. However, at the time reports had emerged that Putin had told Roman Abramovich, Chelsea owner, who is reportedly leading peace talks between the two nations, that he intended to ‘thrash’ the Ukrainians‘ peace offer.

Putin initially sent in his army claiming to want to ‘denazify’ and ‘demilitarize’ Ukraine, after months of a tense standoff at the nation’s border, during which time Moscow repeatedly demanded that Kyiv shouldn’t join NATO. 

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Ukraine is now hesitant about joining the military bloc but several other European countries like Finland have shown interest in joining NATO. This goes against Russia’s desire for decreased military presence in the organization.

Currently, Russia’s goal in Ukraine, as highlighted by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who calls himself Putin’s ‘foot soldier’, is to capture the east and then make a push for other Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv.

While peace was once a chance, current circumstances suggest it is a distant dream now.