Russian ethnic cleansing in Ukraine

 ISW:

Russia continues to conduct massive, forced deportations of Ukrainians that likely amount to a deliberate ethnic cleansing campaign in addition to apparent violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin stated on October 14 that “several thousand” children from Kherson Oblast are “already in other regions of Russia, resting in rest homes and children’s camps.”[1] As ISW has previously reported, Russian authorities openly admitted to placing children from occupied areas of Ukraine up for adoption with Russian families in a manner that may constitute a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.[2]

Russian authorities may additionally be engaged in a wider campaign of ethnic cleansing by depopulating Ukrainian territory through deportations and repopulating Ukrainian cities with imported Russian citizens. Ethnic cleansing has not in itself been specified as a crime under international law but has been defined by the United Nations Commission of Experts on violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia as “rendering an area ethnically homogeneous by using force or intimidation to remove persons of given groups from the area” and “a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.”[3] According to the UN definition, ethnic cleansing may be carried out by forcible removal, among other methods.[4] These definitions of ethnic cleansing campaigns are consistent with reports of the forcible deportation and adoption of Ukrainian children, as well as reports by Ukrainian sources that reconstruction projects in Mariupol are intended to house “tens of thousands of Russians” who will move to Mariupol.[5]
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Russia may have signed a new contract with Iran for the supply of Arash-2 drones. Ukrainian and Russian Telegram channels reported “leaked” information from unspecified Iranian sources that Russia has purchased an unknown number of Arash-2 drones, which are purportedly faster and more destructive than the Shahed-136 drones that are currently in use by Russian forces.[14] Commander of the Iranian Ground Forces Brigadier General Kiomars Heydari previously claimed in early September that the Arash-2 drones have unique long-range capabilities and could target cities in Israel such as Tel Aviv and Haifa from bases in Iran.[15] Reports that Moscow is continuing to rely on Tehran for destructive munitions are consistent with a report from the US Treasury Department that suggests Russia is rapidly expending its supply of microelectronics that are critical for the military-industrial complex because it cannot replace key components unavailable because of sanctions.[16] Russia will likely continue to leverage its relationship with Iran to circumvent sanctions, although it is very unlikely that Russian forces will use the Arash-2 to any greater effect than they have used the Shahed-136 model.[17]
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The ethnic cleansing within Ukraine is a clear indication that the Russians are not being welcomed with open arms in Ukraine and that there is significant resistance to their occupation of the parts of Ukraine where they currently have forces.  So are the bodies that have been discovered in areas reclaimed by Ukraine forces. 

The use of the Iranian drones suggests that Russia is running low on its own munition and lacks the ability to build more because it cannot produce some of the high-tech parts.

See, also:

Ukraine news – live: Putin warns of ‘global catastrophe’ if Nato directly clashes with Russian forces

And:

 Zelenskiy: Ukraine troops hold key town, Russia firing more missiles

And:

 Newly mobilised Russian soldiers already returning in coffins

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War Kitten Z, another Russian military blogger with 470,000 subscribers, agreed. He said that mobilised men from Moscow were sent to fight in Ukraine with only one day's training and that half of their regiment had been injured or killed after coming under artillery bombardment.

"These mobilised men were left without command and without control," he said. "They suffered serious losses without even entering into a direct clash."

Videos posted online by Russian men mobilised after Mr Putin's order on September 21st also showed drunkenness, poor food and a lack of equipment. The men were told to buy their own first aid kits and there have been reports of ammunition running out.
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The Russian's shambolic treatment of recruits is a disgrace.  It demonstrates a leadership problem at all levels.