Both chambers of the Canadian Parliament unanimously recognized Russia's military actions in Ukraine as genocide, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk has said.

"I thank the deputies of California State Senate and the speaker George Furey for recognizing the act of genocide against the Ukrainian people. The Senate of Canada has unanimously passed a resolution identical to that of the House of Commons of Canada. We feel the strong support of Canada and we are moving towards victory together!" Stefanchuk said on Facebook on Friday.

On Wednesday, a similar decision was made by the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada. "By unanimous consent, the House of Commons adopted a motion concerning acts of genocide against the Ukrainian people," the House of Commons said onTwitter.

The website of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) said the initiative was introduced by New Democratic MP Heather McPherson. The petition states that the killing of civilians in Ukraine, the desecration of corpses, the forcible removal of Ukrainian children to the territory of Russia, as well as torture and rape committed by Russian soldiers, are genocide.

After the vote, McPherson said she filed the proposal as a way to push the Liberal government to take stronger action against Russia. "Sanctions have been implemented too slowly, they have been implemented very, very late, they have… given an opportunity for Russian oligarchs to hide their wealth so they have not been appropriate," she said.

McPherson also said she wants the International Criminal Court to receive more federal funding needed to conduct investigations into atrocities in Ukraine. "From my perspective as a parliamentarian in the House of Commons, this is a tool to urge our government to do more. This is a tool to say that the conflict in Ukraine is not over, that the support we've been providing has not been enough and we need to do more for the people of Ukraine," she said.