I do not know what we as individuals or the rest of the world should do. It is easy to put nations on an ethical standard and point at what other people “should” be doing, but it would be naive to not be self-aware and put ourselves on that same standard in asking what “I” should do, since these nations are made up of individuals. I think that I (individuals) could help spread some awareness, but to what extent does spreading awareness really help? Many of us, including myself, like to think that we are against what is going on in Ukraine and in no world would we condone these actions. Like Snyder said, since we like to believe that we are not bystanders, then the genocide that is happening cannot really be that bad. Otherwise, we would fight against these wrongs because we all are good moral humans that act on what we believe is right. This narrative that we all tell ourselves is comfortable. It is the easy way out for anyone not interested in making a sacrifice to help others. In the current state of the world where everything, especially related to global issues, is economically driven, I am quite pessimistic about how these conflicts will turn out. I think that one way nations could help is to provide actual refuge to Ukrainians, but there is a risk of intensifying the war. 

Another extremely obvious reason that it's genocide from the 6 criteria:

The most convincing of his 9 classifications for me was:

Based off of the actual definition of genocide and the genocide convention of 1948, something is considered genocide if it has just ONE criteria of the six that Snyder listed. Every single criteria applies to the war. It is genocide to the highest extent. Even more examples that prove it:

As of what we should do, it's hard to say. Unfortunately we're pretty much powerless right now. The utmost important thing that we can do individually is educating ourselves on the war which we've absolutely done by listening to this lecture. I didn't know any of this stuff before I listened to Snyder and simply understanding just how bad and violent it is and understanding the extent of genocide it is is really important because now we really can't ignore it and make excuses. Just by having been educated on the subject and making maybe a small donation to Ukranian funds is enough to put you on Ukraine's side and it's something you could do that could actually help someone. 
The US as a whole and the rest of the world that's not in the war can't really get involved much because that's putting a lot more people in danger, but every single country and especially the US needs to be sending money to help pay for damage and to give families food and such and if it's safe, figuring out a way to get Ukranians to escape and find refuge in other countries, like what Poland is doing right now. Everyone should be like Poland. Once Ukranians get to Poland they can be sent to any country with homes that are willing to take them in (the US!!) 
In conclusion, there is no question of whether or not the war in Ukraine is genocide. It is 100% genocide in every single possible way, literally. Also, people are not putting enough energy into helping Ukraine and they're especially not acknowledging how bad it is. Any small act of kindness towards Ukraine could make a difference, big and small.

The only reason we’re denying it’s genocide is because, like Snyder said, we’re not willing to believe that it’s happening in front of our eyes and we’re not doing anything about it.  Some actions we can take are donating to Ukrainian organizations (if you can), educate other people, go to protests, and most importantly, don’t dismiss their experiences. I’ve seen some people bring up other wars/genocides when Ukrainians talk about their story and that’s extremely insensitive. The U.S. should be more like Poland, and help Ukrainian refugees fleeing their country, but I understand that it could be hard since the U.S. is much further away than Poland is.

I think that individually we need to not be bystanders. Snyder said that in the case of a genocide you can’t be aware that it is happening and stand by; once you do nothing you choose the side of the oppressor. For this reason people try very hard to not see a genocide and to convince themselves it does not exist. We have to make sure that this doesn’t happen. However I also feel like there’s not much we can do as far as not being bystanders. It saddens me that all people can really do is post on social media, but in my opinion that will never help anything. If everyone in the United States was made fully aware of what’s happening in Ukraine, what difference would that actually make? But as people who are not in this war, we can’t just write it off and say that it is happening far away; that’s what happened during the Holocaust. If we don’t try to recognize what is happening we will repeat history. 

Individually, as high school students who live an ocean away, there is not much that we can physically do to help Ukrainians. However, we won't be high school students for long, and in the meantime we have so much influence on the people around us. We need to work towards understanding what is happening and why, and putting that information to use. We are a nation of representatives who constitutionally have power because we, as the people, give it to them. We're the only nation with a giant green statue whose one hand holds a message saying give me your huddled massed yearning to breathe free, and the other hand holding a giant torch to light the way- so why can we not even be indirect upstanders, but are settling for being passive bystanders?

Based on Timothy Snyder’s lecture and the news that I have read about the war on my own, I believe that the violence being committed by the Russian government against the people of the Ukraine does qualify as genocide. It does seem that the majority of this violence is only supported by a minority of the population, mostly those revolving in Putin’s inner circle. In an interview on the Ezra Klein Show, Snyder also mentioned the unpopularity of the war, and the destructive effect that it is having on Russia’s economy and social structure. He discussed how the motives for this war seem largely related to the Russian propaganda system, propelled by Putin’s own ego. However, especially since Russia’s new drafting rules have come into effect, some citizens are either becoming more vocal in their opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or fleeing the country to avoid military conscription, both of which can hopefully contribute to bringing about an end to this ongoing war. 

   

Some of his most convincing examples included the attacks on civilian centers, the violence against women, the dehumanizing ways in which the Ukrainian people are depicted in the Russian media, and the reluctance of leaders in other countries to define the situation as genocide. When explaining the legal definition of genocide, two of the examples of mass violence against a given population that he names are attacks on place such as hospitals or religious centers that are gathering places for non-combatant civilians, and the use of sexual violence against women in an effort to permantly damage the psyche of that population. He also mentions the ways in which the Ukrainian people are depicted to the Russian people, in an effort to demonize them and justify the mass invasion of their country, and the attempts to wipe out their national culture and identity. Finally, Snyder explains how the reluctance of world leaders to condemn the acts of the Russian government as genocide furthur speaks to the guilt of the Russian government, as it is easier for other Nations to avoid condemning the actions of the Russian government as genocide than taking action to prevent it, or dealing with the guilt of inaction. 

I believe that further actions need to be taken both regarding the economic sanctions against Russia, and the amount of aid (both military and non-military) that is being sent to Ukraine and its refugees that have fled to neighboring countries. I have read that one of the major economic roadblocks in creating these sanctions is the fact that much of the EU relies on oil from Russia as fuel. Creating these sanctions, as in the case of Germany, can lead both to potential economic instability in the countries creating the sanctions, as well as raising the levels of greenhouse gas emissions when turning to other power sources such as coal. If more attention and funding was given to this, this could both increase the use of renewable sources of energy across Europe, (nuclear, geothermal, solar, etc.), as well as significantly crippling the Russian economy, and thus their ability to mobilize their military operations, by ending demand for their largest export. It is also crucial to lend more direct support to the Ukrainian people themselves, in terms of increasing international funding for humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine, and in neighboring countries such as Poland that are currently harboring a large number of those who have been displaced by the war.