In the words of US President Joe Biden, on February 24, 2022, Russia launched a genocidal war against Ukraine “to destroy even the idea of being Ukrainian”.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
Since then, Russia has fired more than 3,500 missiles at the cities of Ukraine, and the world has watched in dismay as devastation unprecedented in Europe since World War II.
Despite this war between David and Goliath, the Ukrainian armed forces, with the full support of the people of Ukraine and the help of the West, especially the United States, are surely and systematically regaining the territories occupied by Russia at a impressive pace.
This has recently prompted Vladimir Putin to adopt three desperate measures: a) to brandish – once again – the threat of using nuclear weapons, a move that the world community has called self-destructive; b) order a mobilization, a decision that prompted hundreds of thousands of Russians to flee the country – not because of their moral opposition to war against Ukraine, but because they do not want to be used as cannon fodder for Russia; and (c) staging internationally condemned pseudo-referendums and proclaiming a so-called annexation of the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, while Ukrainian forces are in the process of liberating these regions – a further demonstration of the illusions in which Putin is deluded.
Frustrated by the pitiful result of these desperate measures and exasperated by Ukraine’s incredible military success in recapturing Russian-occupied territories, the latter launched, on October 10, 2022, its most intense air assault against the population. Ukrainian civil society, critical energy infrastructure and densely populated areas. On that day alone, Russia fired 84 missiles and deployed 24 suicide drones into Ukraine.
This utter brutality unequivocally demonstrates the Kremlin’s intent to punish and terrorize the Ukrainian civilian population in revenge for their military defeats.
It is now inadmissible that the West continues to deprive Ukraine of the necessary weapons that will help it secure a no-fly zone and fully recover its territorial integrity.
During this genocidal war, the West has also felt the ill effects of Russia’s hybrid aggression, as the Kremlin continues to weaponize everything it can, including gas, nuclear power plants, energy infrastructure, food, refugees and information. For example, the October 10 Russian attack on about 30% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was also aimed at disrupting Ukrainian electricity exports to European countries, which help them save on Russian gas.
Additionally, three of the missiles fired by Russia from the Black Sea on October 10 violated the airspace of Moldova, a country that was granted candidate status for EU membership in 2022. It This is another manifestation of Russia’s dangerous disregard for the airspace and territorial integrity of independent States.
This is why, at their summit, on June 29, 2022 in Madrid, the member countries of NATO rightly declared that “Russia poses the most important and direct threat to their security and to peace. and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine has shattered the peace that reigned in Europe.”
Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine has reached a critical moment that will define the course of history and determine whether future generations will continue to be exposed to the dangerous and insatiable imperialist appetite of the Kremlin or live in a much more secure, prosperous and stable world.
The choice is obvious and time is running out.
The West must act now with resolute determination and provide Ukraine with all the weapons necessary to secure a no-fly zone that will help it win this war against an unprovoked and ruthless aggressor and stop a genocide.