When Russian president Vladimir Putin declared war against Ukraine (calling it “a special operation”), he and his generals insisted, that this operation will be focused only on military targets, with the usage of high-precision weapons to minimize damage to citizens and infrastructure.
But the next days Ukraine and the whole world witnessed quite the opposite. Massive everyday shelling of residential areas with cluster munitions, cruise missiles, and bombs – that is what the announced “demilitarization” looks like. The consequences of these strikes are catastrophic. Several towns are literally erased down to the ground. 2000 killed civilians, thousands more are wounded. Lots of people lost their homes.
But the death toll is not only Ukrainian. There are already several victims among foreigners. 10 Greek nationals have been killed and six more wounded due to a strike on the suburbs of Mariupol on February, 26th. Even Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis commented on that incident. “Ten innocent civilians of Greek origin killed today by Russian airstrikes close to Mariupol. Stop the bombing now!”, he wrote on his Twitter. After that Greece officially joined the Ukrainian antiwar coalition and provided military assistance for Kyiv.
On March, 2nd Maryna Fenina a local staff member of the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine was killed by Russian shelling in Kharkiv, while she tried to bring some food to her family.
On March, 3rd Estonian cargo ship “Helt” (under Panama’s flag) was hit by Russian navy’s missiles and drowned. Several crew members have been killed. Before that Russians ordered the ship to enter the dangerous zone of the Black Sea to serve as a shield to cover their forces. Before that on February, 25th two civil cargo ships “Namura Queen” and “Millenium Spirit” were shot by Russians. On March, 2nd “Banglar Samriddhi” (under Bangladesh’s flag) were hit by Russian missiles.
In such conditions, Kremlin’s army poses a threat not only to Ukraine but also to all countries in the region. And the reaction should come from the whole international community. It is still possible to stop Russian aggression, but Ukraine can not do this alone, without military assistance. Otherwise, there would be more tragic news, and not only for Ukraine. Putin made it clear, that he will not stop. And even intimidated the West with nuclear weapons.
