At dawn, February 24th, 2022, the residents of Kiev, Kharkiv and countless cities all across our beautiful nation were awakened by the screams of rockets and artillery shells falling in their backyards. This war will cause countless deaths and trillions of dollars of damage to the global economy. Putin has made the cruel decision to coerce the democratic nation of Ukraine into submission. This has already created the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the 1990s. The conflict has led to many crimes against humanity in just a few days.
Background
The current leader of the Russian Federation, Vladimir V. Putin, is a world-renowned authoritarian dictator. He has played on the feelings of his once-superpower nation to become the most powerful man in the world. Much like Hitler, he wants to conquer all the Russian-speaking countries. Putin’s army has already committed human rights violations in the past, most notably in Chechnya.[1] There are already credible reports of such atrocities against civilians in Ukraine. [2]
Targeting Civilians
The Russia defence ministry claims that the war is only targeted at Ukraine’s military. This is refuted by brave journalists working on the ground. Firstly, Putin is clearly frustrated by the lack of progress made by his armed forces. He thought Ukraine was weak. He is now targeting civilian areas out of anger. Putin has injured and killed dozens of civilians in Kharkiv in one day alone.[3] This does not even include the 70 soldiers killed in a single military base around the same city.[4] Hundreds are also dead in the city of Mariupol after 15 hours of bombing by Russia.[5]
Russia has also been destroying civilian infrastructure all across the country. Power was cut across large parts of our nation as soon as the invasion started. This has affected tens of millions of people and possibly killing many ICU patients.[6] Many airports, bridges, and roads have been badly damaged as well. In fact, Russia has been targeting explosive oil and gas facilities to spread fear.[7] Russian troops have also taken hostages in the captured areas. This is another crime of Russia in Ukraine.[8]
Nuclear Scare
The war has also caused fears of a nuclear conflict that could destroy the entire planet. This is especially important, because Putin is the one who started this by putting his nuclear weapons on high alert.[9] Furthermore, the Chernobyl disaster site was captured by Russia early on. This has put thousands of people in the area at risk.
Long-Term Effects
The long-term effects of this attack will be even more catastrophic. Europe is already being hurt in a myriad of ways by the crisis in our nation. Ukraine is, of course, the largest country in Europe by land size. Over 650,000 people from Ukraine have already fled to the European Union. This has created the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the 1990s.[10] In time, the number of Ukrainian refugees could easily surpass that of people from Syria. Finally, growing tensions with Russia put Europe’s oil and gas supplies at great risk. Germany has suspended its largest energy project with Russia over the situation in Ukraine.[11] This, and we are still only in the very beginning of this disaster, which may last for decades.
[1] HRW (1 June 2000). Russian Atrocities in Chechnya Detailed. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2000/06/01/russian-atrocities-chechnya-detailed.
[2] Khaled, Fatma (25 February 2022). Ex-Ukrainian Prosecutor Says He’s Stockpiling Evidence of Russian War Crimes. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/ex-ukrainian-prosecutor-says-hes-stockpiling-evidence-russian-war-crimes-1682775. & Times of Israel (27 February 2022). Ukrainian Prime Minister Accuses Russia of War Crimes. The Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/ukrainian-prime-minister-accuses-russia-of-war-crimes/.
[3] Al-Jazeera (28 February 2022). Several Killed as Russian Rockets Pound Ukraine’s Kharkiv. Al-Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/28/ukraine-reports-dozens-killed-in-kharkiv-rocket-strikes.
[4] Slawson, Nicola (1 March 2022). More than 70 Ukrainian Soldiers Killed near Kharkiv. The Guardian. https://www.msn.com/en-xl/europe/top-stories/more-than-70-ukrainian-soldiers-killed-in-russian-attack-on-base-near-kharkiv/ar-AAUsdUx?ocid=msedgntp.
[5] Crane, Emily (2 March 2022). Hundreds Feared Dead from 15-hour Russian Attack on Mariupol, Ukraine. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2022/03/02/hundreds-feared-dead-in-mariupol-ukraine-from-russian-shelling/.
[6] Hoare, Callum (24 February 2022). Light Go out in Kiev as Putin Wipes out Supplies and Cuts Power Across Ukraine. Express. https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1571057/ukraine-blackout-russia-bombs-power-plant-kiev-energy-wipe-out-putin.
[7] Tsvetkova, Maria & Aleksandr Vasovic (27 February 2022). Ukrainian Oil, Gas Facilities Burn as West Prepares New Sanctions. ABS-CBN News. https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/02/27/22/ukrainian-oil-gas-facilities-burn-as-west-prepares-new-sanctions.
[8] Kaufman, Ellie (26 February 2022). 92 Chernobyl Power Plant Employees Held Hostage by Russian Forces, Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Says. CNN World. https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-25-22/h_c3235e08f974d46a04900efa688e3554.
[9] BBC (1 March 2022). Ukraine Invasion: Putin Puts Russia’s Nuclear Forces on ‘Special Alert’. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60547473.
[10] Best, Paul (1 March 2022). Ukraine Refugees Top 677,000 in What Could be ‘Europe’s Largest Displacement Crisis this Century’, UN Says. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukraine-refugees-europes-largest-refugee-crisis-this-century-un.
[11] Chambers, Madeline & Sarah Marsh (22 February 2022). Germany Freezes Nord Stream 2 Gas Project as Ukraine Crisis Deepens. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/germanys-scholz-halts-nord-stream-2-certification-2022-02-22/.
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