Russian invasion of Ukraine- Issue #3
Ukraine and CivicSources
The Russian Invasion began on February 24th, 2022
Since February 24, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world has held its collective breath. We know now, that this invasion has nothing to do with forestalling or forbidding Ukraine from membership in NATO. Instead, it appears that Vladamir Putin has his designs on all former USSR states or perhaps earlier boundaries of Czarist Russia. While we don’t know his precise aims; what we do know is that Putin has launched what appears to be a “scorched earth” battle strategy in Ukraine similar to the one he inflicted on Grozny, the Capital of Georgia in 1999. As a result of the Russian incursion in Grozny, in 2003, the UN noted “that the city was the most destroyed city on earth.” This was only foreshadowing an equally devastating Russian invasion into Syria in 2015. When Bashar Al-Assad needed assistance to quell a budding civil war in his country, and in order to reassert his country’s position into the region, Putin returned to the Middle East. By the end of the war, Assad remained in power and it is estimated that there were more than 7700 civilian casualties of Russia’s bombardment of the country for 31 months. In addition, the Syrian regime assisted by the Russian military, killed about 25,500 civilians since the start of the Syrian revolution.
It should come as no surprise then, that Mariupol and other cities in Eastern Ukraine, now resemble Aleppo and Grozny as victims of Russian aggression and their “scorched earth” strategy. “Dumb” bombs, bombs without precision targeting, and we assume “smart” ones as well, have landed on and been targeted at hospitals, nuclear power plants and civilians. Humanitarian corridors have not been honored and although logistical problems seem to plague the Russians, they are still laying waste to the country as they move west and north. The extraordinary numbers of refugees from this war is also astounding and heartbreaking.
As a child, I remember hearing “never again” while learning about the holocaust from teachers and religious leaders. Clearly, it is happening again. While it is understandable that the NATO countries are not willing to risk a wider war; it is time to think out of the box and make sure to get adequate weaponry to the territorial army in Ukraine. The Russians have huge numbers and nuclear weapons while the Ukrainians have grit and passion and appear to be surprising the Russian military with their successes. As Admiral James Stravides said, “There are no certainties in war.”
CivicSources.com is meant as a resource for Americans and Americans-to-be… Because our prices at the gas pumps will be rising, oil deliveries to our NATO allies halted, and our leadership once again relied upon to form allied unity; I have created a Ukraine page and provided resources on Ukraine and articles and links to the making of US foreign policy on the site. We will focus on Ukraine issues in the near future as well as on related issues.
I welcome additions, criticism, and also more suggestions about where and how to help Ukrainian refugees and assist in their efforts.
