There have been fears from the very beginning of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine that this wasn’t merely about taking the resource-rich land back into Russian control. The actions of the Moscow Madman were just too brash to be that simply-founded.
No, this was something else entirely, and the desperation with which the Russian forces have acted belie their nefarious goals.
This week, the President of Ukraine refused to pull any punches on the matter, accusing Russia of “genocide”, plain and simple.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol is “proof of a genocide of Ukrainians taking place” in a video message posted to Telegram late Wednesday night.
“The hospitals are ruined, the schools are ruined, the churches are ruined, ordinary buildings and all the dead people, dead children, he said, adding, “a strike on a maternity hospital is a final proof, proof of a genocide of Ukrainians taking place.”
Zelensky called on Europeans to condemn the “Russian war crime” saying, “Europeans! Ukrainians! Citizens of Mariupol! Today we have to be united in condemning this Russian war crime in which is reflected all the evil that Russian occupants brought to our land.”
Ukraine has been pleading for help from the west and from NATO throughout the incursion, but to no avail on account of Russia’s nuclear threats.
Now, with genocide no longer a deniable reality, the west will have to come to terms with their inaction, or face the consequences of conscience that await.
