War in Ukraine: Cowardly bombings

hasAfter nine months of war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has finally found the appropriate targets for Russian greatness: power plants and water pipes. After his army staged a humiliating retreat in September into territories it declared a Russian stronghold, waves of rockets rained down on Ukraine’s infrastructure in response. Civilian targets that he can neither defend nor retaliate against are what the master of the Kremlin is now targeting. He was sentenced on December 2 for these strikes “necessary” considering the attacks “provocateurs” led by a country that resists.

The bombings, which Moscow claims, further violate basic rules of international humanitarian law established by the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, which aim to protect civilians in times of war. It is about the difference between the latter and the military and the principles of caution and proportionality, which the Kremlin clearly sees as proof of the supposed weakness of the West.

The sum total of Russian war crimes accumulated during this aggression carried out by methods of another century may increase the indifference, even trivialization, of Kiev’s allies. We must resist them, insist, on the contrary, on their systemic nature from now on and tirelessly remember their impact on the daily lives of Ukrainian men and women.

Of course, the armed forces of Kiev can also be accused of violating the laws of war. However, a gulf separates the scale of violence for which each of the two camps is responsible. To deny it or to relativize it means to free oneself from the facts.

Warning

Vladimir Putin’s regime does not hide its goal: to break the country from behind, which it will stand up to. He may even want to provoke mass emigration, which would destabilize Kiev’s European allies. These calculations are risky. The Ukrainian people are far from succumbing to this new ordeal, and Westerners can only agree on the massive aid needed to repair the damage caused by these attacks.

Although the harshness of winter has just been felt, for Ukrainians the deprivation of water, light and heating is not just a matter of revenge. This strategic choice also reminds us of Vladimir Putin’s fundamental goals in the conflict he himself has ignited: the destruction of the Ukrainian state. No one doubts that, rocket after rocket. These systematic bombings thus serve as a warning to all who hope that the death toll of the war will finally pave the way for diplomacy and good faith negotiations between the two warring parties.

These war crimes should also bring decent punishment to those who claim to support the Ukrainian people and turn their backs on them. In France, the deputies of La France insoumise and National Rally, who abstained en masse in the National Assembly on November 30, during the vote on the resolution in support of Ukraine, are at the forefront. This is the case in countries around the world that leave silence to become the unacceptable norm.