In global political life, events of various kinds and scales occur daily. Likewise, political decisions are made daily to address political issues in the pursuit of stability.
These decisions are made at different levels, from local to global. Today, one of the primary events shaping many aspects of global politics for over a year and a half is the war initiated by Russia in Ukraine.
It is difficult to discern the «noble» intentions of the Kremlin leadership, which unleashed this full-scale, bloodshed war in the heart of Europe against a neighboring sovereign state, and which they continue to label as a «special military operation» (SMO). The goals of this war and the methods employed to achieve them are impossible to reconcile with the process and outcome intended to bring peace and stability, at least to the European region. In fact, it has turned out quite the opposite. Not only have the foundations of European stability been disrupted, but global stability is also significantly affected by the impact of this European war, with the potential to spill beyond its borders. Historical parallels are not pleasant to draw, but Europe has ignited global conflagrations before. May the Lord spare us from another!
The simple conclusion is this: Russia, its top leadership – aggressors, criminals who have violated peace, stability, and, most importantly, human lives! Only from the Russian side, the number of casualties approaches 300,000, which is the total size of the armies of several European states! Meanwhile, the recent statements of Russia’s top leadership indicate that they do not see any reasons to cease the war.
Ukraine, on the other hand, is simply obligated to exercise its lawful right to defend its territorial integrity, independence, and ultimately, its statehood. It is evident that Russia, acting as an aggressor and continuing the war, must bear the consequences in the broad sense of the term. This includes the repercussions of the economic sanctions imposed by the Western collective against Russia, which are slowly but steadily eroding its economy and undermining its international standing, gradually turning it into a pariah state.
War and humanism, of course, are incompatible concepts, but international law norms have bracketed peaceful populations and civilian objects during wars and they cannot be military targets. However, the political and military leadership of Russia, by regularly violating all international humanitarian norms, issues orders for shelling Ukrainian cities. During the one and a half years of the war, there were rarely any days in Ukraine without the wailing of sirens warning of the threat of shelling. In this regard, the Russians have been quite successful, launching almost daily massive missile and artillery strikes on Ukrainian civil infrastructure and even residential areas, persistently claiming that the strikes are exclusively aimed at military targets.
There is no argument to deny that the primary cause of all civilian casualties in Ukraine is Russian aggression. It is Russia that is conducting a deliberate terrorist campaign against the peaceful population of Ukraine, seeking to break the will of Ukrainians to resist. The world is now well aware of the facts of Russian rocket terror in Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Uman, Kremenchuk, Lviv, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Konstantinovka, which have led to mass casualties among the civilian population. Obviously, this list is far from complete. But, to put it cynically, the Russians are «working diligently» to «expand» it.
Statements by journalists from The New York Times, based on their own research, suggesting that the casualties in Konstantinovka on September 6th may have been caused not by a Russian, but by a Ukrainian missile due to a «tragic accident» seem highly inappropriate here. Does anyone still have doubts that Russia is the aggressor, the one who initiated the attack, and its way of waging war, in terms of cruelty, is approaching the events of the Second World War, nothing less than state-scale terrorism? Ukraine is defending itself by all means available to it!
For each fact of Russian terrorist attacks, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are conducting their own investigations. This includes the investigation into the tragedy in Konstantinovka. There is already a significant amount of evidence of Russia’s terrorist activities in Ukraine, which can be presented to the international court in The Hague. Given the public outcry surrounding The New York Times’ statement, the results of the official investigation into the September 6th attack will be published separately.
Still, it is very important to understand what considerations or interests motivated The New York Times staff to conduct their «own investigation,» and furthermore, why they chose to publish it precisely during the time when the Ukrainian delegation was working at the UN General Assembly in the United States. The serious press has always been, is, and will remain a unique platform for political battles, an objective herald of political forecasts and decisions. It is not appropriate for a leading U.S. publication to act as a «measure of truth» in the bloody war in Ukraine, unleashed by the Putin regime, which inevitably raises suspicions about the intentions of the publication and its staff…