Torture Chambers in the Occupied Territories and Massive Destruction during the Offensive: the Russian Invasion Turned Into the Largest Genocide of Ukrainians since 1933, the Immediate Supply of Western Weapons WIll Save Millions of Civilian Lives
The aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine poses a threat to peace, security and stability throughout the Euro-Atlantic space. It is no secret that it is Russia that bears full responsibility for this war and for the blatant violation of international law. Russian terrorism, including systemic attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure, deprives millions of Ukrainians of a normal life, bringing grief and pain every day. The Russians’ attitude to the civilian population of Ukraine is especially brutal, given the Russian invasion turned into the largest genocide of Ukrainians since 1933. Then, according to demographers, the number of victims of the Holodomor, organized by Stalin in Ukraine, ranged from 3.5 to 5 million people. Now the Russians are once again bringing grief, suffering, destruction and death to Ukrainian soil.
The Russian military in the occupied territories demonstrate unprecedented cruelty and cynicism, violating all the laws not only war, but the norms of human morality. The fact that even children’s torture rooms are being organized in the occupied territories was recently reported by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada Dmitry Lubinets in a report on the observance of the rights of victims of Russian aggression against Ukraine. According to him, children’s torture chambers, in particular, were found in Balakliya and Kherson, where a separate cell was found where children were kept. The Ombudsman said that the occupants gave water to the children every other day, did not give them food, and argued that their parents had abandoned them.
Torture is already a traditional for the Russian invaders method of terror of civilians in Ukraine. In almost all cities and towns where the military units of the Russian army were based, places for the detention of civilians and prisoners of war were equipped. The most common methods of torture were: electric shock, severe beatings with sticks and other objects, nail extraction and other terrible torture, including using a gas mask to suffocate. The brutal behavior of the Russian army towards civilians has become standard military practice for Russia. This tactic has been developed since the time of the Afghan war and was fixed in Syria, and now in Ukraine. It is enough to recall the blockade of Mariupol, which has already been compared with the blockade of Leningrad during World War II. Since the beginning of the war, the residential areas of Mariupol have been regularly shelled by Russian troops, which led to numerous casualties. It led to the destruction of the city’s infrastructure: according to official Ukrainian data, 90 % of all buildings in Mariupol were damaged as a result of shelling, and the death toll in Mariupol could exceed 10,000 people.
All who are guilty of war crimes must be held accountable. It is necessary to further build up political and practical support for Ukraine, which continues to defend not only its sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also the common values of the civilized world. And such long-awaited and immediate deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine will not only speed up the course of events in the confrontation between democracy and terror, but will also save millions of Ukrainian lives this winter.