Ukraine Vows Retribution in Wake of Killings

The Ukrainian government has vowed to avenge the deaths of the two or three dozen Ukrainian soldiers who were killed today during a rocket bombardment of their military camp in Zelenopillia, Sverdlovsk district, Donetsk oblast.

“All those who used the Grad against the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be found and destroyed,” President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement on his website. “For every soldier's life, the militants will pay with scores and hundreds of their own. Not a single terrorist will avoid responsibility; each will get what they deserve.”

Anton Shcherbakov, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said Kyiv authorities were still investigating, and Russian terrorists also suffered losses in the attack.

If the Ukrainian casualty count proves accurate, the official pointed out, it will mark another deadly day in Kyiv’s battle to repel Russian invaders from eastern Ukraine. In recent weeks the Ukrainian government had been making inroads against the terrorists, although determined pockets of resistance remain.

An earlier deadly casualty was the downing of a military transport aircraft that reportedly killed some 50 Ukrainian soldiers.

As Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman said during the Civil War, “War is hell.” Consequently, the best way to deal with it is fast. The warmonger, invader, aggressor must be vanquished without deadly second guesses.

Ukraine’s allies and fair-weather friends have already begun a likeminded chorus of ceasefire because they wouldn’t want Russia to endure extra casualties or defeat for invading Ukraine.

However, by all rules, Ukraine, just like any other sovereign country, has the right to defend itself from any invasion. This right has been reaffirmed several times recently in the context of Ukraine’s war with Russia and it has been used by other countries as well.

For example, Israel's prime minister vowed today  to press forward with a broad military offensive in the Gaza Strip, saying international pressure will not halt what he said was a determined effort to halt rocket fire by Palestinian militants as the death toll from the 4-day-old conflict rose above 100.

"I will end it when our goals are realized. And the overriding goal is to restore the peace and quiet," Benjamin Netanyahu said. "No international pressure will prevent us from acting with all power," he said.
Finally, the United Nations Charter forbids member-states from invading member-states but in the event an attack, Article 52 allows self-defense: Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.”

In this inevitable war with Russia, Ukraine deserves a wide berth of military actions in order to defeat and repel Russian terrorists back to Russia.