310 Days and Counting …

It’s not a happy and safe holiday season in Ukraine though the people are trying to be festive in bomb shelters and subway tunnels.

Kyiv, Associated Press, December 31, 2022: Multiple blasts rocked Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 14 others, in a sign that the pace of russia attacks had picked up before New Year’s.

Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, to return to the country to reunite with families for the holidays.

Ukrainian officials claimed russia was now deliberately targeting civilians, seeking to create a climate of fear to see out the year grimly and usher in a bloody 2023.

First lady Olena Zelenska expressed outrage that such massive missile attacks could come just before New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“Ruining lives of others is a disgusting habit of our neighbors,” she said.

Kyiv, Reuters, December 31, 2022: russia carried out its second major round of missile attacks on Ukraine in three days on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said, with explosions reported throughout the country on New Year’s Eve.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least one person had been killed and eight wounded after a series of explosions in the capital. Reuters correspondents reported hearing 10 loud blasts in the city. The mayor said one of those wounded by the blasts was a Japanese journalist who had been taken to hospital.

Kharkiv, Newsmax, December 24, 2022: A russian strike on Ukraine’s recently recaptured city of Kherson killed at least 10 people, wounded another 58 and left bloodied corpses on the road, authorities said, in what Kyiv condemned as wanton killing for pleasure.

Kharkiv, Ukrinform, December 12, 2022: The Russian troops have launched a missile attack on Kharkiv city.

Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko wrote this on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.

“Kharkiv, a missile attack. Units of the State Emergency Service went to the scene,” he wrote.

Head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram that the invaders were shelling Kharkiv and the region. He called on residents to remain in shelters.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov also called for caution. “Kharkiv is under attack. I call on everyone to stay in shelters and observe safety measures,” the mayor wrote.

Kyiv, Reuters, December 5, 2022: Ukraine said russia destroyed homes in the southeast and knocked out power in many areas with a new volley of missiles on Monday, while moscow said Ukrainian drones had attacked two air bases deep inside russia hundreds of miles from front lines.

A new missile barrage had been anticipated in Ukraine for days and it took place just as emergency blackouts were due to end, with previous damage repaired. The strikes plunged parts of Ukraine back into freezing darkness with temperatures now firmly below zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit).

At least four people were killed in the russian missile attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that most of some 70 missiles were shot down. Energy workers had already begun work on restoring power supplies, he said.

* This is the reality that Ukrainians across Ukraine, from west to east, north to south, have been facing since russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The latest iteration of moscow’s visible and violent aggression against Ukraine began with short-lived victories by the so-called second greatest army of earth. Remember the 40-mile long column of russian armor that was rolling toward Ukraine and caught the attention of the western news media for several days? Apparently it evaporated long before it reach downtown Kyiv. Quickly afterward the vaunted second most powerful armed forces of Russia quickly deteriorated to group of first-rate cutthroats and thieves that kill unarmed civilians and raped women and children. On all fronts, the Armed Forces of Ukraine demonstrated their heroism, courage, skill and determination as they liberated Ukrainian territory and pushed the russian butchers back to their motherland.

In the midst of this war, with russia’s countless war crimes as it brazenly destroys Ukrainian cities, homes and power grids, and kills civilians and their children, President Zelenskyy challenged fate by making a risky and defiant journey across the ocean to Washington, DC, to deliver an emotional and inspirational address to Congress about Ukrainians’ courageous determination not only to persevere but also to defeat the russian aggressor.

In a surprise White House meeting on December 21, 2022, with President Biden, after being welcomed on the Portico by him and First Lady Jill Biden, Zelenskyy, regarded by many Ukrainians and people around world as the hero-president of the modern age, poignantly delivered the Ukrainian nation’s thanks for America’s moral support as well as humanitarian and military aid that he said would help Ukraine defeat russia.

In turn, President Biden expressed his marvel at Ukrainians’ bravery and resolve as he pledged that the United States will stand with Ukraine until the battle is won.

President Biden at the joint press conference announced the next tranche of America’s security assistance to Ukraine totaling $1.85 billion of security assistance that includes both direct transfers of equipment to Ukraine as well as contracts to supply ammunition Ukraine will need in the months ahead for its artillery, its tanks, and its rocket launchers. In addition to these new capabilities like precision aerial munitions, the package will include a Patriot missile battery, which has been requested by Ukrainian officials and will help bolster Ukraine’s air defense.

However, two days later, lawmakers approved about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine, $8 billion more than the requested $37 billion by Biden, according to Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The U.S. has already provided $68 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the russian invasion. 

In meetings with the US President and in the hallowed halls of the Congress, Zelenskyy, dressed in his iconic dark green sweatshirt with a gold Tryzub on the seam under his chin, assured all listeners that Ukraine will never surrender in its efforts to defeat russia. “Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender,” he said, adding that he believes Ukraine is approaching a “turning point” in the war with russia.

Noting the Christmas season, Zelenskyy movingly said russian missiles will not sway Ukrainians from their belief in a better, peaceful future. He said when the missiles will be heard approaching during this holy season, the people will shelter in safety where they can, even in subway tunnels, where they will share in the all-important Ukrainian Christmas Eve dinner by candlelight with family members and friends.

For many observers around the world, including the kremlin, President Zelenskyy’s historic and historical visit to Washington, DC, who after Winston Churchill was only the second wartime national leader to address the US Congress, served as loud victory in Kyiv’s public relations war with Moscow despite its unsuccessful efforts to exonerate itself of all guilt.

Zelenskyy underlined that his current visit to America is historic in bilateral relations between Ukraine and America.

“During 300 days of this war, we have really begun a new stage in our relations – Ukraine and the USA – we have reached the level of real alliance, which is 100 percent filled with real content. I felt it today in all my meetings, in all our negotiations. I want to thank Mr. President Biden once again for his sincere support and, most importantly, his understanding of Ukraine. And also for building and maintaining an international coalition to strengthen the international legal order,” Zelenskyy said.

He also thanked the American leader for personal efforts and wise steps that unite the world community around the protection of international law, peaceful cooperation and mutual understanding, which is useful not only for Ukraine and the USA, but also for all countries of the world.

Zelenskyy professed deep thanks for tens of billions of dollars in weapons and aid offered and to come. He pointed out that the financial aid should not be considered an encumbrance as some legislators have said but rather as an investment in democratic existence of Ukraine, the United States and the world.

Throughout his address he made a point to address legislators on both sides of the political aisle as well as site examples of American military crucial victories during the Revolution War as well as World War II.

President Biden condemned russia’s targeting of Ukraine’s power grid and emphasized that the United States and its allies are aware of the importance of helping Ukraine rebuild its energy infrastructure destroyed by russia’s rocket attacks. He said: “Russia uses winter as a weapon. This is an example of crimes committed by Russia against the civilian population of Ukraine.”

At the conclusion of his congressional address, President Zelenskyy presented House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice-President Kamal Harris, who typically sit behind the speaker, with the Ukrainian flag that he brought from besieged Bakhmut as an assurance of Ukraine’s resolve to achieve victory. They, in turn, presented him with a commemorative boxed Stars and Stripes that flew above the U.S. Capitol that day.

Indeed, that day was memorable and encouraging for Ukraine and the free world as 2022 draws to a close.

The political and public relations battle to defeat russia is almost as successful as is the military one. The free world knows that Moscow committed a crime that surpasses crimes by Hitler and the Nazis. The United States, Great Britain, Canada, the former captive nations and many other European countries recognize the danger and successes of Ukraine’s frontline battles and have committed to helping Ukraine until the day of ultimate victory over russia.

But they still keep coming. Reinforced by ex-cons and other cretins and derelicts, and armed with Iranian drones, moscow is in some cases standing firm in battle as its militarized citizens are killed in great numbers. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, more than 100,000 of them killed in the past 10 months. Shows you how much Vladimir putin values the lives of his citizens.

Officials in moscow, including putin and foreign minister lavrov said recently that Ukraine will never win this war and even if it does, russia will not evacuate from the territories it seized. Its ridiculous calls for peace according to its demands won’t be accepted by Kyiv.

Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Kuleba and Permanent Representative to the UN Kyslytsya have bumped up the ante in the political battle by introducing a measure in the United Nations to expel russia from the Security Council because it doesn’t belong there. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, what remained of moscow’s empire never applied for UN membership as other applicant-countries did. It merely assumed the Soviet seat, or rather hijacked it.

Consequently, Ukraine initiated the process to deprive russia of its status as a permanent member of

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

“Ukraine calls on the member states of the UN to resume the application of the UN Charter in the context of the legitimacy of the Russian Federation’s presence in the UN, to deprive the Russian Federation of its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and to exclude it from the UN as a whole,” its statement reads.

According to the ministry, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 left unresolved the issue of international rights and obligations of the USSR. “From the point of view of international law, the issue of the status of a UN member state and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, which the russian federation enjoys, remains unsettled,” the ministry noted.

Fortunately, the United Nations was not blindsided by moscow’s political power as it declared that russian troops have raped and tortured children in Ukraine, carried out a “large number” of executions and committed other war crimes, according to a United Nations investigation by legal experts. “Based on the evidence gathered by the commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” Erik Mose, the chairman of the three-member commission, told the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Ten months into russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine, global officials have accumulated overwhelming evidence that shows that the kremlin’s so-called troops have waged total war, with disregard for international laws governing the treatment of civilians and conduct on the battlefield. Ukraine is investigating more than 58,000 potential russian war crimes – killings, kidnappings, indiscriminate bombings and sexual assaults. Reporting by The Associated Press and “Frontline,” recorded in a public database, has independently verified more than 600 incidents that appear to violate the laws of war. Some of those attacks were massacres that killed dozens or hundreds of civilians and as a totality it could account for thousands of individual war crimes.

As Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, told the AP, “Ukraine is a crime scene.”

It is quite possible that the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-22 will last beyond the one-year mark, expanding the stark realization that russia has turned Ukraine into a crime scene – a 233,000-square-mile crime scene. Ukrainian soldiers and people, Ukrainian speakers and not, and have demonstrated their determination to return peace and stability to Ukraine by defeating russia and expelling it from Ukraine. Does the free world have the same willpower and resolve to stand with Ukraine, as President Biden assured President Zelenskyy: “We will stay with you for as long as it takes.”

Holodomor Remembrance: Never Forget; Never Forgive

UPDATES with comments by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).

For 90 years Ukrainians around the world, in many countries and in many forms, have shed tears amid reciting prayers for the intention of souls of the 7-10 million innocent Ukrainian men, women and children who were starved to death by the murderous russian regime headed by the insane dictator Josef Stalin. They’re crime: they were Ukrainian.

The United States Senate, among other lawmaking bodies, in a resolution adopted on March 14, 2018, stated that it “… recognizes the findings of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine as submitted to Congress on April 22, 1988, including that ‘Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against the Ukrainians in 1932–1933.′”

Other institutions from myriad countries have adopted similar statements that can be read here:  https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/en/recognition-of-holodomor-as-genocide-in-the-world/#:~:text=April%209%2C%202009.-,%E2%80%A6,the%20height%20of%20the%20famine.

Ukrainian Americans in New York City assembled today in St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the latest spiritual iteration of the remembrance, which has been held here for 35 years.

This year’s ceremony had special significance for the throng that filled the historic house of worship. Not only did they pray for the repose of the souls who died a horrible death deprived by russians of even a grain of wheat and stalk of grass but also to pay tribute to the heroic Ukrainian nation as it battles Moscow in its latest war against Ukrainians. Both mass murders are considered acts of genocide perpetrated by russia. This dual emotional commemoration of past and present russian crimes against the Ukrainian nation probably contributed to the overflowing attendance at the program organized by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

Clergy and hierarchs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA concelebrated the ecumenical moleben and requiem with responses sung by the Ukrainian “Dumka” chorus of New York City lead by Vasyl Hrechynsky.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) reminded the multitude that “Stalin tried to annihilate the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian spirit but, praise God, he failed on both counts. Stalin is gone, Soviet Russia is gone but the Ukrainian people live on. Long may they live,” said the Senate majority leader.

“Russian brutality, viciousness and brutality will never break the Ukrainian people and so as Stalin failed, so will Putin,” he said alluding to the current Russian dictator’s war against Ukraine.

A mainstay at the commemoration at St. Patrick’s, Schumer pointed out that it is important to him to remember the Holodomor anniversary.

“Ukrainians were murdered by a genocidal maniac. What Stalin did to the Ukrainian people was genocide,” said Schumer, whose ancestors come from the western Ukrainian town of Chortkiv.

Addressing the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-22, Schumer said the latest phase has lasted nine months and the United States has been continually helping Ukraine “to stop Putin’s evil aggression” but the fight is far from over. “We must continue to help Ukraine,” he said.

“I believe the United States should give Ukraine everything it needs and under my leadership the Congress will continue to do so,” he pledged.

Noting the rising differences in Congress regarding helping Ukraine, Schumer urged the attendees to spread the word across the country that America must stand with Ukraine.

“If Ukraine succumbs to Putin, he will not rest there,” he warned.

Archbishop-Metropolitan Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reflected on the ironic lack of modern Internet technology that obviously wasn’t available in 1932-33 to inform the world of this crime of mass starvation that led to Walter Duranty’s abysmal lies in The New York Times. However, today with the ubiquitous Internet and social media the global population knows firsthand about russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. The memories of both moral wrongdoings will live on from generation to generation in God’s heavenly Kingdom, the Ukrainian hierarch observed.

Ukrainians rose through Russian aggression after aggression like the mythological phoenix and today the world sees Ukrainians as a free and independent nation with the right to live free, according to its own laws and traditions, he continued. True words about Ukraine and russian aggression spread throughout the world outweighing the naysayers.

“Our protests have awakened the world about Ukraine and it is listening,” Metropolitan Antony said.

While the sanctified number of 7-10 million victims-martyrs of Russian-made starvation is recorded in history, the hierarch pointed that those deaths also contributed to loss of millions more Ukrainians who could not have been born.

Michael Sawkiw Jr., director of the UCCA’s Ukrainian National Information Service in Washington, DC, called russia’s politically motivated vile tragedy an act of genocide that matches the United Nations’ definition of such a mass liquidation of one people, one nation. He said russia’s desire to control Ukraine resurfaced again eight years ago when it invaded and seized Crimea and the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts and now, nine months again with the latest invasion of Ukraine.

In addition to missiles that russia’s aims against innocent Ukrainian civilians and life-sustaining utilities, Moscow is also counting on the winter cold to force Ukrainians to freeze to death or surrender, he noted.

Holodomor or death by hunger as it called in Ukrainian has become a globally recognized word, Sawkiw said. “Then it was Holodomor, today it is genocide, when will it be justice?”

Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya, permanent representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, said the Holodomor is among the tragic pages of the history of Ukraine. He alluded to the repetitive nature of russian aggression against Ukraine for the purpose of subjugating the nation and destroying the country. Sophisticated weapons are in the forefront of russia’s invasion but today it is reverting to starvation and famine in order to subjugate not only Ukraine but countries in Africa and elsewhere. He said 828 million people are facing hunger today because of russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the consequential blockades of Ukrainian seaports and hijacking of cargo. Nonetheless, Kyslytsya called on the attendees not to despair because 143 UN member-states support Ukraine. “Don’t let the enemy see us despair,” he urged the participants.

Andrew Weinstein of the Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations said this year’s Holodomor commemoration is being held against the backdrop of Russia’s latest war against Ukraine. The United States condemns Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine and stands with the Ukrainian people, he said.

Dying of hunger is not an easy death, not as easy as being executed by gunfire, which the russians also effectively carried out. Dying of hunger is painful and long. The organs and body deteriorate and then man, woman or child cease to exist. That’s what russia did to 7-10 million Ukrainian men, women and children.

With thoughts of “never again” on the lips of the throng, history has sadly shown that russia regularly repeats its bloody attempt to subjugate Ukraine. Ukrainians have not been fortunate to face Russian brutality once and never again. What happened in 1932-33 happened before and is happening again today in front of the world which for the sake of humanity must be brave to say “Never forget; Never forgive.”

NATO’s Unwanted Test of Strengths

It was destined to happen.

Leaders of the captive nations’ independence movements, having emerged from the forests at the end of World War 2, warned the leaders of the free world that Russia will not ride off into the setting sun but rather will intensify its efforts to subjugate Eastern European nations and others until it succeeds.

With the fall of the Soviet Russian empire – the Evil Empire – Moscow has been continuing its military campaign to imprison near and distant independent nations by invading and waging war first against Ukraine. Today, it expanded its efforts by striking Poland with a missile and killing two Poles.

Speaking of the shot heard round the world.

President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on November 15 had just finished addressing the G20 conference in Bali, from which Russian führer Putin was propitiously absent, when the Russian rockets hit Poland, near the border with Ukraine. President Biden was immediately notified of this attack and the predictable events were set in motion.

Zelenskyy and President of Poland Andrzej Duda immediately condemned Russia for this unconscionable attack against a member of NATO, a steadfast ally of Ukraine and stalwart supporter of the United States. Both presidents pledged support for each other’s countries in these anxious times.

The North Atlantic alliance’s cup just reached the brim of its concerns. Its actions tomorrow will determine if it is a feeble cat, a paper tiger or a military force to be reckoned with. However, the outcome that is needed may not be addressed due to the trepidation of Germany and France. To be sure, the former captive nations of Russian subjugation, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as they have determinedly demonstrated in the past, will support Poland and Ukraine and demand a strong even military response from NATO. The new Scandinavian member-states may also join them in that firm reaction.

Poland has already convened its national security council to decide what action to take. NATO will be called into session Wednesday morning. Undoubtedly, the often-cited Article 5, states that the parties to the NATO treaty “agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.” Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February this sentence was been earnestly quoted in reference to needed unified actions to defend and liberate Ukraine from Russia’s latest invasion. There were no takers and as a result Ukraine has had to fend for itself with the timely arms assistance of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, the former captive nations, and a few others.

President Biden has famously pledged that “An attack on one is an attack on all and we will defend every inch of NATO territory, every inch of NATO territory.” He’s talked the talk and now he has to walk the talk.

Many supporters and defenders of Ukraine have said that Russia must be punished for invading Ukraine and anything short of that will not slake Moscow’s thirst for more drastic attacks against Ukraine or its neighbors. So far, the discussion was an academic exercise. Now the adults must be separated from the children.

To be sure, Poland is duty and honor bound to demand the enactment of Article 5 in defense of its nation and inviolable national territory. This is the second time in a dozen years that Poland has suffered death at hands of Russia, the previous one being the air tragedy in Smolensk. According to Article 5, the other NATO members are under legal and moral obligation to stand with Poland in endorsing the strongest actions against Russia, not merely sanctions that Putin can buy off.

The historic onus is on the righteous nations to stand up and defeat if not destroy Russia for the sake of regional and global peace and security.

Poland must first demand that Article 5 is enacted and it must mobilize is entire Armed Forces. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia must also mobilize their armed forces. The United States, Canada and Great Britain must increase their military presence in Eastern Europe in response to Russia’s fatal provocation against innocent Poland. NATO’s response must be unified, targeted, swift and decisive.

This united multinational armed force must then enter Ukraine and send a clear message to the Kremlin that its days are over and it must surrender or face the full brunt of NATO’s military might.

If NATO doesn’t force Moscow to stand down, then it might as well hang up its emblem, epilates and uniforms.

Sound Advice: ‘Stick with Ukraine’

The New York Daily News, which in a different era coined the memorable maxim “The only good Red is a dead Red,” understands that regional and global peace is impossible with russia prowling for weak countries with indecisive allies. They are the low-hanging fruits that Moscow intends to grab to fill its prison of nations.

In the wake of the midterm elections that were filled with illogical GOP threats or promises of turning off financial and material support for Ukraine, the Daily News in an editorial on Sunday, November 13, advised that such a policy is premature and dangerous. The New York newspaper, once a noted voice of American conservativism and champion of captive nations, sided solidly with a Ukrainian victory by writing that Washington and its allies must help Ukraine defeat russia.

Following is the full text of its commentary.

“Months of russian occupation are over in Kherson, the strategically crucial Ukrainian port city. The major setback for Vladimir Putin’s troops should decisively end any talk of the United States soon ceasing its support for Ukraine. The chief objective must remain ending the brutal invasion — with hopes that a durable peace is soon negotiated on terms that send a decisive message to any other nation that seeks to roll over a weaker sovereign neighbor.

“Though it’ll be a narrow majority indeed, Republicans look close to retaking the majority in the U.S. House. If they do, a sizable contingent in the party, still in thrall to Donald Trump’s “America First” brand of isolationism, is expected to raise the volume on calls to pull the plug on American support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s defensive campaign. Daily, the likes of Tucker Carlson ask why on earth America is militarily entangled with Kyiv. Speaker-in-waiting Kevin McCarthy has already said the GOP will not write a ‘blank check’ funding those efforts.

“Nobody wants limitless billions to go out the door; placing reasonable conditions on cash is surely reasonable. But Putin initiated hostilities just 266 days ago. To so quickly lose stomach for following through on a pledge to support a friendly democratic nation — a commitment that involves putting no American lives at risk — would make a mockery of America’s global commitments.

“The balance is delicate indeed. Through soft and hard power alike, the United States and its many allies need to remain focused on helping Ukraine defeat russia without needlessly escalating the conflict or inadvertently sparking a wider regional conflagration.

“But the message of Kherson is to press on in the crucial mission of beating Putin back. The good guys can win this war.”

In the wake of Ukraine’s momentous victory in Kherson that drove hapless russian invaders out of the southern Ukrainian oblast, President Zelenskyy correctly declared that his country’s mission is to drive out russian cutthroats in uniforms that are more adept at raping underage girls from all regions of the country, including Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. That is the unassailable regional and global formula for peace and security.

Bloody Hands, Murder, Rape: Don’t Lose Your Capacity for Outrage

Despite unrelenting Russian bombardment, war crimes, rape and murder, the Ukrainian nation, much to its credit, defended by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, continues to astound the international community with its resolute and firm stand throughout the almost nine-month long war with the Ukrainian  servicemen and servicewomen on the front lines and President Zelenskyy in ultimately defeating Russia.

Russian murderers quickly learned their disastrous lesson that they are no match for Ukrainian soldiers so they began to rape and kill children and women; bind, blindfold and kill innocent adults; destroy churches and libraries. Blood of innocent Ukrainians has literally flowed down the streets into the sewers or has anointed the country’s legendary black soil – chornozem – while supportive allies help Ukraine with war materiel, confused ones urge Zelenskyy to be receptive to negotiations with Moscow, and brainwashed politicians threaten to cut all support if their party wins in the upcoming elections.

Ukrainian frontline warriors have been beating back the Russian invaders for violating their native land, killing their brethren and despite a few early setbacks – you remember the 40-mile long Russian armored column heading to Kyiv that never arrived – today they are liberating more and more Ukrainian villages, towns and cities.

Without a doubt, the Russian army of criminal cutthroats is dramatically losing the war that their führer Vladimir Putin characterized as a special operation against Ukrainian Nazis and nationalists that was to last 2-3 days. Indeed, the Russian army, air force and navy are being beaten on every front, with battlefield deaths climbing to more than 71,000, including 14 Russian generals. A ludicrous number of aircraft, tanks, artillery and armored equipment, and naval vessels has also been destroyed.

Putin, needing to bolster his dwindling number of incompetent killers, mobilized hundreds of thousands of recruits and opened the prison doors so Russian miscreants would join the fight against Ukrainians. All of this signals that Putin is despairing, holding on to an elusive dream by his fingernails. Perhaps another sign of Russian desperation is its recent tactic of targeting the Ukrainian power grid, which has led to blackouts in Ukraine — but no collapse in morale. The joke on the streets of Ukraine is that blackouts and lack of heat will contribute to more Ukrainians in nine months.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klychko, addressing the dire issue of lack of water and utilities, advised his citizens to prepare to stay with out-of-town relatives and friends until the problem can be rectified. He told BBC this morning that the Russians want to seize all of Ukraine but they “want all of us to die.”

Let those words sink in: “The Russians want all of us to die.”

Russia wants to kill 43,810,000 million Ukrainians.

That has been obvious since the first days of the war and it’s been re-emphasized several times by Russian commanders. These horrors have surfaced with each liberated Ukrainian town. The Associated Press reported last month that on March 21, a soldier named Vadim, called his mother and said: “We have the order to take phones from everyone and those who resist — in short — to hell with the f------.”

“We have the order: It does not matter whether they’re civilians or not. Kill everyone.”

In the occupied towns, Russians were quick to kill all residents. “The slightest movement of a curtain in a window – a possible sign of a spotter or a gunman – justified slamming an apartment block with lethal artillery. Ukrainians who confessed to passing along Russian troop coordinates were summarily executed, including teenagers,” soldiers said, according to the AP. “We have the order not to take prisoners of war but to shoot them all dead directly,” a soldier nicknamed Lyonya said in a March 14 phone call. “There was a boy, 18 years old, taken prisoner. First, they shot through his leg with a machine gun, then he got his ears cut off. He admitted to everything and was shot dead,” Lyonya told his mom. “We do not take prisoners. Meaning, we don’t leave anyone alive.”

Russian POWs have affirmed many of the unbelievable horrors. “The liberated Kharkiv oblast has highlighted the infrastructure of terror set up by Russia in the occupied territories. Russian special services are looking for non-combatants — former Ukrainian soldiers, police officers, and their relatives — and resort to cruel torture, particularly by electric current. The killing of civilians, looting, and rape are similar to what occurred during the attempt to capture Kyiv, particularly in Bucha. The terror against school teachers proves that Russia, as an actual fascist state, destroys any culture that can challenge it politically,” reported Euromaidan Press.

Euromaidan Press also reported: “After the crimes near Kyiv in March of this year, when the Russian army shot at unarmed residents, the Kremlin continues to ‘open the portal’ into the dark barbaric past of humanity, when ruthless violence, torture, and intimidation were common practice.

“The rapid de-occupation of the Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine allowed the police to record Russian war crimes committed in almost every village. Their analysis shows how the aggressor country acts on occupied lands after the promotional pseudo-referendum, which it uses to cover the seizure of new lands.

“Network of 18 Russian torture chambers found in liberated Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine.

“From 6 to 14 September, about 8,500 square kilometers were liberated in the Kharkiv Oblast, 388 settlements with a population of 150,000. The police said that a network of 18 Russian torture chambers was discovered in the liberated towns of Ukraine.

“Testimonies collected by the investigators show that during the “interrogations” of detainees, Russians, particularly from Russia’s Security Service (FSB), often use electric shocks. Representatives of Russian proxy formations from the so-called “DNR” and “LNR” (“Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics”) participate in the illegal detaining of people. This again reminds us that the territory occupied by Russia immediately becomes a training ground for new criminals.

“There have been frequent cases of murder, robbery, abduction, rape, and intimidation of citizens.”

The New York Times also reported this war crimes, “The scale of the destruction is staggering across hundreds of towns and villages recently vacated by Russian troops in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine. The few residents who have traveled back into the war zone to check on their property, like Serhii and his wife, Iryna, often stand speechless with dismay before the devastation.

“Throughout Ukraine, the war had destroyed or damaged about 120,000 houses and 16,000 apartment buildings by the end of September, according to the Kyiv School of Economics, which estimated overall physical damage at $127 billion. The World Bank, European Union and Ukrainian government have estimated recovery costs at about $350 billion.”

CNN recently reported: “The scars of war run deep here. Russia has used sexual violence as a ‘weapon of war’ – a deliberate ‘military strategy’ – in its conquest of Ukraine, United Nations investigators have said. They have even relayed allegations of Russian soldiers carrying Viagra.”

Ukrainian officials and others have questioned how can Russia represent itself in the United Nations and other regional or global venues when Putin has blood on his hands? After all, he ordered the war, the killings and the rocket attacks against Ukrainian cities, apartments and infrastructure.

Yes, our elected officials have so far stood with Ukraine despite a few that are threatening to stop helping Ukraine if the GOP wins in the elections on Tuesday. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) again recently condemned Russia’s illegal annexation of sections of Ukraine and Putin’s newest threats against Ukraine and the United States.

“The so-called liberations Russia talked about today are worth less than the blood-drenched papers they’re signed on,” said Pascrell, a member of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. “These lands are a part of a Ukraine. I will not accept Russia’s latest illegal annexations and rigged referenda. Vladimir Putin’s rabid speech today was the ramblings of a depraved, desperate dictator. He is losing the war he started and he knows it. Putin and the Russian state have committed countless atrocities and war crimes. The butchery of innocent Ukrainians is on Putin’s hands. For years – for decades – Putin has bullied and swaggered his way to survival. Neither brave Ukrainians nor Americans will be cowed by his threats.

“Ukraine is fighting a war for the survival of their freedom – and winning. America must continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine and give her the resources she needs to expel the Russian criminals. That is why I was proud to vote in favor of over $54 billion in direct support for Ukraine and will be honored to support an additional over $12 billion for Ukraine today. God bless the brave Ukrainians! Slava Ukrayini!”

Former Chargé d’Affaires Courtney Austrian to the OSCE Permanent Council, Vienna, called the group’s member-states to task on October 27 for allowing such war crimes to be committed in Ukraine. “As the Russian Federation’s neo-imperialistic war of aggression continues, Ukraine’s valiant self-defense has come to symbolize more than just safeguarding its homeland.  Colleagues, I ask you, do we want a world where might makes right and your bigger, supposedly stronger neighbor can unilaterally violate your sovereignty, seize your territory, and threaten nuclear use if you resist successfully?  Or do we want a world that continues to be grounded in the principles of the UN Charter, a world where all member states are sovereign equals?  Sadly, these are not rhetorical questions, but Russia’s failing war and Ukraine’s bravery are strong examples of the power and importance of the principles that undergird the international rules-based order, of which the OSCE is an integral part.”

Indeed, how will it end; how can the free world prevent Russia or a new Russia from arising and again threatening Ukraine or another former captive nation?

The other day, The Washington Post reported that Washington has privately asked Ukraine to show Russia it’s open to negotiations. First of all, that shows that the White House is hedging is support for Ukraine and secondly it revealed why it does not favor designating Russia a terrorist state, like Poland and others have done. If the United States names Russia a terrorist state, it will never undertake negotiations with it or encourage others to do so because Washington does not negotiate with terrorists. Staying away from this label allows Washington to negotiation with Russia or coerce Ukraine to do so.

Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, replied on Facebook to demands for discussions, by saying: “The only realistic proposal should be for Russia to immediately end the war against Ukraine and withdraw Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, beyond its borders as of 1991.”

We, the people, the peoples of the free world, Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians, cannot lose our capacity for outrage. The Russians must be vanquished, they must sue for peace, they must surrender, they must admit to war crimes, they must pay reparations and evacuate back to god forsaken Russia.

Russia Resorts to Rape as Military Strategy; If Cutthroats Can’t, They’re issued Viagra

A United Nations special envoy has accused Russia of using rape and sexual assault as part of its “military strategy” and “deliberate tactic to dehumanize the victims” in Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

We’ve been reading eyewitness accounts of this heinous crime against humanity ever since the Russian massacre in Bucha, north of Kyiv, in the early days of Moscow’s latest war against Ukraine. The testimonies about Russians raping girls, boys and women and then killing them sent shivers through people imbued with human feelings of compassion and revulsion.

While initially the news media and the UN classified the crimes as alleged, now they are out rightly accusing Russian uniformed cutthroats of committing such crimes and even declaring them acts of genocide.

Speaking to AFP, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, backed her claims by citing a UN report released in late September.

The report released by a panel of UN experts recently verified “more than a hundred cases” of rape or sexual assault incidents in Ukraine since February—when Russia launched its invasion that was to have lasted 2-3 days.

Another alarming aspect of this criminal act is that it revealed that the Russians were ridiculously unprepared for war against Ukrainians. They ran out of food necessitating scrounging for sustenance just as they quickly depleted their stocks of fuel, ammunition, weapons and even fighters. But the most ludicrous shortage was apparently stamina so the Russian military command issued their soon-to-be-KIA combatants Viagra tablets.

Patten claimed that the number of victims is likely to be higher than official figures, saying that sexual crimes are often “under-reported.”

“When you hear women testify about Russian soldiers equipped with Viagra, it’s clearly a military strategy,” Patten said in an interview with AFP on Thursday, October 13.

She said that the report verifies crimes against humanity committed by the Russian miscreants, and according to the collected testimonies, the age of the victims of sexual violence ranges from 4 to 82-year-old. “There are many cases of sexual violence against children who are raped, tortured and sequestered,” Patten said.

Her claims lend credibility to the repeated assertions made by Ukrainian politicians who spoke of numerous cases of sexual violence since Russia invaded Ukraine. In June, Kateryna Pavlichenko, Ukraine’s deputy minister of internal affairs, said that police received around 50 complaints of sexual crimes committed by Russian killers. Ukrainian officials are also investigating rape allegations in the Kharkiv region after Ukrainian forces recently recaptured the territory there.

I’m repeating this historical record for sake of the conclusion in the last line.

This monstrous crime has been condemned by the United Nations. “Sexual violence during conflict has proven highly effective in breaking the enemy's morale, particularly where women are raped in public, or where relatives are coerced into participating. Widespread and systematic sexual violence also hampers sustainable post-conflict recovery. It does so in at least three ways: first, it undermines social stability by destroying families and communities; second, the fear of sexual violence restrains women's mobility, leading them to retreat from economic activity, and causing girls to stay home from school; third, when perpetrators of sexual violence go unpunished, efforts to establish faith in the State's ability to protect its citizens and establish the rule of law, is seriously undermined.

“Security Council Resolutions 1820 and 1888 represent the UN commitment to addressing these issues. Resolution 1820 calls on parties to armed conflict, including non-State actors, to protect civilians from sexual violence, enforce military discipline, uphold command responsibility, and prosecute perpetrators.”

Concerned over the security of women and girls in situations of armed conflict, former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated that rape was a crime that could never be condoned; yet, women and girls around the world had been subjected to widespread and deliberate acts of sexual violence. Chairing in June 2008 a thematic debate of the Security Council on women, peace and security, Rice said “we affirm that sexual violence profoundly affects not only the health and safety of women, but also the economic and social stability of their nations.”

The resolution, introduced by Rice, was a mechanism for bringing these atrocities to light. It also set the stage for the Secretary-General to prepare an action plan for gathering information on the desperate acts of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict and in turn periodically report to the Security Council.

The resolution called upon several important measures to protect women, noting that rape and other forms of sexual violence could constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide. It stressed the need for the exclusion of crimes of sexual violence from amnesty provisions in the context of conflict-resolution processes. The resolution also called upon Member States to comply with their obligations for prosecuting persons responsible for such acts. In addition, it urged the Secretary-General and his Special Envoys to invite women to participate in discussions pertinent to the prevention and resolution of conflict and the maintenance of peace and security.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820 was unanimously adopted on June 19, 2008. It condemns the use of sexual violence as a tool of war, and declares that “rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide.”

Unanimously, means by all members, including the so-called Russian Federation. Moscow lies again.

Read a previous post on this topic:

Mama, Why … Why Me, Plead Little Ukrainian Girls and Boys

https://thetorncurtain1991.blogspot.com/2022_05_01_archive.html

 

UN, EU & G7 Condemn Russia for Invading Ukraine While Supporting Kyiv in its Defense of Independence; PACE Joins Condemnation of Russia

The UN General Assembly passed today, October 12, a historic resolution by an overwhelming majority of member-states calling on countries not to recognize the four regions of Ukraine which Russia has seized, following the “forcerendums” held late last month, and demanding that Moscow reverse course on its “attempted illegal annexation.”

The results were 143 member-states in favor out of 194, with five voting against, and 35 abstentions. The countries who voted against were Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria. A majority of those countries abstaining were African nations, alongside China and India. Among the surprises in support for Wednesday’s resolution were the “yes” votes from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Brazil.

Since Moscow launched its latest war against Ukraine in 2014 by invading and occupying Crimea and then Donetsk and Luhansk, the United Nations has adopted several resolutions which condemned Russia for its aggression against Ukraine. The 2014 resolution affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity and declaring the referendum that led to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula illegal was adopted by a vote of 100-11 with 58 abstentions.

The resolution “defending the principles” of the UN Charter, pointed out that the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are temporarily occupied by Russia as a result of aggression, violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence.

The General Assembly automatically took up the resolution for debate, triggered by Russia’s use of the veto in the Security Council over its attempted annexation.

The resolution now passed in the Assembly, calls on all states, the UN and international organizations not to recognize any of Russia’s annexation claim and demands the immediate reversal of its annexation declaration.

The resolution welcomes and “expresses its strong support” for the continued efforts by the Secretary-General and Member-States, to de-escalate the current situation in search of peace through dialogue, negotiation and mediation.

The United Nations vote came three days after Russia launched a massive rocket attack against Ukrainian civilian residences in the wake of Ukraine’s destruction of the Kerch Bridge, Putin’s umbilical cord holding Crimea to Russia. Scores of civilians were killed in the attack on 15 cities and dozens of residential building were destroyed.

This escalation on the part of Russia was condemned by global organizations and Putin personally was warned not to threaten Ukraine and the world with nuclear Armageddon. The Russian dictator remarkably boasted the he had ordered the rocket attacks against civilian targets and promised to kill more Ukrainians.

Today’s remarkable vote at the UN General Assembly sends a powerful reminder to Russia that the overwhelming majority of nations of the world stand with Ukraine, in defense of the UN Charter, and in unyielding opposition to Russia’s latest ongoing war against Ukraine and its people. The world knows that Russia is a terrorist state and a perpetrator of war crimes and genocide in Ukraine.

The resolution underlined that territorial integrity is a central pillar of the United Nations, and Russia’s violent contempt for Ukraine’s national borders and sovereignty cannot and will not be accepted.  By adopting this resolution, the assembled nations made clear: they will not tolerate an attempt by any UN Member State to seize land by force.  The vote delivers a resounding rebuke to Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Representative to the United Nations, said today: “The only way to bring peace is to stop this aggression, to demand accountability, to stand together with conviction, to show what we will not tolerate. So let us send a clear message today, colleagues: The United Nations will not tolerate attempts at illegal annexation. We will never recognize it. These United Nations will not tolerate seizing a neighbor’s land by force. We will stand up to it. These United Nations will not tolerate the destruction of the UN Charter. We will defend it.”

Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, had appealed to the member-states to vote against the resolution, calling it “a politicized and openly provocative document” and denouncing its sponsors as “unscrupulous Western blackmailers.” He expressed regret the vote was not by secret ballot, as Russia sought. Nebenzia reiterated Russia’s claims the referendums were valid, saying “the populations of these regions do not want to return to Ukraine.”

The G7 nations of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States as well as the European Union, adopted on October 11 its own resolution supporting Ukraine and condemning Russia, in which it stated:

• The G7 firmly condemn and unequivocally reject the illegal attempted annexation by Russia of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in addition to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol. We solemnly reiterate that we will never recognize this illegal annexation or the sham referenda that Russia uses to justify it.
• Russia has blatantly violated the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. They cannot and do not give Russia a legitimate basis to change Ukraine’s borders. We call upon all countries to unequivocally reject these violations of international law and demand that Russia cease all hostilities and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its troops and military equipment from Ukraine.
• We have imposed and will continue to impose further economic costs on Russia, including on individuals and entities – inside and outside of Russia – providing political or economic support for Russia’s illegal attempts to change the status of Ukrainian territory.
• We deplore deliberate Russian escalatory steps, including the partial mobilization of reservists and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, which is putting global peace and security at risk. We reaffirm that any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences.

Without attempting to belittle these resolutions, it must be pointed out that while condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its attempt to re-subjugate it in a revived prison of nations is a compelling move, the United Nations has no armed forces of its own to hasten Russia’s demise. However, it is hoped that these documents will inspire the free world to help Ukraine defeat Russia by joining the battle from the trenches, side by side with Ukrainian soldiers until the heathen racists are repelled back to their motherland.

UPDATE: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, following an urgent debate on “Further escalation in the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine,” adopted on October 13 a resolution declaring the Russian Federation a terrorist regime, expanding the number of institutions that have condemned Russia for its war crimes, acts of genocide and terrorism. According to an Ukrinform correspondent, 99 out of 100 PACE deputies voted in favor of the document and one abstained.

Furthermore, the resolution recognizes complicity of Russian political parties that have previously voted for illegal decisions encroaching on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and other countries, “as groups and entities that facilitate terrorism.”

Putin Enacts ‘Forcerendum’ and Illegally Annexes Four Ukrainian Oblasts;

Free World Denounces Action; Zelenskyy Demands Instant NATO Accession

Despite global warnings against annexing Ukrainian territory, Russian führer Putin enacted on September 30 the “forcerendum” he ordered in eastern Ukraine and announced that he is illegally annexing Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts – one-fifth of Ukraine.

The international community condemned this move while the United States declares a stricter set of sanctions against the country and its leaders. As Putin was seizing Ukrainian land, a Russian missile attack on Zaporizhzhia left 25 civilians dead and about 50 wounded, including children. Putin warned that any attack on these Ukrainian region could result in a tactical nuclear reply by Russia.

In reply to Russia’s criminal seizure of Ukrainian land, President Zelenskyy said Ukraine is applying “under an accelerated procedure” to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“It is here, in Ukraine, that the values of our Euro-Atlantic community have obtained real vital energy,” Zelenskyy said in a pre-recorded video message. “The strength of the nation that fights for freedom, and the strength of the nations that help in this fight.” He said that “de facto,” Ukraine had already “completed our path” to NATO.

“Today, Ukraine is applying to make it de jure. Under a procedure consistent with our significance for the protection of our entire community, under an accelerated procedure,” he said.

The European Union’s top diplomat has condemned Russian shelling on a civilian convoy in Zaporizhzhia early Friday, calling the bombardment a “heinous attack.”

“Another heinous attack by Russia on civilians: this time a humanitarian convoy bringing vital help to people living in the non-government controlled areas of Zaporizhzhia,” Josep Borrell tweeted.

The EU “condemns this appalling attack in the strongest possible terms. Those responsible will be held accountable,” Borrell added.

The White House said in a strongly worded statement that the United States would never recognize this seizure of Ukrainian territory.

“The United States will never recognize Ukrainian territory as anything other than part of Ukraine. Russia’s referenda are a sham – a false pretext to try to annex parts of Ukraine by force in flagrant violation of international law, including the United Nations Charter. We will work with our allies and partners to impose additional swift and severe economic costs on Russia. The United States stands with our partners around the world – and with every nation that respects the core tenets of the UN charter – in rejecting whatever fabricated outcomes Russia will announce. We will continue to support the Ukrainian people and provide them with security assistance to help them defend themselves as they courageously resist Russia’s invasion,” the White House said.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced $1.1 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine. The upcoming aid package, the 22nd such installment, brings U.S. commitment to more than $16.2 billion since Russia’s invasion on February 24.

The Biden Administration announced new economic sanctions on hundreds of Russian officials and entities in response to the Kremlin’s illegal annexation of four regions of Ukraine.

The new sanctions target several front companies outside of Russia that were created this year to help major Russian military suppliers evade the sanctions they had already faced.

The new designations also expand sanctions on top Kremlin officials to include their wives and adult children. After seven months of war and economic sanctions, these revisions offer a window into what U.S. officials believe is working.

The Treasury Department named 14 international suppliers that assisted Russia’s military supply chains. It also imposed designations on 109 members of Russia’s State Duma and 169 members of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.  

Also new is the addition of Elvira Sakhipzadovna Nabiullina, Russia’s central bank governor and a former advisor to Putin. Since 2013, she has overseen its efforts to protect the Kremlin from Western sanctions after Russia illegally seized Crimea in 2014, according to the Treasury Department.

The newly sanctioned family members are the relatives of members of Russia’s National Security Council. They include Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s wife and two adult children, along with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s wife and adult children.

Condemnations also were heard on Capitol Hill.

Congressmen Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) today condemned Russia’s illegal annexation of sections of Ukraine and Putin’s newest threats against Ukraine and the United States. Rep. Pascrell’s Ninth District in New Jersey is home to one of the largest Ukrainian American communities in the U.S.

“The so-called liberations Russia talked about today are worth less than the blood-drenched papers they’re signed on,” said Pascrell, a member of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. “These lands are a part of a Ukraine. I will not accept Russia’s latest illegal annexations and rigged referenda. Vladimir Putin’s rabid speech today was the ramblings of a depraved, desperate dictator. He is losing the war he started and he knows it. Putin and the Russian state have committed countless atrocities and war crimes. The butchery of innocent Ukrainians is on Putin’s hands. For years – for decades – Putin has bullied and swaggered his way to survival. Neither brave Ukrainians nor Americans will be cowed by his threats.

“Ukraine is fighting a war for the survival of their freedom – and winning. America must continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine and give her the resources she needs to expel the Russian criminals. That is why I was proud to vote in favor of over $54 billion in direct support for Ukraine and will be honored to support an additional over $12 billion for Ukraine today. God bless the brave Ukrainians! Slava Ukraini!”

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe also condemned Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory, calling it a “blatant violation of the fundamental rules of international law, OSCE principles, and the UN Charter.”

Putin’s “unacceptable” action on Friday “eviscerates the principle of territorial integrity, which is at the core of the OSCE’s founding principles and the international order,” the statement read.

“This action by the Russian Federation, which includes military mobilization and irresponsible nuclear threats, will only lead to greater escalation of conflict, putting further millions of lives at risk and causing more senseless human suffering,” it said.

The European Union said it “will never” recognize the Kremlin’s “illegal annexation,” describing the move as a “further violation of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The bloc said it will also step up sanctions against Moscow and provide Ukraine with support “for as long as it takes.”

EU Council President Charles Michel dismissed Moscow’s illegal annexation, while EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Putin’s illegal annexation “won’t change anything.”

“All territories illegally occupied by Russian invaders are Ukrainian land and will always be part of this sovereign nation,” she tweeted Friday.

Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said the country “strongly rejects the illegal annexation by Russia,” calling the move “a shameless violation of Ukrainian sovereignty.”

Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda said in a post on Twitter that “Russia is undermining rules-based international order,” describing Moscow’s illegal annexation of occupied Ukrainian regions as “null” and “void.”

Biden: Russia’s Atrocities in Ukraine Make Blood Run Cold;

Zelenskyy: Ukraine Demands Punishment for Russian Crimes

Finally, in the aftermath of seven months of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, thousands of killed and raped civilians, indiscriminate slaughter of innocent people going about their daily chores, killing and rape of children, bombardment of homes the world has heard the message that Russia is a criminal state, a terrorist – and taken it to heart

With September the annual ritual of speeches by United Nations member-states begins in the hall of the General Assembly on the eastside of Manhattan. After hearing blistering denunciations of Russia and its führer Putin by President Joe Biden and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other national leaders, the United Nations top human rights body itself admitted that there is evidence of war crimes in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion nearly seven months ago. It seems the officials have believed the photos and stories that have been circulating the world since Bucha last spring.

Additionally, the Associated Press reported this week that after global hesitancy the tide of international opinion appears to be decisively shifting against Russia, as the number of non-aligned countries, even small southern hemisphere ones, are joining the United States and its allies in condemning Moscow’s war in Ukraine and its threats to the principles of the international rules-based order. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week as the 77^th General Assembly got under way, much of the international community spoke out against the conflict in a rare display of unity at the often fractured United Nations.

The panic-laden national conscription of 300,000 Russians ordered by Putin as well as Ukraine’s military victories against Russia are contributing to political problems at home for him, reported CNN.

Biden at the United Nations

President Biden, in his address, strongly denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as having “shamelessly violated” United Nations principles during a speech on Wednesday hours after Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons against Europe and Ukraine.

“Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the UN charter — no more important than the clear prohibition against countries taking the territory of their neighbors by force,” Biden told the UN General Assembly. “If nations can pursue their imperial ambitions without consequences, then we put at risk everything this very institution stands for.”

In a roughly 30-minute speech, he said that the war in Ukraine was about “extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state … and Ukraine’s right to exist as a people,” calling out Putin for making “irresponsible nuclear threats.”

“Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe, that should make your blood run cold,” Biden continued.
Ridiculing a recent speech by Putin about Ukraine’s history, Biden said “Putin’s own words make his true purpose unmistakable. Just before he invaded, Putin asserted — and I quote — Ukraine was ‘created by Russia’ and never had, quote, ‘real statehood.’”

Pointing out the global effort to help Ukraine, Biden said Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine are “why 141 nations in the General Assembly came together to unequivocally condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine.  The United States has marshaled massive levels of security assistance and humanitarian aid and direct economic support for Ukraine — more than $25 billion to date. 
“Our allies and partners around the world have stepped up as well.  And today, more than 40 countries represented in here have contributed billions of their own money and equipment to help Ukraine defend itself.”

Despite the massive military assistance to Ukraine that has had a positive impact on Ukraine’s ability to push back Russian invaders, Biden highlighted the true bravery on the front lines: “Every victory won on the battlefield belongs to the courageous Ukrainian soldiers.  But this past year, the world was tested as well, and we did not hesitate. 
“We chose liberty.  We chose sovereignty.  We chose principles to which every party to the United Nations Charter is beholding.  We stood with Ukraine.

“So, we — each of us in this body who is determined to uphold the principles and beliefs we pledge to defend as members of the United Nations — must be clear, firm, and unwavering in our resolve. 
“Ukraine has the same rights that belong to every sovereign nation.  We will stand in solidarity with Ukraine.  We will stand in solidarity against Russia’s aggression.  Period.”

Ukraine’s President at the UNGA

Embattled but undaunted Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has earned the highly touted attribute of not being a national leader who has turned tail and ran, in his inimitable no-holds-barred manner of talking declared that a crime has been committed against Ukraine and his country demands punishment for the perpetrator.

Zelenskyy stated dramatically in an unusual televised presentation: “The crime was committed against our state borders. The crime was committed against the lives of our people. The crime was committed against the dignity of our women and men. 

“The crime was committed against the values that make you and me a community of the united nations.

“And Ukraine demands punishment for trying to steal our territory. Punishment for the murders of thousands of people. Punishment for tortures and humiliations of women and men. 

“Punishment for the catastrophic turbulence that Russia provoked with its illegal war and not only for us, Ukrainians, but for the whole world.”

Due to the war in Ukraine, Zelenskyy did not travel to New York to address the other 193 countries so this approach had to be subjected to a vote. Seven countries opposed this form and Zelenskyy took them to task for their snub.

“It was a vote not only about the format. It was the vote about principles. Only seven countries voted against: Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria,” the president of Ukraine said.

“Seven. Seven who are afraid of the video address. Seven who respond to principles with a red button. Only seven. One hundred and one, and seven.”

To refresh the delegates’ memories, Zelenskyy reminded that Ukraine did not provoke this war as Putin has been claiming. “We held 88 rounds of talks in various formats to prevent this war, just from the beginning of my presidency until February 24 this year,” he said.

Adhering to international principles, he continued by noting that “Ukraine showed strength on the battlefield, using its right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter. And no one will reproach us now or in the future with weakness or inability to fight for ourselves, for our independence.”

But punishment was rightly on Zelenskyy’s mind.

“And this is the first item of our peace formula. Comprehensive item. Punishment. 

“Punishment for the crime of aggression. Punishment for violation of borders and territorial integrity. Punishment that must be in place until the internationally recognized border is restored. Until the aggression stops. And until the damages and losses for the war are fully compensated,” he said.

Sanctions against Russia, a strict full package of personal restrictions, are a given.

Zelenskyy also insisted on depriving Russia of delegation rights, removal of the right of veto, if it is a member of the UN Security Council.

Sanctions should not only be applied to officials but also to citizens of the aggressor state who should not be allowed to travel to foreign countries. Depriving them of visas should compel them to fight against the aggression of their own state. Zelenskyy added that they should be punished for abetting the evil of their country.

“A special tribunal should be created to punish Russia for the crime of aggression against our state. This will become signal to all ‘would-be’ aggressors, that they must value peace or be brought to responsibility by the world,” he said. “Ukraine will appeal to the UN General Assembly to support an international compensation mechanism.”

Zelenskyy demanded that Russia should be forced to pay for this war with its assets, which also constitutes punishment, adding “this is one of the most terrible punishments for Russian officials, who value money above everything else.”

The Ukrainian president also insisted that the global body do a better job of protecting human life.

Noting the recent exhumations in Izyum, Zelenskyy said: “The bodies of women and men, children and adults, civilians and soldiers were found there. 445 graves. 

“There is a family that died under the rubble of a house after a Russian airstrike – father, mother, 6- and 8-year-old girls, grandparents. There is a man who was strangled with a rope. There is a woman with broken ribs and wounds on her body. There is a man who was castrated before the murder, and this is not the first case.

“Ask, please, the representatives of Russia why the Russian military are so obsessed with castration. What was done to them so that they want to do this to others?”

Repeating that for Ukraine the war a war for life. “That is why we need defense support – weapons, military equipment and shells. Offensive weapons, a long-range one is enough to liberate our land, and defensive systems, above all, air defense. And we need financial support – to keep internal stability and fulfill social obligations to our people,” he said.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has also taught the world that the third item of his peace formula is restoring security and territorial integrity. “Look at how many elements of global security Russia has undermined with its war – maritime safety, food safety, radiation safety, energy safety and safety from weapons of mass destruction,” he said.

Regarding radiation safety he said, “Russian radiation blackmailing is something that should concern each and every one of you, because none of you will find a vaccine against radiation sickness.”

Summarizing the points of his peace formula, Zelenskyy reiterated:

• punishment for aggression; 

• protection of life; 

• restoration of security and territorial integrity; 

• security guarantees; 

• and determination to defend oneself.

“This is the formula of crime and punishment, which is already well known to Russia. And this is the formula of justice and law and order that Russia has yet to learn. As well as any other potential aggressors.

“What is not in our formula? Neutrality.”

He said that global neutrality in the face of aggression will not save mankind from the ravages of a war that Ukraine is facing.

UK at UNGA

British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of making “saber-rattling threats” to cover his failed invasion of Ukraine, as she told the United Nations that its founding principles were fracturing because of aggression by authoritarian states.

Responding to a statement from Putin that he was mobilizing reservists and would use everything at his disposal to protect Russia — an apparent reference to his nuclear arsenal -- Truss accused the Russian leader of “desperately trying to justify his catastrophic failures.”

“He is doubling down by sending even more reservists to a terrible fate,” the speech said. “He is desperately trying to claim the mantle of democracy for a regime without human rights or freedoms. And he is making yet more bogus claims and saber-rattling threats.”

“This will not work. The international alliance is strong – Ukraine is strong,” said Truss, who addressed the U.N. on the same day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the global gathering by video.

Unity against Leader of Evil Empire

Returning to the earlier point about the growing coalition against Russia, Secretary of State Antony Bliken observed, “We hear a lot about the divisions among countries at the United Nations. But recently, what’s striking is the remarkable unity among member states when it comes to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Leaders from countries developing and developed, big and small, North and South have spoken in the General Assembly about the consequences of the war and the need to end it.

“Even a number of nations that maintain close ties with Moscow have said publicly that they have serious questions and concerns about President Putin’s ongoing invasion.”

Regarding war crimes, the experts from the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, mandated by Human Rights Council earlier this year, have so far focused on four regions – Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy. In their most extensive findings so far, they cited testimonies by former detainees of beatings, electric shocks and forced nudity in Russian detention facilities, and expressed grave concerns about executions the team was working to document in the four regions.

“Based on the evidence gathered by the commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” Erik Mose, the commission’s chairman, told the Human Rights Council.

“We were struck by the large number of executions in the areas that we visited. The commission is currently investigating such deaths in 16 towns and settlements,” Mose said. He didn’t specify who or which side in the war allegedly committed the killings.

Commission investigators visited 27 towns and settlements, as well as graves and detention and torture centers; interviewed more than 150 victims and witnesses; and met with advocacy groups and government officials, Mose said.

He said an unspecified number of Russian soldiers were found to have committed crimes of sexual or gender-based violence – with victims ranging in age from 4 to 82 years old.

Evidently, in the wake of these revelations and accusations, Russia will now supersede Nazi Germany as the greatest war criminal in the history of mankind.

As I’ve said in the past, the words of support as strong as they are present but Russia is also present. Its brutal, inhuman war against Ukraine is present. Ukrainians are being killed. The longer the words of support are being bandied about, the longer Ukrainians will suffer, the longer their children will be raped and killed.

When will the international community of free nations unitedly and forcibly move against Putin and defeat Russia?