UN: Widespread russian Torture in Ukraine is Deliberate

News and images of russian torture of Ukrainian servicemen and women as well as civilians have shocked the civilized world since moscow invaded Ukraine on February 22, 2022.

The first reports came a couple of weeks after russians cross the Ukrainian border, from Bucha and Irpin. Then came Azovstal. The coldblooded murder of a Ukrainian POW who declared “Glory to Ukraine.” And the beheading of Ukrainian soldiers. And then there’s psychological torture of knowing that your life as a Ukrainian isn’t worth spit in the minds of russian cutthroats and it could end in a second. You could be standing in a breadline, then you’re dead. You can be riding with your family in a car when the invaders riddled the vehicle with rifle fire killing all inhabitants – adults and children. You could be running with your mother to evade missiles when it hits the ground killing 11-year-old Liza. Or you could be captured with your siblings then raped and killed. You could be hiding beneath your home when the russians discovered you and threw grenades into the basement.

Yes, there is physical torture as well as psychological torture and russians are adept at inflicting both on purpose, systematically, deliberately and with authorization. Their cruelty against Ukrainians even exceeds the Nazis’ brutality.

The United Nations has finally declared it to be so. Furthermore, it said, there are no excuses or explanations for torture during wars, which are tantamount with war crimes. The perpetrators cannot point fingers at commanding officers, saying they made us do it.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Jill Edwards yesterday expressed alarm at reports and testimonies which appear to indicate that russian military forces in Ukraine are consistently and intentionally inflicting severe physical and psychological pain and suffering on Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war. This torture is being carried out to extract intelligence or to force confessions from detained individuals, or because of their former membership or support of the Ukrainian armed forces, Edwards said in a rather rare, accusatory letter to russian officials.

“The alleged practices include electric shocks, beatings, hooding, mock executions and other threats of death,” Edwards wrote. “If established, they would constitute individual violations and may also amount to a pattern of State-endorsed torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

According to the UN statement, the allegations relate to the detention of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war held in grossly inadequate conditions in facilities run by russian military forces inside Ukraine. In the letter, sent jointly with other independent UN experts, Edwards said that the consistency and methods of the alleged torture suggests “a level of coordination, planning and organization, as well as the direct authorization, deliberate policy or official tolerance from superior authorities.”

“Torture is a war crime, and the systematic or widespread practice of torture constitutes a crime against humanity,” she noted. “Obeying a superior order or policy direction cannot be invoked as justification for torture, and any individual involved should be promptly investigated and prosecuted by independent authorities.”

Reports indicate that as a result of torture, ill-treatment and poor conditions of detention many Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war have suffered physical and psychological traumas, hallucinations, damage to internal organs, fractures and cracks in bones, extreme weight loss, sensory impairment as well as motor losses, strokes or the exacerbation of chronic diseases. Most individuals reportedly did not have access to adequate medical assistance during their detention.

“The longer the war goes on, the more reports are emerging of torture and other inhuman treatment,” Edwards said. “Such cruelty inflames hostility and damages future hopes of peace and reconciliation between neighbors. I strongly urge relevant authorities to ensure that civilians and prisoners of war are protected and treated humanely at all times,” she said.

Based on russia’s conduct in its latest war against Ukraine, the sole purpose of which in the words of putin and all political and military officials is to conquer the country and annihilate the nation, the only way to stop this historically exorbitant level of torture is to defeat russia and bring the perpetrators – all of them from putin to the miserable private on the front line to justice.

Lithuanian FM: Russia must Lose the War and Ukraine must Win

It has been our conviction that the battlement of former captive nations of russian subjugation is the strongest bulwark against unending russian aggression.

The subjugated peoples that became enslaved in moscow’s prison of nations and then in the 1990s began to free themselves of this inhuman yoke are destined to keep the free world free and russia glowering behind the iron curtain that it erected. By working together, forming an unbreakable multifaceted bloc against the kremlin’s malicious mission of imprisoning old and new, near and far away nations, they can preserve regional and global peace, stability and security.

The historic support Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and others show for each other every day is surely the envy of the free world. They have the knowledge, experience, commitment and spirit to fulfill this task. They only need the free world’s latest military technology to keep russia at bay. The latest iteration of russia’s centuries long war against Ukraine is proof of this.

The x-captive nations also comprehend that in the current war russia must lose and Ukraine must win for peace to return to the region first and then the world.

In an interview with French-language website www.rfi.fr, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis, opined during a recent meeting organized by the French Institute of International Relations that victory for Ukraine and defeat for russia are equally essential because that would create the impression of deterrence, that russia is weaker than Ukraine and the other x-captive nations individually or collectively.

“We want the strategy to be such that Putin never considers outside adventures again,” Landsbergis said.

Lithuania is also incessantly concerned by russia’s history of belligerence and invasions of foreign countries because it is wedged between russia (Kaliningrad enclave) and its vassal belarus.

“Therefore our security issues are higher than they normally would be. We see that russia is currently in a bad position in Ukraine, but if we project ourselves into the future, in three, five or seven years, we know that it will be able to rebuild itself. If there is no radical change in Moscow, then we will have two dangerous neighbors on our side,” he said.

Landsbergis doesn’t expect russia to abandon its historical goal of subjugating Ukraine and the others, but deterrence may keep moscow regardless of its leader handcuffed inside the kremlin.

“We want russia to lose in Ukraine, we want Ukraine to win, and then whatever happens in russia is russia’s business. It will take care of it as it sees fit,” Landsbergis observed. “But we must know that we are defended so as not to be attacked by Russia.”

As a member of NATO, Lithuania is protected by the power of Article 5 that states that an attack against one is an attack against all, which should protect it and other member-states. However, Landsbergis isn’t betting his country’s money on that principle.

“This has been the case so far, no doubt. But looking to the future, one has to admit that russia has crossed a psychological red line. This country is an aggressor that has justified a full-scale invasion against its neighbor. So the idea is that it could find a justification for another invasion. That’s what worries us. That is why we ask that this threat translate into further defense and reinforcement of the eastern flank,” he explained.

High-tech military aid definitely helps Ukraine, he said, but it needs to be delivered faster and more often. Ukrainian Armed Forces are capable of mastering their usage, he added.

“Therefore, additional NATO troops would be a logical step after a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But the deployment of additional equipment and air defense assets would also be very useful. So that we can have the feeling of being protected in the same way as countries further west,” Landsbergis said.

As for the question of the day regarding the perpetrator behind the destruction of Kakhovka dam, Landsbergis doesn’t mince words. Russia did it.

“Russia has been bombing civilian infrastructure since day one and constantly lying about the identity of the bombers. So I think from this experience it is very clear that we can definitely blame russia and demand that they take responsibility. Ukraine must win the war and russia must pay the price for all the damage caused,” he said.

US Demonstrates Long-Term Commitment to Ukraine

Recent developments in the latest iteration of russia’s long-term wars against Ukraine have compelled the United States and other free world allies of Kyiv to step up their expressed support “to the end” for Ukraine.

And it couldn’t have come at a more propitious time.

The latest example of russia’s stubborn commitment to annihilating Ukrainians came on June 6 with destruction of the Kakhovka dam in occupied southeastern Ukraine.

Regardless of how mercilessly brutal they are toward civilian Ukrainians, the russian cutthroats in uniforms are incompetent on the battlefield. Nonetheless, their commanders formulate evil plots to kill as many Ukrainians as possible and to harm as much of Ukrainian towns and countryside as possible.

That was the goal of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam earlier this week. The structure, which has been in russian hands for some 12 months, was built in the days of the evil soviet empire. According to engineering reports from Ukraine, it was meant to withstand intense bombardment from the outside, but not from within. Consequently, russian sappers had the time to find the dam’s vulnerable areas and then plant enough explosive devises to blow up the dam and release water the size of the Great Salt Lake.

Norwegian seismographers determined that a massive explosion caused the dam to be destroyed. A BBC correspondent reporting this finding laid all of the evidence in a row and said the guilty party could not be anyone else but russia, the kremlin, putin and the invading army.

The devastation has been biblical. People have drowned, towns and farms have bene inundated, crops destroyed, livestock killed. The regional and global ecological damage has not yet been calculated but it is expected to consume everything in its path, leaving the people without food or water or arable land.

This is the second time that russia has destroyed this dam for its egocentric malicious reasons, the previous one being during World War Two. And this is the second time russia is forcing famine upon the Ukrainian nation, the previous time was the infamous Holodomor. Clearly, moscow is intent on fulfilling its centuries-old mission of killing all Ukrainians and ravaging the countryside as it captures the country.

The scenes of the devastation ahead of U.S. elections should serve as a stark reminder to all Republican and Democratic candidates that it is in America’s best interest to help Ukraine defeat and subdue Russia before it rolls across Europe and the Atlantic to the shores of the U.S.A.

According to the U.S. Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Ukrainian army has conducted counterattack operations in at least three areas of the front within 24 hours with mixed results, the Baltic News Network reported. ISW said in a report published on Thursday, June 8, that these operations are part of a broader counterattack effort that has been ongoing since the 4th of June.

Ukrainian forces have switched from defense to offensive towards Bakhmut, and have advanced even by two kilometers in some places.

The Ukrainian army carried out a limited but significant offensive in the west of the Zaporizhzhia region overnight on June 8. At the same time, Russian forces put up fierce resistance and regained their original positions.

Fortunately, the Biden Administration has again come forward with help. The U.S. announced today a new $2.1 billion package of military aid to Ukraine.

The Pentagon elaborated that this is long-term weapons aid for Ukraine. The new assistance package will include funding for more Patriot missile battery munitions, Hawk air defense systems and missiles, and small Puma drones that can be launched by hand.

The latest funding, one of the larger packages the U.S. has provided, comes as there are signs that Ukraine has begun the much anticipated counteroffensive to take back territory that has been seized by Russia. Unlike the U.S. equipment, weapons and ammunition that are more frequently sent from Pentagon stocks and delivered quickly to Ukraine, this money would be provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and is meant to be spent over the coming months or even years to ensure Ukraine’s future security needs.

In a statement, the Pentagon said the package shows America’s continued commitment “to both Ukraine’s critical near-term capabilities as well as the enduring capacity of Ukraine’s Armed Forces to defend its territory and deter Russian aggression over the long term.”

The aid also will include munitions for laser-guided rockets, an undisclosed amount of artillery rounds, and funding for training and maintenance support.

President Biden said yesterday he’s confident the U.S. will have the necessary funding to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” to fight invading Russian forces, despite skepticism in the GOP-led House about providing supplemental spending for the effort.

“I believe we’ll have the funding necessary to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Biden said at a press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who supports the policy of helping Ukraine. “And I believe that that support will be real, even though you hear some voices today on Capitol Hill about whether or not we should continue to support Ukraine and for how long.”

Biden and White House officials have been adamant since Russia first invaded in February 2022 that the U.S. would stand with Ukraine for as long as it took to bring the war to an end. The U.S. has thus far allocated billions of dollars in military and economic aid to Kyiv.

A number of administration officials reportedly have acknowledged that the fighting in Ukraine has intensified in recent days, but much of the focus turned early this week to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.

The free world is solidly in support of Ukraine. Which is a good thing but it shouldn’t let its guard down. The kremlin and its killers for hire have stated that they will mobilize 200,000 walking dead russians to fight in Ukraine. Russia must be defeated, dismembered and decolonized as soon as possible before this plan is fulfilled.

Int’l Aid Needed to Overcome Global Calamity of Kakhovka Destruction

On June 6, 2023, the russian invaders destroyed the Kakhovka dam in southeastern Ukraine by detonating huge amounts of explosive devices from inside the facility. The resulting damage to the surrounding land is causing a catastrophe of global proportions. The greatest consequence is the death by drowning of so-far countless men, women and children. And then there is the destruction of farmlands, crops, agriculture, and livestock as well as ecological devastation. The latter will impact the environment far beyond the southeastern region of Ukraine.

The following is a statement by Yuri Shcherbak, former minister of environment of Ukraine, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Ukraine, author, chairman of the board of the Ukrainian-Polish Independent Media Forum, member of the presidium of Ukrainian Peace. It was released on June 7 and originally appeared on the website https://universum.lviv.ua/news/our-news/08.06.2023/yuri-shch-kakh-eng.html.

I appeal to the world public opinion as well as international environmental and nature conservation organizations.

On June 6, 2023, the Russian occupiers committed a crime of global proportions in Ukraine: they blew up the dam and the building of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant that resulted in the release of huge amounts of water from the Kakhovka reservoir and flooding of large areas adjacent to the Dnipro riverbed.

It is obvious to every objective expert that the criminals who dared to do this have caused an anthropogenic social and environmental disaster comparable to the use of weapons of mass destruction. There are already first casualties among people, wild and domestic animals, and the numbers will only grow.

The release of water from the Kakhovka reservoir (total volume of 18.2 cubic kilometers) will cause:

• dehydration and decline of irrigation systems: 94 per cent of those located in Kherson, 74% in Zaporizhzhia, and 30% in Dnipropetrovsk regions;
• shortage of drinking water for millions of Ukrainian citizens;
• desertification of the dried-up bottom of the Kakhovka Reservoir;
• the risk of spreading intestinal infections (cholera, dysentery, etc.);
• degradation of flora and fauna ecosystems in the disaster-stricken area;
• toxic effects of spreading silt containing heavy metal salts and harmful chemicals;
• the lack of water to cool the reactors of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the most powerful NPP in Europe, poses a particular threat.

We are facing the specter of an environmental apocalypse planned by international criminal putin whose goal is to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians by organizing a food catastrophe, sharply reducing the yields of grain and other crops on the fertile lands of southern Ukraine. This will lead to a global food supply crisis, particularly in Africa and Asia.

As a founder and active participant of the Ukrainian Green Movement in 1987–91, and the author of the world-famous documentary novel Chornobyl, I call on my fellow environmentalists in Ukraine and other countries, activists of Green Peace, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), Green Cross, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other organizations to raise their voices in protest against the crimes of the russian aggressors who are violating all international conventions aimed at protecting civilians and the environment during war.

Our silence will only encourage war criminals to commit new atrocities.

Let us unite in the fight against russian aggression, for the preservation of human life and the environment, for a just peace on Earth!

Russia Bears Ultimate Responsibility for Destruction of Kakhovka Dam

The Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Ukraine Caucus – Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), and Andy Harris (R-MD-01) – released on June 7 the following statement on the breached Kakhovka Dam emergency.

“The breaching of the Kakhovka Dam is a catastrophic humanitarian and environmental disaster. Communities which have already suffered immeasurably at the hands of vladimir putin and russia’s illegal war of aggression, now face deadly and destructive floods. The safety of those living in the surrounding areas is of vital importance and we are encouraged by the rapid response of Ukrainian evacuation efforts, even as they are undertaken on the active frontline across from hostile russian forces.

“This disaster demands accountability and a decisive response. As the cruel aggressor in this war, russia bears ultimate responsibility for the destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure and the displacement of communities which have long called the areas down river of the dam home. The United States and our allies pledge our support for Ukraine’s efforts to respond to this emergency, and continue to stand with all Ukrainians who stand on the frontline of this fight to save democracy and freedom.”

Better Late than Never or We Told You So

It’s been an axiom of The Torn Curtain 1991 that russia would never accept Ukraine’s independence proclamation of 1991 and the time will come when moscow will strike against Ukraine with the its age-old intention of capturing the country, subjugating the nation and erasing all vestiges of Ukrainian culture, language and religion.

Even that hasn’t been a kremlin goal that has been relegated to the past 30 or so years or the 21^st or 20^th centuries.

It’s been moscow’s mission for 1,000 years.

We’ve denounced the West’s decision of 80 years ago to accept russia as a trustworthy, democratic partner rather than strongly supporting the captive nations in their quest to free themselves of moscow’s yolk and become sovereign and independent.

We accepted reality that our arguments were for naught.

And then we see that the least likely contemporary national leader has uttered his own “mea culpa” or rather in French “ma faute.”

French President Emmanuel Macron admitted that France – and by association Europe and the free world – should have paid more attention to Eastern European countries that warned of the threat from russia.

Macron expressed this epiphany in a speech at the GLOBSEC forum in Bratislava, according to European Pravda and Reuters.

This is politically and historically significant because Macron has been one of the national leaders who believed in the goodness of moscow and the potential success of convincing putin to stop the war in Ukraine. He upheld this point of view even in the face of russia’s crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Macron emphasized that there should be no division between “Old Europe” and “New Europe.” referring to the long-standing disagreements between the EU’s eastern and western members, particularly over the Russian issue.

“Some said you had missed an opportunity to shut up. I think we also lost an opportunity to listen to you. This time is over," Macron said.

He was alluding to former French President Jacques Chirac’s statement in 2003 that Eastern European states that supported the United States and Britain in their decision to invade Iraq had missed a “good opportunity to shut up.”

The French President said russia had suffered obvious failures in the war against Ukraine.

“War is far from over but one thing is clear: Ukraine won’t be conquered. We can see that what was supposed to be a ‘special operation’ is already a geopolitical failure,” Macron said.

Earlier, Macron stated that Ukraine must be provided with “tangible and reliable security guarantees.”

He also emphasized that the West should do everything possible to help Ukraine conduct an effective counteroffensive since it “gives a chance to establish a lasting peace.”

We accept your confession. As your penance, provide Ukraine will all of your offensive and defensive air, land and sea weapons.

Ukraine Repels Massive russian missile attack on Kyiv Day

May 28 is traditionally observed in Ukraine as Kyiv Day, the spiritual and historical capital of sovereign Ukraine.

The legendary city was founded 1,541 years ago, give or take a few months. When glorious golden-domed Kyiv was established, the regions around moscow and other russian cities were bogs and swamps with croaking frogs.

Contemporary russia, itself a concept that originated in the mid-18^th century, did not overlook the occasion to commemorate this anniversary.

It vindictively launched the largest drone attack against Ukraine’s capital since the start of russia’s war 15 months ago just as Kyiv was preparing to mark the anniversary. Reports say at least one person was killed.

Serhii Popko, a senior Kyiv military official, said russia launched the “most massive attack” on the capital with Iranian-made Shahed drones. The attack lasted more than five hours, with air defense reportedly shooting down more than 40 drones.

A 41-year-old man was killed and a 35-year-old woman was hospitalized when debris fell on a seven-story nonresidential building and started a fire, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Saturday night was also record-breaking in terms of Shahed drone attacks across the country. Of the 54 drones launched, 52 were shot down by air defense systems.

In the northeastern Kharkiv province, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said a 61-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man were killed in two separate shelling attacks.

A colleague and friend, Tanya Parkhomchuk, a journalist with Zerkalo Nedili and Ukrayina Moloda, whose article on current events in Ukraine will appear in the summer 2023 edition of THE UKRAINIAN QUARTERLY, described russia’s latest massive missile attack on Kyiv:

“All night, on May 28 (Kyiv Day) the orcs (pejorative word for Russians meaning hideous monster) poured hatred, a record number of Shaheds, on us and our Kyiv. Evidently, the genes of the hordes push them to commit new crimes, they do not give rest, reminding of their brutal, destructive raids on Kyiv. When churches were chosen together with gilded domes; when they robbed the houses of Kyivans, killed, mocked... And, receiving tears and curses in their wake, they took carts full of bloody loot to their Golden Horde moksha (moscow). They have no right to further defile the Earth. Their place is complete oblivion.

“Happy birthday, dear, wise, courageous, Kyiv! We love you infinitely!”

Ukraine will survive because Ukrainians – all Ukrainians from east to west and north to Crimea – will persevere and repel all russian attacks. But is it fair for Ukrainians – civilians – to endure death and destruction every day as they defend the free world from russian aggression?