re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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The EU has reached out to Russia several times over the past 25 years or so.

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Ukraine was trying to take the EU path in a similar situation. We see where that got them with Moscow.

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This is straight out of their playbook used in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Georgia, and now Ukraine.

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Let's also not forget their response to a terrorist hostage event by using poison gas on EVERYONE in the theatre.

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It is the second month of war in Eastern Europe. Scenes of horror are unfolding as the Russian forces withdraw from Kyiv. In the suburbs of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel, convoys move in to deliver humanitarian aide only to find these cities empty and the dead scattered in the streets. There seems to be evidence that some civilians were bound up and shot in the back of their heads by the Russians. There are half buried bodies in mass graves. The Russians have also left some of their dead behind. In response, several Russian dozen diplomats were expelled from EU countries and renewed calls for an international war crimes inquiry grew shrill. What is most disturbing is that we can expect similar scenes out of the occupied suburbs of Kharkiv and in the Siege of Mariupol. Indiscriminate attacks with artillery and unguided munitions is one thing, but the systemic targeting of civilians for torture and execution is something else entirely.

This is already impacting negotiations which, prior to these revelations of potential war crimes, were already on shaky ground. The Russians were humiliated by a daring helicopter airstrike over Belgorod, Russia which the Ukrainians deny. They used this as an excuse to backpedal on negotiations, never mind that Russian aircraft are bombing Ukrainian cities every day. As the world reacts with revulsion at what may have transpired around Kyiv, Ukraine can expect a renewed emphasis on arms deliveries. The Ukrainians will work out their own revenge, a thought that sends shivers down the spine.

The Russians, meanwhile, have simply quit Kyiv. They even turned Chernobyl back over to the Ukrainians after they bussed dozens of Russian soldiers to Belarussian hospitals with acute radiation syndrome. They were apparently digging trenches in the highly radioactive soil around the ghost forests of Chernobyl. Russian forces around Kyiv have withdrawn into Russia to reconstitute and rearm. They will be redeployed to the Donbas front where the focus of fighting is now being concentrated. There we may see more ‘classical’ warfare with large maneuvering formations and sustained offensives meant to grind down the Ukrainian Army. As for any negative press, the Russians have just issued blanket statements that all such coverage, including the massacres around Kyiv, are staged or fake. I’m not sure who they are convincing except their own people. Even the Chinese have to feel embarrassed in their association with such a rogue, out-of-control nuclear power.

A few things to watch out for is the US’s case to eject Russia from the Human Rights Council of the UN, and continuing world reaction to what has transpired around Kyiv. The war in the Donbas will begin to intensify as Russian forces concentrate there for a supreme effort to try and win this sickening war.

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