The rules of war read very clearly if they weren’t people would find loophole after loophole in getting out of sanctions and other forms of punishments that hurt not only a country’s economy but its people as well. It is now three weeks following Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine and the Russian people have lost nearly everything they know for a war that most of them don’t support. As stores pull their business, and most forms of social media are banning Russia, its citizens are becoming cut off from the outside world.
Yesterday, in Lviv Ukraine, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy accused Russia of genocide following the bombing of a children’s hospital, during a ceasefire deal allowing citizens around the southern port to flee. As the president addressed his people via television the night of the bombing, he asked, “What kind of country is this, the Russian Federation, which is afraid of maternity hospitals, and destroys them? Following his speech addressing his people, Zelenskyy redirected and called for the West to tighten its sanctions on Russia. The bombing buried patients in rubble, killing three people, one of which was a young girl. Officials claim a Russian flew overhead and dropped the bomb. Russia placed blame on Ukraine for the failure of evacuation. This invasion has evolved into the biggest assault on a European state since World War II.
Today, Russia continues to give the world whiplash as the Kremlin came out in a statement saying he would “look into the bombing of the Ukrainian hospital in the city of Mariupol.” Following the denial of the bombing on the children’s hospital, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Moscow was once again lying by saying, “Like always, they lie confidently.”
The ‘Rules of War’ can also be referred to as ‘international humanitarian law’. The number one ‘Rule’ is to “protect those who are not fighting, such as civilians, medical personnel or aid workers,”. However, the action that was taken yesterday, proves that Russia is playing by its own rules. As Russia continues to hold the threat of nuclear bombs over the world’s head, they hope to corner all opposers and force them to allow the taking of Ukrainian Cities. However, it would seem that it could potentially open a ‘can of worms’ worldwide. Using the threat of Nuclear War to claim any territory a country wants can expand the danger in an already dangerous game.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been 24 confirmed attacks on health care facilities in Ukraine so far. Each attack has highlighted just how off-book Russia is acting. The UN Human Rights body said they were verifying the number of casualties that occurred during the bombing. The Donetsk region’s governor said that so far they know that 17 people were injured from the event.
As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Turkey to resume talks today, there was not much hope for diplomacy as this will be the first talks with Ukraine since the initial invasion. Ukraine still wants the liberation of all its territories and correct the humanitarian issues occurring during the attacks, that many consider being war crimes. Russia remains demanding that Kyiv become a neutral territory and Ukraine remove any hope of joining NATO in the near future.
