The Russian army reduced Mariupol to rubble, killing and injuring thousands of civilians. If before the Russian invasion, 400,000 people lived in the Ukrainian city, now there are 120,000 people left there.. Most of those who were able to escape moved to other parts of Ukraine. But many were also taken by force to Russia.
On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin assessed these horrors and announced that he was satisfied, the Washington Post wrote in an editorial..
“The work of the armed forces to liberate Mariupol was successful. Congratulations,” he told his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu..
But the truth is that the Russian army has not yet completed the task. Some of the defenders of Mariupol entrenched themselves at the Azovstal plant. Moscow says there are about 2,000 soldiers in the basements of the plant. In Kyiv, they say that there really are several thousand people. But among them, about 500 are wounded soldiers, and another 1,000 are civilians, many of whom are children.. Recognizing that it would be too risky for the Russian army to attempt to storm the plant, even if there were fewer Ukrainian soldiers, Putin ordered Azovstal to be surrounded so that “not even a fly could fly”.
Simply put, Putin's concern for the lives of his own soldiers does not extend to the lives of those at the plant, who could die of disease, starvation or thirst if the Russian siege succeeds..
The publication recalls that Moscow wants to capture the Ukrainian military and civilians at Azovstal dead or alive. So she demanded that they surrender. Putin also rejected the call of the Ukrainian military to evacuate them to the territory controlled by Kyiv under the supervision of a third party..
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The publication insists that the United States, Europe and all worthy governments of the world should demand from Russia that it act humanely.. This means that negotiations are needed to carry out the evacuation requested by the Ukrainians.. If Russia does not agree that such an operation be carried out under the supervision of a third country, this can be done by a neutral international organization, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The defenders of Mariupol are running out of food and ammunition. And experience shows that Putin does not care about appeals based on humanitarian concerns or international law.. New satellite imagery reveals new mass graves 20 kilometers from Mariupol that could contain up to 3,000 civilian bodies. Therefore, US President Joe Biden did the right thing by announcing new deliveries of heavy artillery and drones to Ukraine.. This weapon should help the Armed Forces of Ukraine defeat the new Russian offensive in the Donbass.
“Probably too late to try to persuade Putin to abandon the unnecessary killings in Mariupol. The supply of American weapons will allow Ukraine to speak to him in a language that he understands,” the article says..
The Russians forcibly took several thousand Mariupol residents to the territory of the Russian Federation. Even earlier, the occupation authorities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, under the guise of " These actions, which in international law qualify as deportation, are a crime against humanity.
About why the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine should change international law - read the article by the President of the Ukrainian Bar Association Anna Ogrenchuk \?