Brutality in Bucha

This war is not going to end anytime soon. America, the main stakeholder in the on-going Russia-Ukraine war, is vigorously militarising Zelenesky’s army only to invite more retaliation from Moscow’s war machine. If Russia’s deadly bombing campaign continues unabated, Ukraine will soon become a wasteland. For all practical purposes Zelensky has endangered the lives of millions of Ukrainians by declining to show flexibility in ‘war and peace’ game because America doesn’t want any mutually acceptable settlement. He may get Nobel peace prize but it is a ploy of America to play with the gallery. Prize won’t minimise the sufferings of Ukrainians. Ukraine is a pawn in America’s geopolitical strategy.

Meanwhile, international outcry against alleged genocide in Bucha, a suburb, just 20 km away from the capital city of Kiev, is gaining louder and louder with every passing day, albeit Russia categorically denied the charge of targeting civilians at the UNSC meet. Allegations and counter-allegations cannot alter the ground reality as horrific pictures are emerging regularly from the war-devastated Bucha and other cities. People were shot at point blank range; bodies with hands tied are lying on the streets. Then there is mass grave. The retreat of Russian forces has left bone-chilling evidence of atrocities against ordinary people---Bucha is now a living hell on the earth. The West lost no time to describe it as a genocide, making a perfect case in the International Court of Justice. They are also demanding to expel Russia from UNHRC. The Kremlin, however, maintained that it was part of Ukraine’s propaganda war to mobilise public opinion---they never indulged in mass-killings and graves were staged managed. But there are no takers of Moscow’s line of argument.

The Bucha incident set to galvanise the US and Europe into additional sanctions against Russia, possibly including some restrictions on the billions of dollars in energy that Europe still imports from Russia. As Russian forces intensifies bombing, Zelensky is frantically appealing, almost everyday to the US and its western allies to impose more sanctions on Moscow so that Russia’s war chest gets dry. But how far this sanctions business will help him to counter Russian offensive is open to question. Not a single country in the African continent and West Asian, Central, South and South East Asia region has imposed sanctions against Russia. Malayasia and Vietnam didn’t support sanctions. India continues to import oil from Russia despite American displeasure. China is very much with Russia. The Islamabad declaration issued after the 45th meeting of the foreign ministers of 57-member OIC flatly refused to oblige America by toeing Biden’s sanctions diplomacy. Much to the dismay of the Uncle Sam Japan rejected the idea of stopping import of Russian oil. After sanctions they are now executing the policy of expelling Russian diplomats with a view to isolating Russia globally further--more than 170 Russian diplomats have already been expelled from different countries. But all this won’t decide the outcome of the bloody conflict that started on February 24.And the Bucha like brutality is likely to be repeated elsewhere if war gets protracted.

War in Ukraine wreaked havoc on the global economy as the world reels from high energy and metal prices. The fall-out on commodity markets across the globe has already begun to send shivers down the spines of ordinary consumers. The way Indian government is raising petrol and diesel prices daily, detonating chain reaction in the market has shattered the Modi myth of largest growing economy.

These days people live in a world of permanent war. Peace is temporary. There are many hue and cries because it is taking place in Europe. It is not Afghanistan. Nor is it Libya or Syria or Iraq. The economy in the West and America is basically war economy; it cannot flourish without continuation of war. Either it is low-intensity war or high intensity war as it is in Ukraine but it is war all the way. The world has experienced several nuclear alerts since the end of the Second World War. But Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 represents a turning point. It is the first time since 1945 that a nuclear threat has occurred in the context of a hot war in the very heart of Europe. It is now clear that Russia won’t hesitate to use nuclear bombs if it encounters existential question.

For one thing Biden is facing domestic criticisms for his failure to block the Russian advance and it is one more instance of the vanishing monopolistic authority of the White House. The world is no longer Unipolar; it is heading towards a multi-polar entity with the Russia-China axis posing a real challenge to American hegemony. A new global order is in the making!

06-04-2022

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Frontier
Vol 54, No. 42, April 17 - 23, 2022