Deadly consequences of false narratives

HUMANKIND is witnessing with disbelief the horrific crimes taking place in the middle of 21st century Europe.

The cruel, unjust and unnecessary war initiated by Russia against Ukraine has already resulted in a tremendous humanitarian crisis with thousands of civilian casualties, seven million internally displaced persons in Ukraine, and another four million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.

This is a tragedy caused by the sick imperial ambitions of an economically underdeveloped but overstuffed with nuclear warheads regime living in nostalgic hallucination.

The massacre in Bucha, a small town near Kyiv where a mass burial site was discovered after the Russian retreat, has already become a gruesome symbol of Putin’s vision of “neutrality” and “denazification” for Ukraine.

The scene in Bucha, where hundreds of corpses, bodies of raped women and girls, tortured and executed civilians, some with their hands tied, were left lying on the streets, brought back memories of the Srebrenica massacre (genocidal killing in July 1995 of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995).

Yet, the audacity of Russian propaganda and voices of various international “experts” relentlessly trying to mislead, instil doubts, and distract from the burning fire are beyond human decency.

The Kremlin’s behaviour is quite consistent, spouting shameless lies and denials even when confronted with evidence and facts such as the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, Sergey Skripal and Alexey Navalny, illegal annexation of Crimea and the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

It is imperative to understand some basics of international relations before attempting to indulge in all sorts of theoretical discourse based on the false narratives.

The principles of non-use of force, peaceful settlement of disputes, non-intervention, self-determination and sovereign equality are the pillars of the contemporary world order. In other words, each country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity are sacred. Every nation is equal no matter how big or small.

By invading Ukraine, Moscow blatantly violated not only international law and the UN Charter but also the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South-East Asia and at least a dozen more bilateral and multilateral agreements that Russia is party to.

While waging a war on Ukraine, the Russian military is deliberately targeting civilians, residential homes, critical infrastructure, medical facilities and shelters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at a press conference in Antalya, Turkey, did not even try to conceal the fact that Russian pilots purposely bombed the maternity hospital in Mariupol. But the Bucha tragedy puts the whole magnitude and brutality of crimes committed by the Russian military in an entirely new dimension.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted three resolutions condemning the aggressor and suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council. There is an urgent need to establish a special international tribunal in response to the multiple violations of international humanitarian law by the invaders.

Disinformation can be deadly. The Bucha tragedy did not happen by accident. For many years, Russian political elites and propaganda have been inciting hatred, dehumanising Ukrainians and laying the ground for these atrocities. It is our common responsibility to separate the wheat of truth from the chaff of poisonous propaganda.

OLEXANDER NECHYTAYLO

Ambassador of Ukraine to Malaysia