Для детей- For The Children
Only Russians would consider cluster bombs a "gift"- К черту Россию
Another day, another Russian atrocity committed in an eastern Ukrainian city that, until Friday, few Americans had ever heard of. This time it was in Kramatorsk, a city of about 150,000 and the administrative center of Kramatorsk Raion in the northern part of Donetsk Oblast. As several thousand people waited in front of, inside, and near the tracks at the Kramatorsk railroad station, a Russian missile detonated above ground, spreading bomblets over a wide area. Those bomblets then detonated, killing at least 57 people. At least five of the dead were children. The wounded numbered more than 100.
In what could only be attributed to a sick Russian attempt at something resembling humor, the words “Для детей (for the children)” had been inscribed on the tail end of the rocket that exploded over the train station in Kramatorsk.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called out the Russians for engaging in a "deliberate slaughter." It’s difficult to argue with his assessment, given that the train station was not in any sense a military target.
For their part, the Russians deny responsibility, despite the considerable evidence implicating them.
The Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement Friday calling the missile strike a "provocation," in a statement that mirrored recent denials of the indiscriminate killing of civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
"All the statements of representatives of the Kyiv nationalist regime about the alleged 'missile attack' by Russia on April 8 at the railway station in Kramatorsk are a provocation and absolutely do not correspond to reality," the statement said.
"On April 8, the Russian armed forces did not conduct or plan any artillery fires in the city of Kramatorsk. We emphasize that the Tochka-U tactical missiles, the wreckage of which was found near the Kramatorsk railway station and published by eyewitnesses, are used only by the Ukrainian armed forces."
Ukrainian forces have the Soviet-designed Tochka missile in their inventory but it has also been used by Russian and separatist forces in the past.
Six weeks into the war, it’s settled into a predictable pattern. First, Russia engages in egregious displays of violence and destruction, and the Ukrainian and world governments express appropriate outrage. Then Russians commit atrocities in places like Bucha, Borodyanka, and Kramatorsk. The world brays disapprovingly- but nothing changes. The Russians know that no matter what they do, nor how grotesque and monstrous it may be, the world will offer only sanctions and words of condemnation, things that will have no impact.
Friday, it was Kramatorsk. Tomorrow, it will be somewhere else because the Russians don’t care to play by the rules the rest of the world holds dear. Their goal is to achieve victory by any means necessary. If that means turning a city of 250,000 into dust and killing every living thing within the city limits, that’s precisely what they’ll do. Show no mercy, take no prisoners, destroy anything necessary to achieve victory. Women, children, senior citizens- nothing is sacred to the Russian Army.
What disturbs me more than anything is that news reports are turning into just so much war porn. Reports from Kramatorsk were the usual collection of shots of blood-stained sidewalks, bodies strewn about (some covered, most not), and burned-out and smoldering cars.
And then there was the blood-soaked teddy bear that minutes earlier had undoubtedly been clutched by a little girl eagerly hoping to get on a train for some point west.
In Bucha, we saw bodies that had been left in the streets, yards, and sidewalks for weeks. Borodyanka was a similar display of gruesome carnage, as has been confirmed in many other Ukrainian villages and towns.
The longer this war continues, the more this will become our day-to-day reality. At what point do we begin to grow accustomed to it? It’s difficult to maintain outrage for an extended period; at some point, whatever we’re outraged over becomes our norm. What happens when the war in Ukraine is just so much background noise?
I grew up with body counts from the Vietnam War on the 6:00 news every night. Over time, it became increasingly less real, and the numbers seemed like something the US Army pulled from a random number generator (turns out that was more or less true). But it was hard to feel as if the war was real. There was so much background noise on the news every night, and Vietnam seemed as if it was on another planet.
Ukraine deserves our support, and all indications are that it’s getting a tremendous amount of war-fighting supplies from the West. That’s all well and good, but I can’t help but wonder how long it will be before NATO and other Western countries have to respond with boots on the ground.
If Russia continues with its scorched earth strategy, there will be little left of the country even if Ukraine wins. NATO may be understandably reluctant to throw their lot in with Ukraine, but with Russia’s military already exposed as a paper tiger, it might make sense for the West to roll up what’s left of the Russian army.
Or do we allow Russia to continue carrying out random atrocities against civilians? How much tragedy can we tolerate. How many war crimes and crimes against humanity will it take before will act to stop Russia? How many innocent Ukrainians must be raped and butchered?
How much of our claim to compassion and humanity will be compromised before we act to stop the bloodshed?
Слава Україні. К черту Россию
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