Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not only assuredly unjust, but it has also gone beyond the pale in terms of ultra-violent atrocities being committed daily by the Kremlin’s hordes.
Russia isn’t winning the war, not by any stretch of the imagination, leading many to wonder if the brutality with which their troops wage war will simply increase until we reach whatever end is awaiting us. Things have gotten so despondent of late that many international observers are considering the actions of the Kremlin to be “genocide”.
This week, as the city of Mariupol continues to dig out of the rubble, they are discovering the horror of this war in an up-close and personal fashion.
Workers digging through the rubble of an apartment building in Mariupol found 200 bodies in the basement, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday, as more horrors come to light in the ruined city that has seen some of the worst suffering of the 3-month-old war.
The bodies were decomposing and the stench hung over the neighborhood, said Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor. He did not when they were discovered, but the sheer number of victims makes it one of the deadliest known attacks of the war.
Officials in Ukraine did not mince their words:
During the assault on Mariupol, Russian airstrikes hit a maternity hospital and a theater where civilians were taking shelter. An Associated Press investigation found that close to 600 people died in the theater attack, double the figure estimated by Ukrainian authorities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Russians of waging “total war” and seeking to inflict as much death and destruction as possible on his country.
“Indeed, there has not been such a war on the European continent for 77 years,” Zelensky said, referring to end of World War II.
Russia’s targeting of civilians has been rather apparent throughout the conflict, and international authorities have begun several investigations into these war crimes already…with more on the way.
