Sept 5, 2024
Russia deliberately targets and kills children and other civilians daily in an attempt to break the Ukrainian spirit. On August 30, a 14-year-old girl was murdered when a Russian guided bomb struck a playground in Kharkiv. At least six other people were killed and 59 injured as a 12-storey residential building was also hit in the city. The following day a missile targeted a children’s rehabilitation center and an orphanage in Sumy, seriously injuring 18 people, including six children. On September 3, a missile strike in Poltava claimed the lives of more than 50 people and left over 200 wounded. On September 4, a Russian missile killed a mother and her three daughters in Lviv. The father was the only survivor.
Western companies that continue paying taxes to the Kremlin or allow their technologies to be used by the Russian military, as well as Western governments that persist in buying Russian oil and gas, have the blood of Ukrainian children on their hands. What sense does it make to provide bilateral assistance to Ukraine using tax payers’ money, while simultaneously feeding Russia’s war machine?!
It’s scandalous that Russia has again become the EU’s second-largest gas supplier, according to Norbert Röttgen, a CDU member of the German Bundestag. The latest figures provided by the consultancy Bruegel revealed higher supply volumes from Russia than those from the USA in the second quarter of 2024. “The Europeans are supporting Ukraine with billions and at the same time paying billions into Putin’s war chest — that is neither responsible, rational nor credible,” stated Röttgen. While the EU’s 14th package of sanctions released in June 2024 has begun to address the issue of Russian LNG, political will and bold action are required to implement a full ban on the Russian gas flows into Europe.
In search of alternative markets, not subject to western sanctions, Russia once again has found an ally in India. Hungry for energy to power its booming economy, India has not only been purchasing record amounts of cheap Russian crude, but also supplying the Kremlin with dual-use components used in the production of its deadly weapons. According to a fresh Financial Times investigation, Russia is also exploring building facilities in the South East Asian tiger to secure a reliable supply of military components for its illegal war. India’s declared non-alignment in Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine and calls for peace voiced during an official visit to Kyiv have never sounded emptier.