COMMENT | Massacre of Bucha: Why propaganda can be deadly
COMMENT | The unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine has been topping international headlines for more than a month now.
Humankind is witnessing with disbelief the horrific crimes taking place in the middle of 21st century Europe.
The cruel, unjust and unnecessary war imposed on the world by the Kremlin 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 the neighbouring countries.
It is a tragedy caused by the sick imperial ambitions of an economically underdeveloped, but overstuffed with nuclear warheads regime living in a nostalgic hallucination.
The Bucha massacre, a small town near Kyiv, where a mass burial site was discovered after the Russian retreat with hundreds of corpses, bodies of raped women and girls, tortured and executed civilians, some with their hands tied, lying on the streets, has already become a gruesome symbol of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s vision of “neutrality” and “denazification” for Ukraine and brought back the memories of Srebrenica.
Yet, the audacity of Russian propaganda and voices of...
COMMENT | The unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine has been topping international headlines for more than a month now.
Humankind is witnessing with disbelief the horrific crimes taking place in the middle of 21st century Europe.
The cruel, unjust and unnecessary war imposed on the world by the Kremlin 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 the neighbouring countries.
It is a tragedy caused by the sick imperial ambitions of an economically underdeveloped but overstuffed with nuclear warheads regime living in a nostalgic hallucination.
The Bucha massacre, a small town near Kyiv, where a mass burial site was discovered after the Russian retreat with hundreds of corpses, bodies of raped women and girls, tortured and executed civilians, some with their hands tied, lying on the streets, has already become a gruesome symbol of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s vision of “neutrality” and “denazification” for Ukraine and brought back the memories of Srebrenica.
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 any sense of human decency.
The Kremlin’s behaviour is quite consistent, though. Shameless lies and denials even when confronted with evidence and facts: be it the poisonings of Alexander Litvinenko, Sergey Skripal, Alexey Navalny, or the illegal annexation of Crimea and the MH17 trial.
It is imperative to understand some basics of international relations before attempting to indulge in all sorts of theoretical discourse based on false narratives.
Deliberately targeting civilians
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 the 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 a party to.
While waging a war on Ukraine, the Russian military is deliberately targeting civilians, residential homes, critical infrastructure, medical facilities and shelters.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference in Antalya did not even try to conceal it.
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 into 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 the international humanitarian law by the occupiers.
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 is Ukraine's ambassador to Malaysia
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
