As Ukraine reels from chemical attacks, torture and child abductions, Putin deepens the horror by recruiting foreign forces to join his bloody crusade, writes Sue Arnold.
HELL ON EARTH is the only way to describe the horrors Russia is inflicting across Ukraine with terrifying bombardments of Kyiv. Combined with increasing use of chemical weapons, torture and fantasy peace talks, the nation is reeling, its citizens traumatised but determined to keep fighting.
I’ve been in regular contact since the war began with a Ukrainian scientist who lives in Kyiv. In the past weeks, Russia has hit Kyiv with strike drones, ballistic and cruise missiles. These are the largest aerial attacks since the war began.
My friend and her family are completely exhausted, as are most Ukrainians. As if the war itself isn’t completely intolerable, the dirty politics that are currently on stage, with President Donald Trump apparently cheesed off with Russian President Vladimir Putin, create more fear as weapons paid for by Ukraine are suspended, reduced, or cancelled by the Trump Administration. No one can predict what will happen next.
European allies speak strongly against Putin’s dreadful bombing, destruction and death toll but remain on the sidelines, leaving Ukrainians to fight the war. With no relief for the country’s military, soldiers and civilians are fighting for months and months on end. At the same time, Putin persuaded North Korea to send 10,000 troops to assist Russia with promises of another 30,000.
According to the assessment of Ukrainian officials, troops may arrive in Russia in the coming months.
The document notes:
There is a high probability that North Korean troops will be involved in hostilities in the regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia to strengthen the Russian contingent, including during large-scale offensive operations.
There are signs that Russian military aircraft are being refitted to transport personnel. This indicates a large-scale operation to transfer tens of thousands of foreign servicemen through Siberia.
Recent reports indicate that Putin is attempting to involve more foreign countries in the war.
The Russian Federation, under the guise of humanitarian operations, is trying to legalise the presence of a foreign military contingent on its territory, actually using it to support combat operations against Ukraine.
According to the GRU, against the backdrop of losses at the front and a shortage of resources, Moscow is intensifying attempts to involve new foreign partners in the war under the guise of “humanitarian” missions. This time, it is Laos.
The Kremlin is organising the arrival of a combined unit of engineering troops of the Lao People’s Army to the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, ostensibly for “demining”. At the initial stage, it is about 50 Laotian servicemen-sappers.
Stories of the tortures inflicted on Ukrainian prisoners of war released in prisoner swaps are horrific.
A report on Facebook provides details:
‘Days without food, nights without sleep: The European Parliament showed a film about torture camps for Ukrainians. The documentary Prisoners: a system of terror contains testimonies of illegally detained Ukrainians, their relatives, lawyers and human rights activists. Russia illegally detains up to 30 thousand abducted Ukrainian civilians in prisons and similar special camps, according to Kyiv.’
According to the UN, at least 91 per cent of such prisoners were subjected to torture. These are beatings, burning of tattoos and torture with injections. The film also talks about sexualised violence, simulations of executions. Witnesses who left the “places of detention of persons opposing the conduct of the SVO” talk about the torturous conditions in which the prisoners are made to stand all day, are woken up in the middle of the night, are collectively punished and are hardly fed.
All the liberated soldiers are privates and non-commissioned officers. A significant part of them were captured during the defence of Mariupol. Now they are waiting for treatment, rehabilitation and recovery.
Each of the soldiers released today has serious medical diagnoses and illnesses due to injuries and captivity, the Coordination Headquarters reported.
Many of the soldiers have significant weight loss, dystrophy, ulcers, vision problems, musculoskeletal diseases, cardiovascular diseases and digestive problems.
The released soldiers are the lucky ones. In the Russian Federation, there are no mechanisms or experience in liberating civilians from these camps.
Chemical attacks by Russia are impacting Ukrainian ground forces. In the Serebryany Forest, chemical attacks on “burrows” have become more frequent.
A report from the 53rd OMB, a Ukrainian brigade, details the impacts.
Says the grenade launcher of the 53rd OMB:
There is not a single living tree left in the Serebryany Forest. The Brigade is going to its positions in the middle of the night to avoid a strike by Russian drones.
There are a lot of Russian drones. Chemical attacks have become more frequent. We have to constantly sit in the hole. And we go to the toilet — like in a hole. In a bottle, in a ball.
In such hell, fighters do not leave their positions for weeks, sometimes months. After all, there is a shortage of replacements.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Zaporizhzhia farmers have been going out to harvest in bulletproof vests and helmets. Now the war has reached a new level, and farmers have equipped their agricultural machinery with electronic warfare systems and are taking hunting rifles with them.
My friend says:
Yes, it’s very terrible and all of us are shocked. It means that big cities far from the front line will be destroyed soon. But, but.. what can we do? I think many of us understand that Ukraine is unnecessary in this world, according to politicians' meaning. And sooner or later, we will all perish or become homeless. To withdraw from Russia also means death and torture for many of us. It is to the West's advantage that the war continues as long as possible.
We were given weapons that needed to be disposed of. We got many expired medicines. There are fewer volunteers. People are tired. There’s a big difference between real stories from our soldiers and news reports and political talks. It is sad. But what can we do? The world decides to give Ukraine to Putin?
According to The Guardian, approximately 35,000 Ukrainian children are missing, either held in Russia or Russian-occupied territories. Russia has rejected demands for the children to be returned.
An unknown Ukrainian wrote these poignant words about the children who are growing up, knowing nothing but war. Children who spent a quarter of the school year and nights under shelling in shelters:
“Mom, we will sit in shelters until we destroy Russia”, they ask.
What will the children of war grow up to be?
They don't trust anyone but themselves.
They don't trust politicians.
They don't remember what a peaceful life was like because they were too young.
They distinguish the sound of air defence.
Filled with dignity enough not to admit that they are scared.
More than anyone on Earth, they want this war to end, but they insist that without our victory, it won't happen.
The future of Ukraine is them.
Bearers of memory, pain and experience.
Those who were raised by war.
Ukraine is the living symbol of Russia’s inhumanity, a nation fighting for life with immense courage and resilience.
Sue Arnold is an IA columnist and freelance investigative journalist. You can follow Sue on Twitter @koalacrisis.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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