If you are following the news, chances are, they are talking about the Russo-Ukrainian war regardless of what country you live in. Maybe you are also seeking information yourself to know what is happening. 

You might have heard that Ukrainians are doing great when you have in mind that Russia was planning to seize it in a few days. They are not giving away their positions and the Russian troops are having difficulty moving forward. 

Alongside the Ukrainian soldiers, civilians are also doing what they can: they are making Molotov cocktails, they are stealing Russian tanks and are trying to resist in any way they can.

All of these stories that come from the war zone tell about small and big victories Ukrainians have achieved and while they are truly inspiring, they are also shadowed by the other side of war: the deaths, the injuries, lost homes and sense of uncertainty.

The city of Mariupol, which is located in southeastern Ukraine, is one of the most important ports of the country which became the target of bombings. It is now in such a critical state that it has become absolutely unlivable because people don’t have heating, water, food or access to medical care, but Russians won’t allow the formation of humanitarian corridors so civilians who are stuck there can’t escape. Nothing is left of it.

There are even more cities that are experiencing humanitarian crises like Kharkiv and Chernihiv, but a recent retreat of Russian troops from the capital Kyiv revealed another level of cruelty.

As the Russian soldiers left the Kyiv suburbs, the Ukrainians took over the town of Bucha and the photos from the streets remind the world of something from a horror movie. Bodies scattered all over the place, just left there as they were killed or piled up in mass graves. The Russians weren’t choosing who to shoot: they aimed at people riding bicycles, kids, the elderly, even animals.

However, Russia refuses to admit that this crime against humanity was conducted by their soldiers. Their propaganda says that it was the doing of Ukrainians or even NATO. You can read more about the Kremlin’s “interpretation” of the events in Bucha in this Bored Panda article.

What Russia is doing is committing war crimes, because even wars have rules. The definition of a war crime is provided in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Article 8 by listing which actions are illegal.

It includes, “Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives;” “Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated;” “Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives,” etc.

It is no surprise that Russia doesn’t care about rules because back in 2014, Putin violated The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, which was signed in 1997. With this treaty, both of the countries agreed to not declare war on one another and maintain the country borders as they were then.

Now Europe and the Western world understands that their reaction to the violation of the treaty was too soft, especially having in mind that it wasn’t the first act of aggression from Russia until 2014. Like they realized they weren’t strict enough with Hitler after it was too late and his army had attacked Poland together with Russia.

That time Hitler lost, Germany changed and became a democratic country, the biggest economy in Europe and a friendly neighbor. If history repeats itself, we have hope for the future, but for now it is very important to support Ukraine to help them gain victory. Слава Україні!