Ukraine: Guilty of Defending Itself

"Of course, this is not something that can be perceived as creating conditions comfortable for the continuation of negotiations."

"The president [Vladimir Putin] has been notified."

"[Measures] are being taken in order to reorganize the fuel supply chains so that what happened in no way affects the level of supply."

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman

This photo released by the Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Friday shows a burning oil depot in Belgorod. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service/The Associated Press)

 

Quite, quite unsportsmanlike of Ukraine to take steps to ensure that Moscow faces problems re-supplying its invasion troops in Ukraine. Russian commanders have bombed dozens of Ukraine's hospital, schools, fuel depots, government buildings, taken towns and villages hostage, slaughtered Ukrainian civilians, caused millions of Ukraine's citizens to flee in terror for their lives to find temporary and permanent haven outside the country, but the very thought of Ukraine's military defending itself against the Russian onslaught is downright offensive.

Moscow has been generous enough to agree to holding peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives. The talks mostly consisting of Russian demands that Ukraine abase itself, admit it was wrong to seek closer ties with the West, abandon its aspirations to join NATO, accept Russian possession of the Crimean Peninsula and the Donbas, surrender its arms to Russia, and dissolve the government to enable Russia to offer a government for Ukraine more friendly to Ukraine's great good friend Russia.

 

A person throws debris from ravaged buildings outside Kyiv. The mayor of Kyiv said the bombardment of satellite towns near the Ukrainian capital was ongoing, despite Russian promises of scaling back troops from the region. (Vadim Ghirda/The Associated Press)

 

Russia's honourable promises to agree to safe evacuation corridors for the tens of thousands of Ukraine's citizens held prisoners in their besieged towns and villages have been gratefully accepted by Ukraine's mayors only to discover that convoys of buses had to turn back to avoid aerial bombing raids on those 'safe' evacuation corridors. Yet it is Ukraine, by bombing a fuel depot inside Russia that is at fault for possibly extending a war rather than commit to accepting Russia's 'right' to continue bombing destroyed Mariupol while 'peace talks' are ongoing.

An outraged Moscow accusing Ukraine of a major airstrike on Russian territory. More 'major' than Russia's invasion of Ukraine, destroying city infrastructure, terrorizing populations in those cities, forcing millions of people to flee for their lives? The dawn raid, harrumphed the Kremlin, was completely 'unjustified', targeting a civilian project; in essence jeopardizing peace talks. And while Russian artillery and bombs have killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians, no one lost their lives in the bombing of Belgorod.

 

Ukrainian refugees cross the border into Medyka, Poland. More than four million people have fled Ukraine since the war started. Millions more have been internally displaced. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

 

Located 40 kilometres from the Russia-Ukraine border, two Mi-25 helicopters are shown in a video flying low to avoid Russian detection radars, then firing missiles at the depot. Good strategic manoeuvre. Russian troops have long since been running low in food, fuel, replacement parts and most critical of all, morale.  Russian officials have for the second time in a week accused Ukraine of attacking targets within Russia. Imagine that: a belligerent nation attacking a neighbour is outraged when the neighbour responds in kind.

Ukraine's helicopter pilots have been experiencing success in their forays; very well aware of the danger posed to them by shoulder-mounted missiles. But making use of the technique of flying low in avoidance of Russian radar, thanks to increased helicopter pilot training since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Fuel depots to re-supply front lines are critical to the Russian war effort. Their destruction impacts supply lines while also  undermining the attackers' morale.

A still image taken from video footage shows members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry extinguishing a fire at a fuel depot in the city of Belgorod on Friday. (Russian Emergencies Ministry/Reuters)