Explaining complex things in simple words: Reaction to strike on Okhmatdyt, Ukraine and NATO, Russia is a murderer

The Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security pursues efforts to provide a brief explanation to foreign audiences on the current topics of particular interest as regards Ukraine.     

REACTION TO THE STRIKE ON OKHMATDYT

  • On July 8, Russia committed a terrible, inhumane crime, so Ukrainians' high hopes for punishment are justified and appropriate.

  • We must understand that in such cases, retribution does not come instantly, but it is irreversible and will catch up with the criminals under any circumstances. We should be patient and draw closer to the Ukrainian victory.
  • Ukrainians proved that they are a single family. The people of Kyiv responded en masse to the call to help clear the rubble and save the injured children, humanitarian aid was collected, hospitals took care of small patients, and in less than a week, the country donated 300 million hryvnias for Okhmatdyt.
  • The world morally supports Ukraine. We shared our pain and received the necessary words of sympathy and condemnation. It will be possible to bring the culprits to justice when they are in the hands of justice.
  • While there are no other options, the Defence Forces of Ukraine will take revenge for the crime against Okhmatdyt. We do not respond to barbarism with barbarism, but we will resolutely destroy barbarians on our land.

UKRAINE AND NATO

On July 11, the three-day NATO Summit in Washington comes to an end

  • Kyiv realistically assesses the possibilities of the Summit, but emphasizes the importance of the formula that, in the future, Ukraine's full membership in NATO has no alternatives.
  • Russia attacked Ukraine not because of its path to NATO, but because Ukraine was not in NATO in 2014.

  • The Euro-Atlantic integration of Turkey on the border in the 1940s and 1950s prevented the invasion of this country by the USSR. Ukraine follows this successful example.

  • Ukraine is a test of NATO's capabilities. The Alliance's indecision regarding Ukraine gives the Kremlin the impression that collective defence is ineffective.
  • Ukraine offers the Alliance to be its eastern frontier, which will strengthen the capabilities of NATO countries.

RUSSIA IS A MURDERER

  • Murders are a hallmark of Kremlin policy. Moscow does not stop before killing even its own citizens, captives, or sick children to achieve its goals.

  • Russian propaganda constantly changes its rhetoric depending on the situation: it either denies or justifies its crimes.

  • During the two-month offensive to the north of the Kharkiv region, Russia lost 91% of the personnel of those units participating in the assault operations. For Moscow, this is “cannon fodder”, expendable material.
  • The occupiers have no regrets for their own soldiers, nor even more so for the prisoners of war. Video evidence of the execution of unarmed Ukrainian soldiers by the Russians in captured positions appeared again. This is not an accident, but a deliberate disregard for international humanitarian law.
  • Murderers cannot be stopped by moral arguments or agreements. They must be punished and deprived of the ability to commit crimes. Peace with Russia is impossible without its defeat.