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Humanitarian Crises in the Russia-Ukraine War

In the video, according to the Moscow Times, a captured Russian soldier in camouflage uniform, who is wheezing heavily, is shot twice but still keeps moving, and is rendered motionlessly after the third bullet. The bodies of at least three other Russian soldiers are found lying in the pool of blood on the abandoned road, with one of them having an obvious gunshot wound to his forehead and hands tied behind his back. Reported by the New York Times, “the Ukraine soldiers are identifiable by their flag patches and blue arm bands and repeat ‘glory to Ukraine’ multiple times”, while three of the lying bodies are found wearing white arm bands, indicating that they are Russian soldiers. The footage was most likely filmed on or around March 30 after the ambush near the village of Dmytrivka west of Kyiv, during the “repositioning” of the Russian armies. Oz Katerji, a freelance conflict journalist currently reporting from Ukraine, tweeted on March 3 that the ambush of a Russian column took place 48 hours ago, according to the soldiers on scene. Thus, Igor Konashenkov, the chief spokesperson for the Ministry of the Defence of the Russian Federation, said that “a planned regrouping of troops is taking place in the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas”. The general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed that the Russian troops had partially withdrew from Kyiv region, while Pentagon press secretary John Kirby cautioned on March 29 that the “repositioning” of the Russian troops seemed to be part of a strategic shift that began early on February 24, but not a real retreat. “Up until recently, we had still assessed that their plan was to occupy and annex Ukraine using approaches along three lines of attack,” Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon. “Now we think they’re going to prioritize the east” of Ukraine. Thus, Kirby also warned the possibility of “a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine”, according to CNBC.

In a statement carried by the Moscow Times, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on April 7 that it was working with Russian law enforcement agencies to collect evidence of alleged Ukrainian war crimes and share it with international organizations.

However, Russia itself is also facing accusations of war crimes.  

On April 3, the Ukrainian media posted graphic photos and videos showing 410 civilians killed in Bucha, a city roughly 37 miles northwest of the suburb of Kyiv. Ukraine condemned the Russian troops who had just retreated from the city for the bloody massacre.

Bodies were lying in parks, apartment buildings, streets that were once busy and other locations in Bucha. Thus, traces of torture could be found on those deliberately burnt bodies, with one body decapitated, and some others suffering from cruel dismemberment before death.    

As is mentioned in the Washington Post, “On the gravel near a loading dock lay the body of Dmytro Chaplyhin, 21, whose abdomen was bruised black and blue, his hands marked with what looked like cigarette burns. He ultimately was killed by a gunshot to the chest, concluded investigation team leader Ruslan Kravchenko. His body then was turned into a weapon, tied to a tripwire connected to a mine.”

Mykola Pavlyuk, 53, one of the survivors in Bucha, recounted that the Russian troop killed all men under 50 years old, including two of his friends. He also told ABC news that he “faced the constant fear of an arbitrary killing or a random act of violence, like when a friend was killed by a grenade thrown as a joke by a drunk soldier”. 

According to CNN, “satellite images captured on March 18, shared by Maxar Technologies, show that the bodies had lain in the street for weeks, since the town was under Russian control — Russia held Bucha until March 31.”

Nevertheless, on April 8, in an interview with Sky news, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the accusations of the grisly slaughter of civilians in Bucha, saying “we’re living in days of fakes and lies” and verified photos and satellite images of dead civilians in the streets of Ukrainian cities were a “bold fake” and a “well-staged insinuation, nothing else”. Besides, he censured NATO for being confrontational and Joe Biden for not being “constructive”, claiming that “Russia is trying to bring the war to an end soon”.

Despite the survivors’ words, other skepticism arises, indicating that it was the Ukrainian radicals who killed the civilians, given that they “colluded with the enemy”. 

Thorough investigation carries on as the perpetrators and the identities of the people who died in the carnage are still unclear.

The Rashomon effect veils the truth of the carnage as leaders from different sides speak for their own interests, which would once again suspend the progress of the peace talk between Russia and Ukraine, leading to more losses, death and trauma to both sides.

When we call for humanitarian aids, what we really want is the halt of violence so that there won’t be further devastation in homelands for thousands of innocent civilians. Sit down at the table for a serious negotiation is the key to the alleviation of the situation. More sanctions, the propelling of Ukraine joining NATO, and meetings held now for the accountability of the culprit in the war can do nothing but add fuel to the fire, eventually resulting in more tragedies that should have been prevented.     

By Jennifer Liu

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