The Unforgotten Ukrainian Lesson, Part 1
Adel Bashqawi
February 24, 2023
A year ago today, on the 24th of February, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared on TV channels to declare initiating a state of war against the neighboring country of Ukraine. At the same time, the guns began shelling targets inside Ukrainian territories, where Russian military forces started a large-scale attack on multiple main fronts. The Russia invasion has forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes and their places of residence. Many casualties and injuries have been reported since day one. Later on, they started fleeing Ukraine in hundreds of thousands to neighboring European countries.
The Russian land, sea and air forces have waged in February 2022, this month a relentless, devastating and heartless sweeping invasion against the independent country of Ukraine. Russian Armed forces selected prime targets, when they approached southern Ukraine from the Crimea that was captured and annexed in 2014. Other troops crossed Russia’s international border with Ukraine from the north and the east.
Serious consequences erupted to be severe development of events resulting from the Russian invasion against one of its neighboring countries, despite the dire consequences faced by the invading forces. The valiant resistance shown by the forces defending their homeland made the operation a failure, and it turned from a short pleasant outing into a long, grinding and expensive war. The defenders managed to halt the attack and to block the advance of aggressor forces. Original military plans failed miserably. The Russian forces retreated as a result of the strong defense carried out by the defending forces.
The aggressor forces were forced to withdraw from previously occupied areas. Thus, the political leadership ordered the attacking forces to keep holding onto the defensible areas. The Russian forces have suffered casualties among dead, wounded and missing soldiers and officers, not to mention prisoners of war. As well as considerable material damage in light, medium and heavy weaponry and equipment.
The Ukrainian people did everything possible to defend their country. They were able and still to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The epic resistance to the Russian brutal invasion is highly valued. Atrocities committed against defenseless civilians are condemned, which took place in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Izyum, Sumy, Bucha, Kherson and other locations.
The fierce fighting has highlighted that the attacking forces have reached a miserable situation to the point of targeting Ukrainian nuclear power plants. They did not take into account the civilian population’s homes, schools, hospitals and everything that affects their normal life, including the provision of food, health services, transportation, and infrastructure such as water, electricity, communications, the Internet, and other services.
In addition to the above, the necessary food exports to many countries in the world have stopped, especially in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. That necessitated the creation of an emergency transport program to transfer food from grains and oils across the Black Sea. Turkey reached an agreement between the two warring parties, Russia and Ukraine, with the support and guarantees extended by Turkey with the endorsement of the United Nations. Subsequently, it continued later, at intermittent periods, according to special conditions and controls, with the auspices of Turkey.
A meaningful quotation about war says: “Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy
