The recent bombing of the civilian city of Kiev by Russia were to be expected, and by doing so, the Kremlin is trying to achieve the following:
- To force Ukraine to capitulate – Russia knows that its demands are unrealistic, but it is trying to demoralize and break the Ukrainian government and people with air strikes;
- To send a humiliating signal to the US – the Kremlin does not care what Washington or Brussels think. Even in all active phases of negotiations, Moscow is ready to bomb peaceful cities without expecting a response, signalling to the West that their vision is insignificant;
- To normalize war crimes – if we look at it from the perspective of international law, Putin is a wanted war criminal. Nevertheless, they come to negotiate with him. This is already a problem. But in addition to this, he is committing additional war crimes during these negotiations. This serves to normalize these war crimes – “You come to me, shake my hand, sit in on negotiations, and I kill people at the same time.”
Ukraine will not surrender. Demoralizing Ukraine with air strikes will not be easy. This has been tried over the past four years. In addition, you can bomb the aggressor and manage to demoralize them, but when you bomb the defending side, it is very difficult to demoralize. Ukraine will continue to fight.
It is also clear to Europe that if Ukraine falls or a war of conquest is waged against it, Europe’s security will be in danger of collapse, because Russia will do everything to turn the European continent upside down with hybrid or direct military operations and support. That is why support for Ukraine will continue and even intensify in the near future.
The war has entered a difficult phase. But it was already clear from last year that this year would be and will be critical.
