I saw an ad on my facebook timeline for the UNHCR. They were soliciting donations for their relief effort in Ukraine. One that has yet to really begin. The UN was too busy honoring Russian Language Day to speak out on the explosion that rocked the Nova Kakhovka dam in southeastern Ukraine. Of course, Russia denies they had anything to do with the explosion despite the dam being in their control. The Kremlin claims an errant Ukrainian missile hit it, a one in a million possibility, but the UN is willing to give Putin the benefit of the doubt. Meanwhile, Russia shells evacuation efforts in the flooded areas, determined not to let Ukraine get the upper hand in the long anticipated counter-offensive.
Granted, it's not easy to get relief agencies into war torn areas, but then that's the UN's job. It has forged a special relationship with Russia that allows them to monitor the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which many fear could melt down due to the dangerously low water table the destruction of the dam has caused. The water is used to cool the plant upstream. One assumes UN officials could negotiate some sort of ceasefire to allow for the evacuation of the tens of thousands of persons impacted by this disaster. But, it has been several days now and much of the relief effort is coming from Ukrainians themselves.
I wouldn't give a plugged nickel to the UN at this point. They have shown an unbelievable level of indifference to the crisis thanks in large part to Russia's intransigence on the Security Council and just enough supportive member states to block anything more than meaningless resolutions. The UN, like its predecessor The League of Nations, has proven itself utterly toothless in the face of war.
It might have helped if the UN had censored Russia when the war broke out. Surely there is a provision in regard to a country, even a permanent member state, which declares war on another member state for no good reason? It's been utterly absurd to see Russia head the UN in the face of this war, repeatedly claiming that it is following international law and that it is enemy combatants like the US, UK and Poland that should be brought to heel. Their level of hypocrisy knows no bounds.
This is why one can only shrug one's shoulders when Russia claims it had nothing to do with the explosion despite military intelligence that Russia had mined the dam as far back as October, in an effort to secure its positions along the Dnipro River in the wake of Ukraine's counter offensive last Fall. No, we are to believe Ukraine accidentally hit the dam, releasing a torrent of water into the Black Sea that has left many small towns and villages underwater, not to mention turned the Black Sea into a "garbage dump."
Russia has made little effort to evacuate the flooded areas on its side of the Dnipro, despite claiming this area as its own. Instead, Putin took the opportunity to eat a healthy breakfast with Lukashenko, who seems to have recovered from whatever illness befell him last month at the Russian victory day celebration. They discussed the mobilization of tactical nuclear warheads into Belarus, which is also in direct defiance of the UN. As Mary Antoinette might say, let them eat strawberries.
I have to think Russia has reached a tipping point. This war has been a disastrous folly and is only getting worse. How much more patience can the Russian people have in their failed leader? One of its rogue commanders uses every opportunity to assail the Russian military and has taken aim at his former buddy as well. You either figure Prigozhin senses the imminent collapse of Russia or has simply gone batshit crazy after spending so much time in Bakhmut. We'll see if he jumps out a window any time soon.
Putin himself seems to have no worries. He even contemplates a visit to South Africa this Fall to attend a BRICS summit, despite an ICC warrant for his arrest hanging over his head. South Africa has been another head scratcher. This is a country whose trade with Russia only represents 0.4% of its total foreign trade, yet Cyril Ramaphosa seems remarkably conciliatory toward Putin, even willing to quit the ICC over Putin's arrest warrant. It seems the Kremlin believes the African National Congress owes Russia for all the weapons the Soviet Union provided during its revolution. Zuma, the previous president, had been a member of the ANC's armed wing and a close ally of the Soviet Union.
It's these kinds of relationships that the Kremlin has exploited throughout Africa, Central and South America in an effort to challenge the hegemony of the United States in these continents. Russia claims itself to be an anti-colonial power despite having acquired a land mass two-and-a-half times bigger than the US. How is that not colonialism? No matter. An enemy of my enemy is my friend despite the US being one of South Africa's major trading partners.
Even if you regard the United States as an aggressor nation, how do you reconcile yourself with a country that chose to invade a neighbor and has cleaved off far more territory than it claimed belonged to it? Not to mention daily terrorize Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones it buys from rogue nations like Iran and North Korea, having spent its own supply some months ago.
Literally everything points to Russia having blown up the dam in a last ditch effort to slow Ukraine's effort to regain its lost territory, yet world leaders like Ramaphosa and Erdogan call for an investigation. Not like there isn't going to be one conducted anyway, but let's not pretend that Russia, and more specifically Putin, is not above staging these inquiries in an effort to call attention away from itself. This is where frustration turns to anger, especially at those countries that cater to the Kremlin's propaganda efforts.
The UN needs to step up. I'm not sure that it can given its structure but Russia should not be allowed to hold sway in the general assembly or security council when it has blatantly gone against every article in its charter. Member states also have to take stronger positions, not simply choose to abstain when it is inconvenient for them to support a resolution condemning the Russian war in Ukraine. Otherwise, there is no point to the United Nations!
Comments
Post a Comment