Humanitarian Crisis Worsens for Ukrainians Trapped in Russia’s Onslaught

I'm again shock hearing the story of the 11 year old boy fleeing Ukraine on his own. Apparently, he's safe now. Didn't we learn anything from the Alan Kurdi episode? Strange how that image of a child, dead on beach in Turkey could not galvanize change for EU immigration and refugee policy. We see again, in the extraordinary images by photojournalist Lynsey Darallio for the NYT in Ukraine, a whole family, wiped out by mortar explosion. The US should withdraw its weapons from Europe to get Putin to pause this carnage in Europe in the 21st century.

I must confess that I'm angry. We keep hearing night after night reports of Russian rocket attacks killing civilians. Relentless bombing assaults killing innocent children. And tanks shelling residential areas killing families. Let's be perfectly clear. It's beyond killing. It's called Murder. The premeditated killing of one human being by another is Murder. Putin and his soldiers are carrying out mass murder and genocide every single day. Our words matter. Reporters words matter. Repetition matters. (As we've sadly found out with "fake news.) Hurricanes and tornadoes kill. Wildfires kill. Accidents kill. But this is cold, blooded murder. This is the literal leveling of cities with no objective other than to slaughter a people to their knees. Time to call out the Russian soldiers and their arrogant and evil leader, Putin, just what they are: Murderers. Night after night. Story after story. Using a word that matters, and doesn't mince reality. And drives their cruelty into the souls and conscience of the world forever. "Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality."-- Edgar Allan Poe

Two weeks into this illegal and immoral war and Russia continues to bomb civilian targets, while the West puts bandaids on a gaping chest wound. There is only one way to stop this murder of innocent people, and that is to directly confront Vladimir Putin. Establish an immediate no-fly zone and shoot down the missiles and Soviet aircraft if the zone is violated. Call his bluff. Force those in his inner circle to confront his war plan. Force China to pull away from its support, something that is already happening. If NATO doesn't do that, the world has learning nothing from the past. And like it's an exercise in futility to try to argue with an intoxicated person - s/he is viewing the world in a distorted and unrealistic way - it is just as foolish to try to reason humanely with a person drunk on power. A clear message needs to be send to the dictators of this world: an unprovoked attack on any sovereign nation will spell the complete destruction of your regime!

Is it too late for Ukrainians to lay down their weapons to avoid untold suffering to their people, massive dislocation of the majority of their population and ruinous damage to their country, its infrastructure and agriculture? Consider the fallacy of sunk costs: Zelenskyy committed his people to this course of action and Ukrainian resistance has now become a symbol of democracy's fight against authoritarianism. Have Ukrainians and the West travelled too far down that road to reverse course? The problem is that this was always going to be a fight on Ukrainian soil only. Yes, Russian soldiers will die, but they will be shot if they refuse to fight. No foreign soldiers can assist the cause unless they don the colors of blue and yellow. Putin will not attack NATO countries - that is a scare tactic and disinformation of our part. The West must proceed with caution and not institute a no-fly zone nor a humanitarian airlift unless Russia consents. Don't forget for a second that Putin has his finger on the nuclear button and his pride will not permit him to hesitate to use that nuclear option if he feels he has no other choice. The point is: the West does.

Having been a huge failure at fighting Ukrainian military, Putin is now going for the women, children and old people Much likelier to be successfull at bombing them into oblivian than succeeding in a real fight against an army. There is no shame, no remorse here. Just pathetic agressiveness. Similar to what we see in the US on the right wing among Putin supporters. No shame, no remorse, just a desire to control and destroy those that might disagree. Ask the women, children, and elderly of Ukraine if they feel their 'personal liberties' are being violated the way the US right wing feels when asked to protect those around them from COVID.

The media keeps talking about the worst conflict in Europe since WW2. Has everyone forgotten the 1990’s Balkan war, ethnic cleansing and the Srebinica concentration camp? The snipers in Sarajevo? The break up of Yugoslavia? Talk about amnesia. Yes this too is horrific but it’s almost insulting to the thousands dead in the Balkans that it is forgotten so quickly.

Can we reign leaflets on the convoy of Russian trucks? Like they did in WWII. Abandon your post. I plead with the upper circle in Moscow. Get rid of Putin. He is an evil monster. He has to go.

Looking at a damaged building exterior by leaning out a window or doorway as shown in the top photo is dangerous. Debris can still fall, and an object the size of a coffee mug is large enough to kill. This advice to avoid the zone around the façade usually applies to earthquakes, fires or windstorms, and sad to see it here in a deliberate act of war. Mass shelling of urban areas is the tactic of an ossified, unimaginative military command, a holdover from places like Stalingrad, and banned within the Law of Armed Conflict by the 1907 Hague Conventions. It doesn’t help the advance into a city. Building husks and piles of rubble are harder to move through, leaving vehicles exposed to hidden defenders as they stop and wait for streets to be cleared, and we note that the Russian forces don’t intend to occupy Mykolayiv immediately. They are crossing the Pivdennyi Buh River several miles north of there, and this bombardment is meant to terrorize the population into submission.

In moments as this, it is difficult to understand that India is not against the invasion. We have a lot of Indians in this country and they should make clear to the Indian government that they do not support this Russian action. Maybe the same should be done by the Chinese people over the world.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine relinquished it's nuclear weapons in exchange for assurances of territorial integrity and national sovereignty. I'm sure in the minds of the NATO leaders this is not as strong a commitment as the aggregate of NATO, but nonetheless it exists. We have had our share of questionable adventures in the past few decades, but what we have here is a sovereign country vowing to eject the invaders until the last drop of blood. At some point, the World's prior assertions of "Never again" will require an answer. Not sure what that will look like, but there will be no way for Russia's forces to meld with urban centers as that will remain the most dangerous place for them given a population of motivated fighters, both professional and citizen who will kill them on sight unless they are in the act of surrendering. This leaves the Russians in a tough spot long term. If they resort to completely unrestrained indiscriminate artillery and bombing, they will remain vulnerable to the use of precision munitions to take out their air defenses followed by annihilation of their forces in the field. Putin may lose his mind and employ tactical battlefield nuclear weapons, but that would ensure Russia's destruction at least politically if not in entirety. No one wants to invade and subjugate Russia any more than North Korea or China. There is nothing to gain and all downside for the West. That said, the bully may need to be smacked down hard.

If there ever a time for NATO to come to the rescue, this is it. Make Ukraine an emergency new member of NATO and neutralize Russian troops as soon as possible to minimize casualties. The United States should take the lead!

Civilians are facing misery. It seems Russian generals are using the same tactics as in Chechenya and Syria. In another two weeks Ukrainians cities will be heap of rubles. Wonder if it is necessary to continue the war so Ukraine could join NATO. It is not a bad idea for Ukraine to become neutral to save the civilians from misery. Can't imagine being without heat in the freezing weather, hungry, thirsty and in the dark. Russians will end up occupying southern and Eastern Ukraine that would make it impossible to join NATO. President Zelensky has done enough to motivate the people to resist. It is time to save the people.

We must boycott American companies, like McDonald’s, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, which are still doing business in Russia. The horrific human rights violations and war crimes being committed by Russia must be punished in every way conceivable. Since Russian citizens are increasingly cut off from reliable information about the atrocities being committed in their names, the disappearance of foreign business that they rely on and use would speak volumes to them about what is really going on.

This is a humanitarian disaster. Russian forces have been stymied by the extraordinary performance of the Ukrainian military. Now they are indiscriminately bombing citizens in residential areas. Putin must be arrested for war crimes and crimes against humanity. But Ukrainians in southern cities need relief right now. The West is running out of options to prevent an enormous tragedy unprecedented since WWII. Putin us practically daring the U.S. and NATO to use military force, possibly risking the unthinkable. Will thousands of Ukrainians pay for Putin’s evil, insane attacks with their lives? The only “peaceful” way to stop the Russian assault is for Zelinsky and Ukraine to give up, but it doesn’t seem like they will do that. This is sickening. The West should try to get Russian generals to take out Putin to stop the madness.

Trying to imagine what the Ukrainian people are suffering is almost impossible. If missiles fell on our city, if our children's school were crushed by bombs and missiles, our hospitals in flames; no food, water, heat; people crowded in the BART stations, the din of war night and day, the constant confusion, with no end in sight—even without the fear of dying—numbs the mind and there is no way to feel it. All of it, from the massive (neighborhoods blown to smithereens) to the trivial (a morning cup of coffee), endlessly assaulting your life, is something we have never experienced on our own soil. The ruthless, brutal assault on a peaceful country going about its day-to-day life is too terrible to contemplate, and so most of us don't even try. I don't want that and neither did they. Putin's war is a monstrous crime, and we have no idea how it will end.

Americans are humbled in the face of the courage we see in the Ukrainian people. They have reminded many of us that sacrifice is necessary to embrace and live in a free society. I have no problem paying a few extra bucks for gas. We stand for Ukraine and hope their courage endures.

A city emptied of children and families is a massive group of castles, deadly to an invader. Forcing them to stay there is a tactic of siege to pressure for surrender, and no "breakdown of cease-fire." Sending them to the lands of the enemy is nothing but hostage-taking and I'm really surprised that this is not acknowledged wherever it is mentioned. They need to indict Putin, Lavrov and Shoigu now.

This is what appeasement looks like. Putin only acknowledges strength which the west is lacking. Everyone is scared of nuclear war and Putin is using that to his advantage. What if it was Germany that he invaded? We would go to war, right? Would we cower to the nuclear threat then? Everything being done now is late. Where was the aid when the Russian army began to surround Ukraine. I'm no war expert, but if a nation surrounds another country with their army it's safe to say they will invade. No one puts a condom on unless they are ready to make love.

So the seemingly pro-democracy and humanitarian countries such as the United States and NATO simply sit back and watch an entire country get slaughtered and not lift a finger to help? Oh yeah, "we're supplying weapons and food." Chef Andres can't stop Russia. If this was 1940, we'd all be speaking German right now, including England. We all talk a good game, but when the chips are down, when your friends really need your help, you do nothing. Why? Because Ukraine isn't a NATO country? So if you are not at the "cool kids table," too bad, you're outta luck.

War is cruel, and politicians are worse. Mr. Zelensky while performed beautifully to broadcast his defense on behalf of Ukraine but conveniently forgot to remind his people to flee as soon as possible. Now the initial period is over, Russia is tightening its attacks. Civilians are difficult to find safe routes to escape. Can Mr. Biden send humanitarian goods and service instead of defensive weapons to Ukraine?

It's still winter in Ukraine People by the thousands are without shelter and struggling to get food and medicine. Biden is worried that shutting off oil from Russia will cause gas prices to go up another 20 or 30 cents and make him look bad while Americans complain. Hardship is relative, isn't it? Where is leadership when we need it? Putin knows the leadership in the west is weak and the populace is unwilling to endure even the mildest of hardship.

Americans sometimes talk rather casually about the possibility of a Civil War here. The images we see of a besieged Ukrainian city without power, water, heat. water, or food is a taste of what might happen if we remain so polarized. Yes, it can happen here too.

During 1930 and 1933 the Soviet Union under the rule of Joseph Stalin deliberately caused famine and death in the Ukraine. A leopard never changes its spots even if the sovereign nation of Russia now calls itself a Democracy.

When will some Russian officers in the field refuse orders to shell schools, hospitals, and apartment houses? I know; easy for me to say, but really, can they all be willing to perpetrate war crimes?

Can the UN send troops in to escort the civilians out of the war zone? The UN is not NATO.

Assume one million Ukrainians starve to death and one million more die by the Russian weapons of destruction(God forbid). Will we and the other NATO nations do nothing beyond economic sanctions while Poland does a lend-lease of a few used planes? Will we bear witness to genocide?

Putin is riding on the tiger's back right now and he can't demount even if he wanted to - so the siloviks will have to help him off if they want to see the light of day

Sounds like Texas in the winter.

We have to let Germany know we have faith they are not Nazis anymore. The world needs German leadership to stop Putin.

Putin is a war criminal. Like Milosevic, Putin should be brought to trial in the Hague. Milosevic died in prison in the Hague. So should Putin!

Ukraine must attack Russia in Russia with out attacking its citizens directly in fact it should seek support in Russia to over through the Putin regime. Nonetheless it must take out Russia infrastructure. Again uniting the people with Russia who has a common enemy Putin.

On June 24, 1948, Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin. From Jun 24, 1948 – May 12, 1949, the United States airlifted supplies into the city, keeping Berlin alive. Two weeks after the invasion began, tens of thousands of Ukrainians are without food, water or power. Kyiv and other cities are under siege by Russia, and enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine of the Russian Air Force by allies in NATO / the U.S. / E.U. is seen as military confrontation with Russia, with escalation into wider war feared as the outcome. How about if we load cargo planes, which carry no defensive or offensive weapons, and again airlift the food and supplies the people of Ukraine need, making clear to Russia that this is NOT an offensive escalation? Surely this is less egregious and confrontational than supplying Ukraine with weapons and munitions?