There is a troubling video of what the current Ukraine crisis has spawned and which the venerable New York Times has written about, which creates the need for people to look at the two sides of a coin before passing judgment. That video, corroborated by the NYT from satellite images, shows once and for all the atrocities that were committed by the Ukraine soldiers and from what the US paper surmised can be considered as war crimes.
“Grisly,” is how the NYT described the video where Russian soldiers, apparently surrendering, were shot and killed by Ukraine soldiers, and most of them got bullets in the head. The article, with the joint byline of Malachy Browne, Stephen Hiltner, Chevaz Clarke-Williams and Taylor Turner, detailed the gruesome murder of what can be considered as hors de combat soldiers that is now being looked at by the UN Human Rights Office.
Much of Western media has pointed to the direction of Russia as being guilty of war crimes, such as the one in Bucha, but Russia has been contesting this. And now that the NYT has documented what tantamount to war crimes from the side of Ukraine, will the world now look at the two sides of the coin and be disabused on the narrative that only Russia is at fault?
In the ongoing conflict, Russia is being portrayed as the villain and yet when one has to look at the war’s provenance, there is a need to zero in on the peace accords that were initiated in the capital of Belarus, Minsk. There was a Minsk 1 and then a Minsk 2 with Germany and France participating in the efforts to craft a peace agreement involving the Donbas, dominated by Russian-speaking population.
The two peace accords, with agreements signed by two separatist leaders in Donbas and which detailed what Ukraine should implement, simply collapsed. And now, peace overtures are again being heard with Russia being faulted for its war crimes. But is it just Russia that is at fault? One needs not look far and for peace to reign there is a need to appreciate the fact that there is a Russian narrative that should be taken into account in the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
According to the report from the NYT, “a series of videos that surfaced on social media last week has ignited a debate over whether Ukrainian forces committed war crimes or acted in self-defense as they tried to capture a group of Russian soldiers that were then killed.
“The videos show the grisly before-and-after scenes of the encounter earlier this month, in which at least 11 Russians, most of whom are seen lying on the ground, appear to have been shot dead at close range after one of their fellow fighters suddenly opened fire on Ukrainian soldiers standing nearby.” This article, when placed side by side with another report about a French doctor who was at the war front, shines a light on the need to look at the other side of the coin. Read it to appreciate.
“Adrian Boquet did not come to Ukraine as a military man. He was there in the status of a medical volunteer. He spent a total of 16 days in Ukraine. The Frenchman returned from there a different person. According to Andre, “I have seen the heinous crimes committed by the Azov battalion. I have seen the Russian military, which were treated very cruelly.”
“They were connected. It was in some kind of shed. Russian prisoners were brought there in minivans, three or four at a time. Every time these prisoners were thrown out of these vans, the “Azov” interrogated them, demanding to know which of them were officers. They shot everyone they pulled out with a Kalashnikov in the knees.
“The bound prisoners had no way to resist. I wouldn’t be able to say such things if I didn’t have a video. I do not know why they shoot Russians in the knees before any questions. And then, if someone answered that he was an officer, he was shot in the head.”
With the troubling images from the NYT and this story from one Andre Boquet, perhaps it is time for a hoped-for peace to finally settle in Ukraine. But for this to happen, the need to appreciate the two sides of a coin should be made first and foremost.