Ambassador Olexander Scherba in his latest “Mail & Guardian” op-ed:

“As we approach the fourth anniversary of Russia’s bloody full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks he has found the key to breaking Ukraine’s resilience: turning its cities into frozen death traps.

Every night, dark swarms of missiles and deadly drones take off towards Ukrainian cities, big and small, with one purpose: to freeze millions of civilians, young and old, whose only fault is that they do not want to be part of Russia.

Civilians are not collateral damage. They are the targets. Russia’s leading politicians and experts speak openly about the need for the annihilation of Ukrainian cities as punishment for refusing to submit and as the key to finally occupying all 24 of Ukraine’s provinces (instead of one, as of now).

After the Russian army failed to break Ukraine militarily for about four years, they hope to win by breaking the spirit of its civilians.

Russian death warrant for Ukrainians – The Mail & Guardian