PremiumPutin’s long-drawn attack-formations along Ukraine’s border were no bluff, and what we have seen unfold confirms what his critics had argued: A reckless Russia is a danger to the world. While we may have defence and other ties with Moscow, this is a moment that demands clarity from India as an exponent of non-violence
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It’s a war of one man’s making, an unprovoked and unjustified attack on a sovereign country by another that has shown itself as a dictatorial power bent against peace. And we must call a spade a spade. Ignoring global pleas, Vladimir Putin of Russia on Thursday launched a heavily-armed invasion of Ukraine on a flimsy set of pretexts that could not disguise the illegitimacy of this aggression. An ugly, brazen disregard for lives was on display as Russian forces pushed in from three sides of the former Soviet republic, the death toll rising fast amid the use of firepower so disproportionate that its aim must surely have been to intimidate Kyiv into an instant surrender to Moscow’s will.
Geopolitical analysts who had figured Russia was only trying to use its version of “coercive diplomacy" on a smaller neighbour, a tool we are familiar with, to secure its interests have been proven wrong. Putin’s long-drawn attack-formations along Ukraine’s border were no bluff, and what we have seen unfold confirms what his critics had argued: A reckless Russia is a danger to the world. While we may have defence and other ties with Moscow, this is a moment that demands clarity from India as an exponent of non-violence.
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