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Accuses Kremlin of War Crime
- Safiu Kehinde
France President, Emmanuel Macron, has accused the Russian government of war crime over its four years’ war against Ukraine which had claimed the lives of over 1.2 million Russian soldiers and 15,000 Ukranian civilians.
Macron made this known in a post shared on his X handle on Tuesday in commemoration of the fourth-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war.
While highlighting the havoc wrecked and casualties recorded over the past four years, the French President hailed the resistance of Ukraine.
“Four years ago, Europe awoke to the sound of Russian bombs falling on Ukraine. Four years of a war of aggression chosen by Russia, in blatant defiance of international law, of a people’s sovereignty, and of human life.
“Four years of cities struck, of schools and hospitals destroyed, of energy infrastructure methodically targeted to plunge families into cold and terror.
“Four years: 15,000 Ukrainian civilians killed. Four years of shattered lives—violence, rape, torture, war crimes, and terror. Four years, and thousands of Ukrainian children torn from their land and their families. And yet, for four years Ukraine has held firm and resisted.
“One day, Russians will grasp the enormity of the crime committed in their name, the hollowness of the pretexts invoked, and the long-term, devastating effects on their own country.
“While the Kremlin promised to conquer Ukraine in a matter of days, only 1% of Ukrainian territory has been taken since the front stabilized in November 2022. Last month, Ukraine even regained ground. And at what cost for the Russians?
“More than 1.2 million Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed—the highest number of Russian combat casualties since the Second World War.” Macron wrote.
The France President maintained that the war had been a triple failure for Russia with its military, economic, and strategic prowess heavily depleted.
As against Russia’s motive of preventing the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) from expanding into Ukraine, Macron maintained that the war had only strengthened NATO with billions of Dollars raised in support of Ukraine.
“Faced with these losses, Russia is recruiting individuals on the African continent to send them to fight on the Ukrainian front, often with no prior training whatsoever.
“This war is a triple failure for Russia: military, economic, and strategic. It has strengthened NATO—the very expansion Russia sought to prevent—galvanized Europeans it hoped to weaken, and laid bare the fragility of an imperialism from another age.
“Because Ukraine is the first line of defence of our continent, France and Europe stand resolutely by its side. Financial, military, humanitarian, and energy assistance: Europe has already mobilised €170 billion.
“At the European Council in December, we agreed on a €90 billion loan to provide Ukraine with predictable funding over the next two years.
“There is no justification for calling this into question. We must now deliver on it. Deliveries of equipment and ammunition, training, strengthened air defences and counter-drone capabilities, and support for the systems already supplied will continue.” He said.
Macron disclosed that the European Union will also continue to target Russia’s war economy, stay the course on sanctions. and press ahead with action against the shadow fleet.