Besieged

In the emergency NATO summit meeting held in Brussels last Thursday, the photo-ops were probably more important than the actual conference.

The “family picture” of the NATO leaders underscored the unusual, and unexpected, solidarity of the western alliance. It was a solidarity Putin failed to include in his calculations. He never could have imagined that Ukraine’s charismatic leader would be invited to address a meeting like this one.

NATO put together a generous package of military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. On the military side, NATO is rushing in both anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles that have proven their deadly worth in stalling Putin’s invading army. The alliance is likewise organizing “battle groups” for deployment in Eastern Europe to help protect member-countries on the frontline.

An important thing about the NATO meeting is its timing. The emergency meeting was convened to deter Putin from using chemical and tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

A stalled invading army raises the temptation for Putin to use even more brutal weapons against Ukrainian cities. Western intelligence estimates put Russian casualties as high as 15,000 over four weeks of fighting. This is much worse than the number of Russian soldiers killed in a decade of war in Afghanistan.

The Russian people do not welcome military defeats cheerfully. After Russia lost its 1905 war with Japan and then lost again during the First World War, Tsarist rule was doomed. After its humiliating defeat in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union was doomed.

Things are not looking good for Putin and his oligarchs. His invading army has lost momentum on the ground. His invasion has invited global scrutiny of the extent his regime has plundered Russia while keeping this great nation under a reign of terror.

Global financial sanctions targeted the billionaires who profited from Putin’s rule. This week, an opulent $750-million yacht suspected to belong to Putin himself was seized in Italy. In Spain, the chief engineer of a luxurious yacht owned by another Russian oligarch scuttled the vessel himself. The chief engineer turned out to be Ukrainian, a native of Kyiv.

All the eye-popping assets owned by the oligarchic mafia surrounding Putin have become the focus of international curiosity because of the sanctions. The extent of the plunder, the sheer greed and tastelessness of the oligarchs, guarantee the Putin regime will never win legitimacy.

The regime’s isolation will soon be felt in Russia’s streets. Soon, Moscow will have to ration basic consumer goods as the Russian economy is estimated to have lost 14 percent of its value since the invasion began.

Putin has reinforced the regime of censorship to keep the truth from his people. He restricted access to several digital platforms. Russian television contains only propaganda. But there are limits to what censorship might achieve in the modern communications environment.

Ukraine suffered greatly since the invasion began. Over 3.6 million have fled to neighboring countries. About a quarter of the population is internally displaced as Putin’s army bombs cities to rubble. Thousands of civilians have been killed by these attacks, including most notably a 96-year-old Ukrainian Jew who survived Hitler’s death camps. Starvation haunts many cities under siege.

As part of its strategy of controlling the population, Russian troops have taken to abducting local government officials. Now, they are abducting thousands in cities like Mariupol and deporting them to Russia. The list of war crimes perpetrated by Putin’s invading army grows by the day. In one particularly chilling instance, Russian troops murdered a Ukrainian man and then raped his wife.

In the face of Putin’s atrocities, the world is rallying behind the Ukrainian resistance. Ukraine is now the world’s frontline against the plundering despot in Moscow.

On the ground, positions are hardening. The invading army has taken defensive positions in the face of daring counterattacks. The rapid delivery of modern weapons will surely help the brave Ukrainians resist. The fighting will certainly continue on for some time.

Ukraine’s cities, including Kyiv, are certainly under heavy siege. But in the last analysis, it is Putin and the despotic form of rule he personifies that is under siege from the rest of humanity.

There needed to be a limit to Putin’s assault on our collective civility. When he attacked Georgia, international reaction was timid at best. When he annexed Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine, international sanctions were imposed – but not enough to prevent him from committing further atrocities.

Now, the tyrant has invaded a peaceful and democratic country, the only one that volunteered to give up its nuclear arsenal after the Soviet Union collapsed. This has to be the final straw. If Putin wins in Ukraine, he will threaten other eastern European countries.

It is not enough to defend Ukraine, therefore. Putin must be defeated eventually. His grip on power becomes more untenable by the day.

At the UN General Assembly, the Philippines voted along with 140 other countries to condemn Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. But President Duterte hems and haws and makes incongruous remarks about what is happening there. The Russian ambassador to Manila interprets the Philippine position as one of “neutrality.”

We cannot be neutral in the face of war crimes being committed in scale. Our national interest clearly should be on the side of strengthening a world order where sovereignty and national borders are sacred.

Unfortunately, that national interest is not properly articulated in domestic political discourse. Ukraine and the profound implications the situation there hold is not a major item in the public’s appreciation of events.