The question speaks for itself following the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) issuance of an arrest warrant weeks ago against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova after war crime allegations that children are deported because they speak against the tyranny of the invader. By doing so, he is also labeled a “wanted man,” placing restrictions on countries he may want to visit.
Dissecting the issue of the inevitable escalation of tension between Nato and Russia, it can easily be concluded that there will be a possible peril of another war. Why? It is hard to point out and guess how the Russian forces are tactically planning to subjugate Ukraine.
Out of desperation, its leader has a continual warning against the West of a negative aftermath due to its action of supplying advanced weapons to Ukrainian forces. We can possibly say that through the latter’s continual acquisition of air-to-ground missiles, leopard tanks, and anti-tank javelins, the invaders are pushed back from their positions as their advancement is delayed. But there is one thing that we cannot delay: death.
It seems that the Russian government views death as a normal thing to eliminate the “deterrents” to their goal. Even their own people were sent to the battlefield under the famously brutal Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization. What must bother us is how Moscow reacts to the charges it’s facing.
They call the ICC’s action “outrageous.” Some of their influential people called the issuance “toilet paper,” declaring it null and void.
Thus, our question again is, “What does it mean?”
Simple: It means they will continue to ignore whatever the ICC and Nato charge them as long as they get what they want. Blood will continue to spill, knowing that the ICC cannot “arrest” the Russian leader; all it can do is complain against him. Probably, he and his officials are laughing about the lawsuits, considering them like water off a duck’s back. It is alarming to know that Putin has no plan to withdraw his forces from the enemy’s territory. This manifests how serious he is about this campaign.
Following the sanctions from several countries, the Russian people are suffering. Perhaps not all want this war to happen. But because of power, competition, and ideology, they are ready to annihilate whoever stands in their way. Given that Putin doesn’t want to back down and continues to ignore petitions against him, rest assured, many will continue to suffer things they do not deserve.
JUAN PABLO KARLO MARKO KRISTIYANO N. CORTES
Nueva Ecija