Europe's Dark Veil

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There's not a lot one can say about the last twenty-four hours' events in Ukraine, except that they have taken a sinister turn for the worse. Initially, we were told that a limited ceasefire would be put in place in order that Ukrainian citizens could escape the war via agreed routes, unimpeded. Then the Russians started bombarding the 'safe' routes, forcing those fleeing to turn back whence they came.

Either this is evidence of a broken chain of command, or of a cynical and deadly attempt to murder civilians by luring them into a trap under the guise of humanitarian concern. If the former, it will be a sign that Putin is losing his grip on his own forces and ambitions. If the latter, this is a war crime, pure and simple. On top of the original illegal incursion, this must surely not go unpunished.

The West appears to be sitting on its hands at the moment, whilst ordinary decent people are being killed or displaced by a paranoid tyrant whose motivation appears to be the same sour disappointment, delusion and disillusionment that fuelled Adolf Hitler's brutal empire building between Weimar and war's end in the thirties and forties.

Ultimately, Putin will fail; as did Hitler. The ones who suffer, as always, will be the innocent. One can only hope that the babies currently being born in Ukrainian bomb shelters and car park basements will eventually carry the torch of freedom from the oppression of the ageing, privileged white men who hold the lives of the rest of humanity in their gift.

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