Finland and Sweden Officially Apply For NATO Membership

Negotiations for the safe passage of remaining of the Azovstal soldiers in Mariupol continues

The issues that surround this war continue and grow, and these have changed the international community in a short space of time. Decisions have had to be made in order to bolster defence lines, countries have had to decide how to help Ukraine and find a way to release funds, states have had to vote on resolutions in the UN and choose a side (abstention to me is a way to support the aggressor without admitting to it) and the international alliances have had to step up and do prove that they can do what they claim to do.

It doesn’t help when NATO (via Stoltenberg) makes statements that aren’t true, such as Turkey will support the Finnish and Swedish applications, only for Erdogan to make a statement with the complete opposite. Stoltenberg also has said that Ukraine can win the war—NO, Ukraine must win the war if there is to be any peace in the world.

Some of you have said that it must be hard for me to read the stories and then condense the information here. It is hard, and at times difficult to put into words the atrocities that I describe, and the stories of those who knew they were going to die, but did so out of loyalty for Ukraine and to protect the democracy in the world. I have read accounts to people who were bound, tortured and then shot because they would not give up the location of those who were being hunted.

In Bucha, and the outskirts of Kyiv, people do not realise the sacrifices made by the small villages and towns that protected the city. Many died as a shield to stop the Russians getting through and they knew they would die. That is why I get angry when people said Kyiv is back to normal with clubs and festivities going on—don’t they realise that villages sacrificed their lives so Kyiv can still stand? They could have run and hid, but they didn’t, and if they had then Kyiv may have been taken.

There has been another account from the Globe and Mail, where a member of secret forces gave an interview before his death of the concerns he had over the war. Captain Volodymr Kiselov and another officer (Uncle Sasha) died around 7 May to enable their unit to escape. Captain Kiselov was 32 years old, and leaves behind a widow and child.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-russia-ukraine-capt-kiselov-kharkiv/

He expressed his concerns at the end of April that the promised weapons from the West had not arrived and they could not defend themselves against the Russians. The weapons arrived 6 weeks into the invasion (the start of May), and that was too late for Bucha. Captain Kiselov told the paper of the horrors he had seen, but who did not have the weapons to stop the Russians.

When you hear someone talk of organised rape as a weapon, seeing torched limbs (they tried to burn the bodies as evidence), bodies lying in the street where it was obvious they had been out shopping for groceries, you think of the 6 week delay in sending aid from the US where Congress were too concerned about assisting in case it escalated the war. You think of Germany ‘helping’ by sending a few thousand helmets and you can understand Zelenskyy’s frustration. If you can’t send weapons, then at least prevent them bombing us the Ukrainians cried. But the Americans and NATO said ‘no’ because it they considered it would mean engaging in war and the Russians would see it as escalation. Bucha and other similar events was the result of apathy, procrastination, and fear which is exactly what the Russians wanted.

Captain Kiselov recounted a time when they were moved to defend Kharviv and there were 30 helicopters above them and they had no weapons to shoot them down. They have them now, but it was all 6 weeks too late. Rand Paul (senator who opposed the funding for Ukraine) should be sent to Mariupol or Bucha to see for himself the atrocities and then sent to Odesa to hide in a shelter when there is shelling.

We are seeing the effects of procrastination and hesitancy from the West, and NATO, and where the UN was reluctant to do what little they could. Thousands of Ukrainians sacrificed their lives, for those on the outskirts of Kyiv knew if the Russians took Kyiv, then Ukraine would be lost. These men were patriots and heroes, who acted without being ordered to because they knew if they didn’t, then Russia would occupy Ukraine, and that the Russians would continue to squash democracy across Europe.

With the surrender of the Mariupol soldiers, this changes the situation which can be used as an advantage to the Russians. The deaths of the soldiers would have achieved little as the Russians would have claimed they had wiped out Neo-Nazis as was their aim. Captured alive (for it is too much to expect they will be used in a prisoner swap as they are too valuable for propaganda), this could turn the Russian public against the West even further, and would give cause for those countries who support Russia a justification to do so. These are dangerous political times, when countries such as China have not shown their cards yet.

Day 84 (18 May)

• Russia is expelling 34 French diplomats who will have 2 weeks to leave Russia. This is in retaliation for the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats in France in April.

• A Russian gymnast (Ivan Kuliak) has been banned for a year for displaying a ‘Z’ while receiving a bronze medal in March in Qatar. He must also return the medal and prize money, but may appeal although it unlikely he would succeed given that another athlete was banned for the same offence.

• Finland and Sweden jointly arrived at NATO to hand in their letter to formally apply for NATO membership to Stoltenberg at 8 a.m. today. It is a historic moment where two countries who have remained neutral (for more than a century in Sweden’s case) have decided this move is essential in order to secure the best defence for their countries.

  

  Both admit that the decision was based on Russia’s hostile actions, and this move has taken place in less than 3 months. We are now in the 12th week of the invasion, and when you consider this decision has taken a few weeks to get parliamentary approval, this was indeed fast moving.

  

• Turkey continues to voice opposition against Finland and Sweden’s application, while NATO and the US seem confident that the any issues will be resolved. Clearly, they seem to believe they can offer Turkey something to basically make they agree and that is a concern. Erdogan is using this to ‘get something’ from NATO because his excuses have no evidence to back them at all. If anything, this has shown (as I believed) that Turkey cannot be trusted and will flip when it suits their needs. The country has already circumvented sanctions against Russia by creating a means for Russians to fly into Turkey for holidays and a system where they can pay for holidays too.

  

• The main story is the evacuation of the Azovstal soldiers in Mariupol, where the wounded have been transferred to Russian controlled hospitals. The remaining soldiers have allegedly surrendered as the Ukrainian government have told them they have completed their mission and do not need to die. It is a sort of surrender, but no one knows what will happen. Ukraine is hoping the UN will intervene, but with what we have seen from the UN, that is unlikely. Russia has claimed that the soldiers (taken as prisoners of war) will be tried as Neo-Nazis. This will be used as propaganda to justify the ‘special military action’ to the Russian public.

• The first war crimes trial begins today with 21 year old Vadim Shishimarin on trial, accused of shooting an unarmed 62 year old civilian in the head (in Chupakhivka), who was on his bicycle. We have seen numerous images of people in the street dead with their bicycles and shopping lying next to them. He claims he was ordered to shoot the man to prevent him from telling others of their location. The latest news is that he has pleaded ‘guilty’ and could face life in prison. Russia has claimed that they have not targeted or killed any civilians.

  

• The world has been told that Ukraine fought hard to push back the Russians (and still are), but many sacrificed their lives for Ukraine and their stories are coming out now. The weapons that they needed to defend themselves came a month too late for many, due to procrastination from the West, (France, and Germany, and the US was several weeks late too). We hear their stories and that is why Finland and Sweden have chosen to act swiftly to put in measure to secure their borders.

  

• The US have reopened their embassy in Ukraine.

• Russia is demanding that Wikipedia delete all references to Russia invading Ukraine.

  

• The US has also offered security guarantees to Finland and Sweden if they are attacked. The countries would not seek guarantees or other countries offer them unless they believed there was a realistic threat.

• A deputy director of Chernobyl Nuclear Plant has been arrested under suspicion of collaborating with the Russians, that gave them control of the plant early on in the invasion.

The Russians have released images of the Azovstal soldiers who have surrendered in Mariupol. They did not wish to surrender but were told their mission was complete. The post states they are being taken to a Russian penal colony where they will be interrogated where the Russians will then choose to prosecute and imprison some of them for being neo-Nazis.

Their future is uncertain and while Ukraine negotiates for their safe return, the truth is that Russia needs them to justify their attacks. We can’t really count on the UN because they took too long to intervene, and even then it was flaky to say the least.

This is a chance Zelenskyy is taking, but where will the finger of blame be pointed at? If NATO and the West had provided weapons as soon as they were requested, and if a no-fly zone had been taken place, then Mariupol may not have been taken. The delay of 6 weeks meant that the soldiers were already trapped by then, and much of Mariupol had already been occupied and destroyed. I would say the procrastination by the US, France, and Germany were mainly to blame. The UK sent what it could, as did Poland and the Czech Republic but the attacks required NATO grade equipment in bulk immediately. As for the fears of escalation, I think we are already there— in a stalemate position where NATO is expanding, and where it is looking to speed up the process.