Martial Law In Ukraine Extended

Russia attempts to legally prevent the exchange of the Mariupol POW

The news can be quite depressing, and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee seems all wrong with what is going on in the world and isn’t an adequate distraction. Fuel bills have doubled, and most people are thankful it is warm and summer here in the UK so we don’t need the heating on, but what will happen come October?

Food prices have gone up due to Covid-19 and also the invasion of Ukraine which has halted imports of essential food staples. I hear stories of people budgeting and cutting back now before it gets worse, and what will happen when the holidays come and there are no free school meals again (like Covid-19), something a number of families rely on?

I’m putting this into perspective because the governments need to balance looking after their citizens, and also to do the right thing to ensure our countries are safe from aggressors who oppose western democracy. Do I feel a little guilty when I buy a treat when I read stories of people fleeing Ukraine with just their clothes? Yes, I do, but that is the feeling of helplessness that those with a conscience feel.

At times I question the apathy of some around me who have little interest in the world apart from what affects them directly, and wonder if that is a true reflection of humanity? On a recent train journey and with general observations in the train station, there seems to be just that, where people are carrying on as ignorance is bliss. Covid-19 is still with us, and Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam who was the deputy medical officer during the pandemic, missed his investiture yesterday because he now has caught Covid-19. My guess is that no one will really want to talk Covid-19 figures until the holiday season has been completed and when hospital admissions creep up again. A case of ignorance is bliss so that we can carry on doing what we want and then deal with the consequences later. Is this the same with the war in Ukraine? Until it really affects us will we carry on in ignorant bliss until we must confront the reality of it all? Many people are hoping it won’t come to that, but Mariupol changes everything.

I have been writing about the plight of Mariupol since the start of the war, and said if the Russians take Mariupol then a land bridge between Russia and the rest of Europe is strengthened. That has now happened as the Mariupol soldiers in the Azovstal steel works have been told to surrender. For now, the fate of the soldiers is the crucial issue and whether Russia will use them for propaganda and even try to prosecute them and impose the death penalty. While some say this could have been avoided, we have to look at the situation as it is now and deal with it. We can analyse the issues afterwards but the West cannot afford to make the same mistakes of apathy and procrastination again.

Strategists will see Moldova and Georgia as the next soft targets to continue the Russian path into Western Europe. NATO, the EU, and the UN need to ready themselves for challenges that they have spoken about but have never acted on. Russia is going to test the strength of such alliances, and will show whether they need to be reformed into ones that are fit for the purposes that they allege they exist for.

Day 85 (19 May)

• Zelenskyy has extended martial law in Ukraine for the third time. Each period lasts 30 days, which allows the government to control specific areas such as preventing men between 18-60 to leave the country.

• The Russian parliament is to consider a motion to prevent the exchange of the recently surrendered soldiers in Mariupol. If tried, they could receive the death penalty.

• The Mariupol situation is now a political one and is not over. Due to the sensitive nature of the negotiations, information has been confidential and statements from both sides have been conflicting stories. There appears to still be soldiers in the plant as negotiators bargain for their fates. Russia wishes to use them as political pawns and propaganda, and these are lives they are playing with.

• The UN has warned that the war will lead to food shortages and increased prices. That has already happened, but perhaps they expected Ukraine to concede? Ukraine has been unable to export grain around the world which has pushed up prices and has created a shortfall in supplies around the world.

• The G7 will meet in Germany to discuss how to rebuild Ukraine.

• The EU is spending €3 billion on sourcing new energy supplies so that the EU no longer needs to rely on Russian supplies.

• Germany (Scholz) joins France’s Macron in stating that there can be no shortcuts to EU membership for Ukraine. It is actually in the best interests of the EU to find a way to allow Ukraine membership as it will cut down on red tape, and will help the Ukrainian economy to grow faster within the EU once the war is over.

• There are claims that 1,730 soldiers (prisoners of war) have been registered from Mariupol in prison camps that are controlled by the Russians.

  

• The White House will host representatives from Sweden and Finland to discuss their applications to join NATO.

  

• Russian soldiers are holding ‘media tours’ of Mariupol as they have officially occupied Mariupol.