by Askold S. Lozynskyj
An Eyewitness Account
The first night in Lviv was replete with sirens of various categories and lengths This had been preceded several days earlier by an unprecedented missile attack resulting in serious fatalities including that of a family of four with the remaining father hospitalized. Once again this target bore no proximity to any military targets, energy grid, or anything remotely connected with the war and Ukrainian resistance. It was simply a grotesque message from the Russians to Ukrainians: we will wipe you off the face of the earth.
Today, Friday, September 6, 2024, the people of Lviv paid their respects to the young woman and her three children who perished. Amazingly the war crimes charges against Russia dating back to the early months of the war are still being investigated as evidence continues to mount. The wheels of justice move so slowly that there is no justice.
Ukraine’s request to the United States for permission to use US weapons deep into Russian territory to prevent such attacks remains unrequited. Patriot defence missiles continue to sit in European warehouses gathering dust and playing no role as innocents in Ukraine die. Ukraine continues to be grateful for Western assistance but the logical mind is confused.
And so Russia has intensified its brutality, but the West seemingly supportive of Ukraine in word and deed, somehow continues to sit on the fence and play both sides, allegedly fearing an Armageddon. The spectre of an anti-Ukraine America and a less supportive Germany looms on next year’s horizon, and yet, frankly, the friends of Ukraine have not done nor are they doing enough, actually inhibiting Ukraine’s valiant efforts and sacrifice.
Many in the West have expressed support with an addendum, how long can this support continue. What is very often lost in this discussion is the very real fact that scenes of young people being laid to rest as a result of war crimes is a sight reoccurring only in Ukraine. Sure young people are dying everywhere, but mostly because of cultural and political stupidity. More people die from automatic weapons wielded by civilians in America than on any other country. No country is more misguided than America on this score, but that is a whole different issue.
As an American witness to the requiem events in Lviv, (there was a procession of cars, a church service, then thousands walked to the cemetery). As I watched I was sad and angry, sad for my fellow Ukrainians, but perhaps more angry at the murdering Russians and accommodating Americans, the latter aided and abetted through their lack of resolve. President Biden is a friend of Ukraine, but a very flawed one.
The spectre of a great evil in November cannot whitewash the fecklessness of the current administration. The legacy of Joe Biden will be tarnished in my mind by the requiem events of today. There are so many to blame: the international courts, even Mongolia for harbouring a war criminal. Perhaps, most important, is a misunderstanding of the war.
Ukrainians should be grateful for Western support. What is lacking is reciprocal gratefulness from the West. Ukraine has taken on, albeit not voluntarily, the greatest evil in the world today This evil has been enhanced largely by Western appeasement for at least a century. Sure this war is costing Western money. Much more importantly, it is costing Ukrainian lives. Every Ukrainian that dies is a tremendous loss. People are not resources such as weapons and money. President Zelensky recently stressed this at a press conference. No human being is replaceable. Who can replace the young mother with her three children buried today in Lviv because of Russian criminal aggression and Western lack of resolve?
