It has been said over and over again: the war crimes, or – to take the view of US president Biden – crimes against humanity or genocide committed by the Russian regime in Ukraine, resemble those perpetrated in Syria since 2015 and in Chechnya in 1999-2000. Be it in Mariupol, Bucha, Kramatorsk, or Borodianka, each day brings its share of macabre revelations.
Western leaders have been quick to express their shock. However, this emotional display should itself unsettle us when the international community has spent years looking away from the Russian regime’s crimes. The Russian army’s history in Syria and Chechnya, as well as Putin’s declarations on his intentions in Ukraine, meant the Ukrainians’ fate was predictable. And new crimes will be committed soon should we fail to do all that is in our power to stop them: the major offensives in the Donbass is nothing but a confirmation of Putin’s will of destruction. Russia’s war of extermination in Syria goes on in Ukraine.
