RUSSIA’S INVASION IN UKRAINE: IS IT OPERATION BARBAROSSA ALL OVER AGAIN?
DO YOU THINK THAT WE DESERVED THIS?
This was the question posed by Vyachesav Molotov, the foreign minister of Russia to the German ambassador in Moscow on hearing the news of the invasion of Soviet Union in 22 June 1941.It was also one of the largest military operations at that time as it involved more than 3 million Axis troops and 3500 tanks. My findings also identify operation Barabossa as the longest operation ever as it lasted for five months, one week and six days.
It is said that this military operation was fueled by Hitler’s belief that the German ‘master race’ should seek living space in the east. Well at least that was seven years before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was passed to declare many things but one main thing in particular “that we are all born equal”.
However, sometimes these statements are casted into a basket and get overtaken by new concepts such as “super powers” without realizing they bring the concept of “equality” to its knees leaving them as mere words of declaration that cannot be brought into practice in the real world.
One may beg the question, what is the real world? Is it the one in which one country invades another in the name of a “military operation” while the whole world knows that it’s just a tenebrous word to cover up the beginning of a war? OR is the real world the ability of countries to sit down and vote on condemning the invasion of another country and yet still be at liberty of not taking a stand because they retain their right to “neutrality”. But maybe they do know where they stand, they just don’t want to be on the wrong side of any of the “superpower” nations.
On the third day of June 2022 the military operation of Russia in Ukraine and the war of Ukraine and Russia reached 100 days. Reports and different Newspapers identified them as 100 days of misery to the people of Ukraine. I add up that the misery has also been to the world. Thousands have died, millions have fled their country and whatever Ukraine was famously known for has been replaced by the headlines of the shambles it has become.
Here are some of the facts and figures about what a superpower regards as a “military operation” and the world regards as a “war”: More than 4.8 million refugees have crossed the borders to seek safety and close to 14 million people have been forcibly displaced. And this is just the tip of the iceberg that has been created by this crisis.
The principle of “Non-Intervention” in the International Law arena is cultivated on “every state having the right to sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence”. However, the Ukraine and Russia saga has left the practicality of the principle in question. The Friendly Relations Declaration UNGA res. 2625(XXV) 1970 includes a section providing for the principle concerning the duty not to intervene in matters within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.
The invasion of Ukraine by a Permanent member of the Security Council of the UN leaves not only the lives and generations of Ukrainians at stake but the right to sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of their nation as well.
It is not the first time that a nation has interfered into the matters of another nation. In the case of Nicaragua vs United States of America, the International Criminal Justice Court had this to say:
“The right to sovereignty and political independence possessed by the Republic of Nicaragua, like any other state of the region of the world, should be fully respected and should not in any way be jeopardized by any military or paramilitary activities which are prohibited by the principle of their international law, in particular the principle that states should refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or the political independence of any state, and the principle concerning the duty not to intervene in matters within the domestic jurisdiction of a State, principle embodied in the charter of United Nations and the Charter of the Organization of the American States.”
As I am writing, Russia maintains its military operation by endless shelling of whatever is left of Ukraine. Ukraine continues to receive pledges and transfer of military weapons together with a great loss of lives because of this war. The supply of arms may leave us with one question, what control will there be over this military equipment once this war is over?
In the end, operation Barabossa was a total failure. It failed because the invader underestimated the resistance of the defenders. Before the invasion Hitler said that “we have only to kick in the front door and the whole rotten edifice will come tumbling down”. As it is eighty-one years today since that invasion, Russia has invaded Ukraine, giving another country the same pain that they were protesting against four scores and one year ago.
Ukraine has been praised for continuing to hold their ground and for defending their country. I can’t help myself but wonder, how long can Ukraine continue holding its defenses? Well, I am no military expert to know this, but the answer is, Yes It has taken longer than expected. And it is my hope that the military advisors get to learn that war and invasions are not “a walk in the park”.
As I pen down my thoughts, I find Molotov’s question more relevant to Russia itself, “Did the Ukrainians deserve this?”
Article Written by
Ken Heriel
