Russia is the last of the colonial empires that existed in Europe in the 20th century. Like many of the previous empires, its death throes have stretched out over a number of decades, and this is what we are witnessing in Russia today. The autocracy that Putin and his national security council cronies have created is a failed state that is held together by kleptocrats who are focused on accumulating more wealth for themselves, rather than developing a healthy, robust future for the Russian people.
Like other autocrats, Putin is willing to use violence, domestic repression, and war to sustain his political power and protect his stolen wealth, which he tries to conceal. Unfortunately, the brave Ukrainian people are experiencing the full weight of Russian brutality and genocide – and the rest of the world needs to get a clear picture of what is happening in this war because it is evidence of what autocrats will do.
The Russian military continues missile and drone attacks on Ukraine every day. These relentless attacks have brought death and trauma to the Ukrainian people, who are not getting the support they need from the West to stop these attacks. While support from the United States has been significant and currently surpasses any support ever given to an ally, it does not include long-range missile systems and fighter aircraft, which are parts of the weaponry any U.S. or NATO country would use in a similar conflict.
The brutality and viciousness that characterize the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine often get overlooked in the reports about the war. The regions in southern and eastern Ukraine that Russia has claimed as their territory have witnessed horrendous violence against their populations, some of whom are pro-Russian sympathizers. This is how the Russians treat people they claim need their protection.
Because Russia is losing its population and this threatens its economy because of a shortage of able workers, they forcibly deported up to 1.6 million Ukrainians, and perhaps many more, from the areas they controlled in the first six months of the war, according to the U. S. Department of State. The estimate of the number of children included in this deportation was 160,000, but nobody knows for sure. Many of these Ukrainians were stripped of their registration papers and relocated to isolated regions in the Russian Far East, which makes it very difficult to ever return home.
One of the methods that officials in Russian-occupied territories used at the beginning of the war was to tell their parents that Russia had created ”summer camps” which would keep their children safe and well-fed. What happened then was a concentrated effort to lure the kids away from their parents. These camps are spread all over Russia, some thousands of miles away from the Ukrainian border. These stolen children are then given “political re-education” and, in some cases, military training, designed to make them into Russians and discourage them from any Ukrainian identity. When their parents are ready to bring the kids home from camp, they are often told this will take time or that their children have been moved to different camps and cannot be reached. Some of the parents are afraid to report the loss of their child to the Ukrainian authorities for fear that they will be considered traitors.
There are also numerous reports of Russian troops raiding orphanages and taking these vulnerable children to orphanages in Russia. Because 90% of the orphans in Ukraine are “social orphans,” which means they have parents who put them in orphanages because they are too poor to support them, especially in wartime context, the Russian government refuses to respond to the appeals from these parents or grandparents about the plight of their kids. Fewer than 400 children have been located and brought back to Ukraine, so the pain is widespread.
Another cruel method used by the Russians is their network of 43 or more custody centers, or “filtration camps,” spread across Russian-occupied territory. Families attempting to flee war zones and enter Ukrainian-controlled territory are forced to go through these camps, which are really like prisons. The family is divided by gender, and adults are forced to undress and stand naked while their possessions are investigated for any pro-Ukrainian materials or financial resources, which are taken from them. Often family members are denied food, water, and access to toilets, and some are abused by Russian soldiers.
As significant as the battlefield advances or retreats are in terms of the outcome of this terrible war, we also need to pay attention to these brutal and genocidal policies of Putin and his military advisers on the Ukrainian people. Russian tactics in regions they occupy are clear evidence of what a Russian victory would mean for Ukraine and how dangerous Putin’s autocracy is. Putin and the leadership elites in Russia need to be held accountable for these crimes, and the only way to end this reign of terror is to defeat Russia and bring an end to its ambition to rebuild its empire.