Over the past week, Russia has unleashed more than 1,460 guided bombs, 670 attack drones, and over 30 missiles on Ukrainian territory. The scale and intensity of these strikes reveal a calculated effort to obliterate civilian infrastructure and instill fear among the population. These are not isolated incidents but part of a deliberate strategy of terror that blatantly disregards international law.
Mass Aerial Strikes: A Nation Living in Perpetual Fear
Daily airstrikes have turned life for millions of Ukrainians into a constant battle for survival. Missiles and drones are targeting homes, hospitals, schools, energy plants, and transport hubs. As a result, entire cities are left without power, heating, or water, endangering thousands of lives, particularly those of children, the elderly, and vulnerable hospital patients.
The intensity of these attacks has reached such a level that even cities far from the front lines are seeing their residents sheltering in basements and bunkers. There are no legitimate military targets; this is an orchestrated effort to destabilise Ukrainian society through chaos and fear.
Deliberate Destruction of Critical Infrastructure
Russian forces are specifically targeting critical infrastructure, including power stations, water systems, hospitals, train stations, and schools. These strikes are not accidental but part of a broader strategy to create a humanitarian catastrophe, force civilians to flee their homes, and spread widespread panic.
With electricity and heating cut off in freezing temperatures, tens of thousands of families are left with a terrible choice: to flee or to endure unbearable conditions. Attacks on hospitals put the lives of critically ill patients at risk, while strikes on schools strip children of their right to an education.
War Crimes in Direct Violation of the Geneva Conventions
The Russian missile attacks on civilian areas, such as hospitals, schools, and residential districts, violate the core tenets of international humanitarian law. The Geneva Conventions unequivocally prohibit attacks on civilian targets, yet Russia continues to flout these critical regulations.
When missiles hit maternity hospitals, emergency medical stations, or schools, it is not an accident but a calculated tactic of terror. The systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure is intended to weaken the resistance and force the Ukrainian population to live in an ongoing state of fear and uncertainty.
This Is Not Just a War: It’s a Strategy of Terror
The daily civilian casualties are not an unfortunate by-product of war; they are the very objective. Each new strike is part of a carefully planned strategy to:
• Shatter normal civilian life
• Instil fear and force millions of people to flee
• Use terror as a political weapon to exert pressure
This is not a war between armies — it is a sustained campaign of intimidation. Russia is not pursuing peace; it seeks Ukraine’s capitulation through methods already condemned as war crimes by international tribunals.
A Call to the Global Community: Silence is Complicity
Every missile that strikes a civilian home, every drone that leaves a hospital without power, is not just an attack on Ukraine; it is a challenge to the international community at large, which is founded on the principles of humanity and the rule of law.
If the global community fails to respond decisively now, then tomorrow this kind of terror will become the new norm. And soon, any nation wishing to assert its will might resort to terror as a means of warfare.
Ukraine is not just fighting for its sovereignty; it is fighting to ensure that in the 21st century, mass war crimes are not allowed to go unpunished. Today, silence equals complicity with terror.
