LETTER TO THE EDITOR / ARE INDIVIDUAL RUSSIANS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR UNPROVOKED MILITARY INVASION OF UKRAINE- AND RUSSIAN CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY?

By Roger C. Kostmayer

Former US Ambassador to Russia, Mike McFaul, recently raised tough moral and strategic questions about how to judge and motivate the Russian people.  History will have no difficulty judging Putin, anymore than it had judging Hitler.  For example, even if you Iive in a brutal dictatorship, shouldn’t you have the courage to protest or do something to create pressure against an evil war of acquisition?

A year ago, tens of thousands of Russians did protest.  Yet, since then, Russian troops have captured, tortured, raped and murdered innocent women, children and elderly civilians.  They’ve also captured and kidnapped some 16,000 Ukrainian children they are now brain washing for future use against Ukraine – in violation of all international laws.  By contrast, courageous Russian Alexei Navalny, from his prison cell, denounced these horrific acts of his countrymen, while some 60,000 exiled Russians publicly protested against the war from 46 countries around the world.  What this tells us is a huge majority of Russians still support Putin and the right to steal sovereign territory from vulnerable countries, but there is a brain drain and a growing number of Russians who (to various degrees) oppose the war and the tactics.  This raises the sticky question of how the US, NATO and the European Union should intelligently and effectively respond.

There is reason to agree with most Ukrainians that all Russians should be held accountable unless and until they are proven actively innocent – and that means silence and pacifism are considered complicit.

Another thoughtful reaction would be dramatic increases and improvements in the sanctions that are applied.  ALL senior Military, employees of State owned businesses & government, plus billionaires, should be immediately and specifically sanctioned and put under travel bans.  And the $300 Billion dollars of Russian money we have frozen should immediately be donated to Ukraine for reconstruction and offensive weapons.

Russians need to understand that doing nothing to stand up to tyrants is not a safe way to avoid inevitable and painful accountability.

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