NEED FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT TO END THE UKRAINE WAR

 

          

 

               

The Ukraine war  has been raging unabated showing no sign to subside as the two sides remain adamement to their own stands. The scale of   devastations caused to the Ukrainian infrastructure by Russian forces due to bombings, missile strikes and artillery shellings is immense and beyond repair even within decades. It has not been a wise decision on the part of President Zelenskyy to fight a war against a superpower in its inclination towards NATO. Ultimately, the people's well-being and the protection of the nation's hard earned assets are what should matter the most to a State. 

  NATO has also failed to play a proactive role in bringing down the war either by posing a credible deterrent to Putin by supplying military hardwares to Ukraine or by asking Zelensky to agree to Putin's terms. NATO's decline to declare a No -fly zone over Ukraine and the fact that its stance to supply fighter aircrafts through Poland to defend Ukraine's airspace was shrouded in uncertainty,  tell the story. The war has several important angles that need to be discussed:

The military angle of the war is greatly unbalanced and heavily tilted in Russia's favour. President Zelenskyy has embarked upon a disastrous war knowing very well that the enemy was insurmountably strong and his country is no match before it. Russia has the most nuclear weapons in the world which is even more than that of the USA. Also, it has the ability to deliver the weapons by its vast fleet of supersonic jets and  precision guided missiles. Only NATO countries, combined together  can pose a credible match for Russia and , in the event of a direct involvement by them, the conflict might escalate far beyond a regional domain to a full scale battle of a  world war magnitude which no one would like to happen. Prez Zelenskyy should have understood the consequences of this angle and the factor  of   unequality of military prowess  before marching on the path of a dangerous war simply swayed by nationalistic fervour. A timely diplomatic initiative from his side with Russia would have saved his country from unprecedented destruction that brought untold sufferings to millions of his countrymen.

Secondly, the humanitarian angle of the war is far beyond imagination. The Ukraine war is deeply inhumane and barbaric. A beautiful country has been destroyed. Refugees are pouring in neighbouring countries like Poland and Hungary. Millions of people have fled from Ukraine since the war broke out braving the winter cold and the gun  making it the biggest exodus since the 2nd world war. Nobody knows when they would return and how they would return and for what they would return. Many children living in underground bomb shelters for nearly 2 weeks are reportedly without water. Civilians, hospitals with babies and pregnant women  and residential areas with innocent women and children  are being targeted by Russian forces assuming to be military hideouts. Electricity and water supply to some of the cities have been cut off for days.

Finally, the war had triggered the biggest ever threat to the environment because of the possible radioactive leak from the captured Chernobyl nuclear power plant and a host of other nuclear power plants run by Ukraine to harness most of its power needs. The Russian attack has clearly damaged  Chernobyl's power supply leaving it at the mercy of the limited  back-up gensets. This poses a serious threat   for the smooth functioning of  the cooling towers which in the event of a failure  may lead to a holocaust somewhat that we witnessed in 1986. In that event, the radioactive leak and the radiation hazards would spread far beyond the conflicting corridors to affect people and places around the whole world.

Given the grave consequences of the turns that the war may take,  it is better that good sense prevails on both the sides. Prez Zelenskyy should sit   with its Russian counterparts and seek a diplomatic solution to the problem asserting its position of a non-aligned buffer state possessing no threat to its superpower neighbour. Similarly, Putin is not going to gain anything out of this war. Russia has been increasingly isolated from the world because of  economic sanctions and widespread condemnations . There is widespread resentment  in Russia itself. It's better for Putin to call back its forces and compensate Ukraine for the loss it had inflicted. Only a paradigm shift for both the parties can save the world from the brink of a catastrophe!

      Nikunja Bihari Sahu                               Education Officer

                                 Regional Science Centre

                                                                         Bhopal

                                                                Phone : 8018708858