A victim, hand bounds behind his back, killed by Russian troops lies in the street in Bucha, Ukraine, April 3, 2022 (Reuters)
UPDPATE, APRIL 7:
The Indian Government tries to maintain a precarious balance by avoiding any reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while calling for an investigation of the mass killing of civilians in Bucha.
I joined a panel on India’s NDTV on Wednesday to cut through Russian disinformation and to explain the challenge and risks for Delhi.
An extract from my analysis:
Don’t hide behind a claim of “fog of war”. An independent investigation is needed of what happened in Bucha. We already have the satellite imagery, videos, the witness accounts.
#LeftRightCentre | "This is not a fog of war, don't hide behind that," says Professor Scott Lucas (@ScottLucas_EA), international politics, University of Birmingham, on #UkraineRussiaWar. pic.twitter.com/5taQgsTp7M
— NDTV (@ndtv) April 6, 2022
ORIGINAL ENTRY, APRIL 6: Immediately after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s address to the UN Security Council, I spoke with Turkey’s TRT World about the significance amid Russia’s invasion and war cries against Ukrainian civilians.
We discuss the immediate situation as evidence is collected of the mass killings of Ukrainian civilians; the pursuit of justice inside and outside the UN; and the importance for international order, security, and human rights.
Then, following the lie-filled statement of Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia — “that was disgusting” — I take apart Moscow’s disinformation.
There is a short-term message here: Support Ukraine. Make sure that it can continue to stand against this invasion.
But beyond this, Zelenskiy is saying to the UN, “If you have a reason to exist, you need to reform yourself now. Peace must be dominant.”
And he is, quite rightly, saying that the reason we cannot get peace, or protection against war crimes and invasion, is because there is one powerful member in the Security Council who can blockade it.
On the significance of Zelenskiy’s speech and the move to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council:
By highlighting the killings, the torture, the rapes, you are highlighting that even though this country sits on the Security Council — even though this country, as Zelenskiy noted, will use all its disinformation to turn black into white — it must be held to account morally and politically, even if you can’t hold it to account structurally within the United Nations.
