War Fatigue

I think Ukrainian war fatigue is starting to set in (to some of us in the west at least), and that is a bad thing. As I was browsing the headlines this morning, I noticed that there were yet more Ukrainian civilians dead from yet another Russian missile strike on another apartment building. I had to double-check the dates on the story because the images look so much like what we have been used to seeing for months now.

Did I feel immediate horror and shock? I have to sadly admit I didn’t. It was more of the “same old, same old” but didn’t elicit a visceral reaction like it should have. They weren’t talking about it front and center on the TV news; last time I checked, they were running a story on the price of hot dogs.

Imagine what we’d feel like if the Russians had launched a bunch of missiles into, for instance, the condos lining Coronado Beach near San Diego. There would be major hell to pay immediately. Calls would be made for Putin’s head on a pike. It would be the newest 9/11, yet it’s just another Saturday in Ukraine.

An Act of Terrorism

Today, Russians specifically targeted residential buildings in the small Black Sea resort town of Serhiivka, which lies about 31 miles southwest of Odessa. At least 21 people were killed, and 38 others were seriously injured in the attack. One child died and another six were wounded, reports Serhii Bratchuk, a spokesman for the regional administration. It’s the largest single-day casualty toll in the region since the war began.

President Zelensky’s office reported that three X-22 missiles were fired by Russian bombers and they impacted an apartment building and two campsites. This is basically the equivalent of smashing an ant with a golden sledgehammer. Russian X-22 missiles were designed to take out ships and travel at a whopping Mach 4.6. They have a price tag of the equivalent of one million dollars each. And they were used to kill kids, people relaxing at home in their living rooms and tents. Ladies and gentlemen, this is terrorism, plain and simple. It’s extreme bullying. It’s murder.

Video footage of the destruction. Courtesy of YouTube and The Telegraph

This attack occurred only one day after the Russians decided to leave Snake Island as a stated “gesture of goodwill”. When they did so they promised they would not prevent the shipping of grain or attack nearby Ukrainian seaports again once they were de-mined. To be fair, they never said they wouldn’t launch attacks on civilian apartment buildings on their way out.

The timing of such horrendous acts is not lost on top Ukrainian officials. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Washington Post,

“Terror is a common tactic of Russia. First, they cover their criminal actions with an ‘act of goodwill’ and then launch rocket attacks on our peaceful cities.”

The airstrike is the latest of a string of Russian attacks on civilian targets. These include attacks on a theater and hospital in Mariupol and the bombing of a train station in Kramatorsk that took 59 lives.