1 year ago
38
Cause and effect is the simplest, the most basic, element of any system. Add heat to water, get steam. Release the apple, it falls. Swing the bat, and the ball goes flying. But there are aspects of this most basic relationship that Russia still seems to be confused about. For example: Commit fresh and highly visible atrocities on the brink of an international conference concerning the war you are currently waging, watch nations of the world step up their support for the nation you are victimizing.
From the beginning of this illegal and unprovoked invasion, there have been two big factors fueling international assistance to Ukraine. One is the incredible toughness and resilience demonstrated by the Ukrainian people. Their ability to survive and respond to a massive assault was inspirational far beyond their own borders, and had Ukraine not showed they could weather the initial storm, nothing else would have mattered.
The second factor fueling support for Ukraine is Russia’s willingness to engage in wanton cruelty, not as the necessary side effect of waging war, but as a tactic. From the Mariupol Theater to the Dnipro apartment building, Russia has moved under a delusion that causing suffering would bring victory. Even when things were going poorly on the front—especially when things were going poorly on the front—Russia has reached out with drones and missiles to leave parents weeping over tiny bundles and create a generation of orphans. Mass graves, mass abductions, and a massively tone-deaf strategy that seems to operate as if sufficient horrors will bring on surrender. Or maybe they just enjoy it.
Either way: cause and effect. That cruelty is bringing something new to Ukraine, and it’s starting to look as if it could come in a flood.
