The
Kremlin provided diplomatic cover to the Assad regime after Damascus used chemical weapons against its own citizens. Furthermore, Russia targeted hospitals and other critical infrastructure, including those whose coordinates were
shared with the Russian command by the UN, to undermine the morale of rebel forces and force them to disperse.
Russia is trying to do the same in Ukraine today, acting with special brutality when its war is not going to plan. The Russian army is attacking civilian areas to disperse the resources of the Ukrainian forces currently concentrated along the front. Moscow knows that Ukraine needs additional air defense systems to defend its cities and skies, and it is exploiting this weakness with devastating consequences.
Despite all the terrible losses, Kyiv’s Western allies are still preventing the Ukrainian armed forces from launching long-range strikes against Russian military infrastructure, and this is a mistake. All signed security treaties and such support are worthless without permission to counter-attack deep inside Russian territory. Otherwise, strikes like today's will continue without serious consequences for the Russian army infrastructure and bases.
Attacks on hospitals and other infrastructure will not stop even if there are negotiations. The purpose of the invasion of Ukraine was to seize, occupy, and exploit territory that Russia believes is its own, not to sit around a table talking.
Attacks like the one on the children's hospital in Kyiv and the medical center in Dnipro are just part of this strategy and should remind Ukraine's allies – some of whom have wavered – that Kyiv urgently needs military support and guarantees that it will be able to defend its skies. Reality is not just knocking at the door – it is blowing up cities.