Ukrainian girl, ten, 'killed by drunken Russian soldiers'

[BeyondGeography]

Link to tweet

Russian soldiers shot dead a ten-year-old girl in a village near Kyiv after they got drunk, heard a gun go off and began firing at random, her cousin said.

…Recounting what the friend had said, Anya’s adoptive mother Vera Dmitrienko, 40, said: “People say that the soldiers just got so bored. They were even telling this to people in the village. They looted all the stores in the village, of course they got a lot of alcohol from the stores and got drunk and started shooting. They shot into Nastya’s house, she was there with her uncle, and she died immediately. Her uncle was taken to hospital and we still don’t have any information from him.”

Dmitrienko said that the soldiers had started shooting after a Ukrainian teenage boy found a gun and shot it in the air. “The soldiers heard it but since they were so drunk they didn’t know where it was from so they just started shooting everywhere they could see. They shot in four houses and in one of those houses was Nastya,” she said.

Anya said that at the weekend the friend in the village had got in touch again and told her that the Russians were taking away phones and there was no electricity or food. “She said that soldiers come into their homes and if they don’t open the door they just break it and can beat you up if you don’t let them take your food,” said Anya, who was born in Shybene.

She said one of the men who had been posing as a villager in the video had never been seen there before. There were other claims by the Ukrainian armed forces yesterday that reports have been staged for Russian TV about the humanity of the Russian soldiers.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3aef57a6-9e55-11ec-b38e-10b333e9179b?shareToken=bc123aa4568efcaf281c31e2e94a184a

[Wicked Blue]

1. Shades of Stalin: soldiers taking away the food from Ukrainians

This will enrage the fired-up Ukrainians even more, if that's possible.

[COL Mustard]

10. That's winning hearts and minds!!!

Way to go, Russia!!!

[Ray Bruns]

2. Russian soldiers getting drunk off of "liberated" alcohol. I am shocked.

[captain queeg]

3. It's going to get much worse. I really admire the Ukrainians and hope they persevere.

I don’t think Putin will back down and they have really not seen the worst. There is some artillery action but once they’ve surrounded a city and really start a concerted artillery barrage civilians casualties will really mount. And the mutual hatred will grow.

[Escurumbele]

5. I don't know how complicated it is, but the World needs to do something to stop the madness

I can't get through my head how the World is watching this movie, and allowing it to go on, Putin should have been stopped before he ventured to start this invasion, everyone in power knew this was coming.

I can't even watch the news anymore, my heart shrinks and I just want to cry, and I never cry...this is awful, I see the World doing so little to stop it.

[Escurumbele]

4. I am so sick about the World sitting by while a criminal commits crimes against a peaceful

democratic country just because they are afraid of WWIII.

My take is that when Putin decides he is OK with WWIII we will have WWIII, and I feel that is going to happen no matter what. He should have been stopped on his tracks when he started moving his troops to the border. I fear that something like Hiroshima will be needed to stop Putin, I really hope that I am wrong because that means we will also be hurt, and innocent Russians who have nothing to do with Putin's whims will also pay a very heavy price. The best result would be for Russian military with a conscience to remove Putin from power.

In my opinion there were two clear options:

1. Make Ukraine a NATO member, that should have happened months ago.
2. Send thousands of troops into Ukraine from the USA and NATO countries which should have also happened months ago with the pretext of military exercises, either of those would have stopped Putin, and if not, Ukraine at least would be in a better place to fight them.

It is like a show where the world is just sitting and watching while the Russian thugs do whatever they want, and anyone who has read Russian history will know that Russians are very violent and very cruel.

[Delphinus]

6. I hear you.

You've stated my fears very well.

[Lonestarblue]

8. Putin uses his threat of nuclear weapons on the West over and over.

It has always worked. I’m certainly no expert on whether he is likely to use nukes, but at what point does the West call his bluff? How many people must die first? How many cities must be destroyed first? In reality, the world is not safe with Putin in power. He has instigated frequent wars and gotten away with that. He conducts cyber war constantly. He sets up hackers to sow disinformation and discord in many countries, causing some terrible results, including Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. And if he takes Ukraine, he will continue his push to create Imperial Russia and we will be in this same situation for years to come.

I believe it is time for NATO to act. They should declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine and inform Putin that it is in direct response to the war crimes his army is committing every day; specifically, using cluster bombs that indiscriminately kill civilians, deliberately targeting civilian ares with apartments, hospitals, and schools, and violating ceasefire agreements guaranteeing safe passage for refugees by deliberately firing missiles at those routes. NATO is not declaring war on Russia. It would be declaring protection for civilians. Of course, Putin would not see it that way, but our current choices seem equally bad: allow Putin to continue murdering Ukrainians or take an action like establishing a no-fly zone that could lead to war. War doesn’t necessarily mean boots on the ground. NATO has a lot of air power that could turn the tide against Russia.

There are certainly arguments for both actions, but waiting for sanctions to work really creates an image of a West that is afraid to take action against Putin. Is that the message Western leaders want to convey?

[oldsoftie]

11. Its worth the risk that he WOULD use a nuke?

Nukes kinda tie your hands in situations like this. I want to send a few squadrons of aircraft over there and blow the shit out of the Russian forces on the ground. But am I also accepting that Putin may launch nukes at us? Or NATO countries?

I think, HOPE, that if the UKR reports of Russian dead are correct or close to it & that rate continues, he'll be FORCED to pull back because he'll eventually lose defensive capabilities in UKR & even in Russia. And I would also HOPE that his closest "advisors" would explain to him what the long term impact will be. If the UKR forces are really putting down Russians at the rate they say, then Putin is going to have to deal with 20-30 THOUSAND dead by the next 45 days. Would he be able to ignore that?

[CTyankee]

7. TFG betrayed this child. He is responsible for this leniency for the Russians.

I am not in any mood to hear any repuke right now. My Trumpy neighbor has been silent on Facebook lately. He must be miserable since Russia Today shut down his daily supply of propaganda.

[KS Toronado]

9. "had been posing as a villager"

Should be shot for being a spy

[dhol82]

12. Damn, the story about the soldiers going berserk reminds me of how my grandmother died

My mother’s family lived in a small village on the road to Leningrad in the winter of 1941. When the nazis came they just ran roughshod over all the inhabitants. There was an influenza epidemic and they allowed no medical care. Not the same as shooting her but just as effective.

[dchill]

13. And Tucker wants to know: "Why do I hate Putin do much?"

Really?