Russia’s continuous targeting of children’s hospitals, maternity wards, civilian population centers, not to mention the firing upon of negotiated humanitarian evacuation corridors, are heinous atrocities that constitute war crimes committed against the Ukrainian nation. This inhuman siege, which has been repeated against cities, towns and villages throughout Ukraine, is a Genocide being actively committed against the Ukrainian people.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the umbrella organization that represents the interests of nearly 2 million Americans of Ukrainian descent, once again implores the United States and our NATO allies to provide with all due haste to Ukraine, the anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems that are urgently needed to protect the skies above innocent men, women, and children. These armaments could immediately begin defending civilian targets from Russian missiles attacks and airstrikes being launched from positions within Ukraine, from within the Russian Federation and from Russian warships in the Black Sea.
As Ukrainians continue to die day after day from Russian missiles, bombs and gunfire, we continue to hear that a “No Fly Zone” is too risky, that transferring fighter jets from Eastern European countries to Ukraine’s Air Force would be too dangerous. It is unacceptable to cling to the position that the world can’t do anything more to help Ukraine because it might instigate a hypothetical third World War, while at the same time we are all witnessing Ukraine fight a war.
Even so, Ukrainians will continue to stand on the front lines of democracy, defending all of Europe from Russia’s advancing tyranny. As President Zelenskyy of Ukraine himself quoted Winston Churchill in his address to the British House of Commons earlier this week:
