War in Ukraine: “Russia cannot accept that it has failed in the Donbas, in the south of the country, anywhere”

Ukraine wants a special international court “to find out who is responsible for the massacres” and for the operation mounted by Russia to intimidate their country and civilians. Not only to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ministers, but also the “military officers and soldiers”, who conducted the worst massacre during the Russian invasion. The nuclear threat is to scare European countries from cooperating with the Ukrainian government.

the speaker is the doctor Sergei Petukhov, the former Minister of Justice of Ukraine and professor of international law, graduated from Cambridge University and was born in Donetsk on October 27, 1984.

In 2016 he was appointed national coordinator for cooperation with NATO in the legal field. From kyiv, he spoke Clarion to discuss how massacres and human rights violations should be investigated and how to assess the threat of a Russian nuclear bomb, which it seeks to intimidate its European neighbors and allies.

-When Russia threatens World War III, do you think it aims to intimidate or paralyze with fear the allies who provide heavy weapons to Ukraine?

-For us, the Ukrainians have not changed because we are already at war with Russia, third month already. But these threats are important for European countries, especially to scare them from helping Ukraine economically and militarily in this war. That’s the whole threat about World War III and about nuclear weapons. Russia is using that to intimidate people around the world, because they cannot win this war on Ukrainian soil. They cannot accept that they have failed in the Donbas, in the south of the country, anywhere.

“(The Russians) have failed in the Donbas, in the south of the country, anywhere.”

Sergey Petukhov

An insult to the UN

-When I was just Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary -General. in Kyiv, Russia launches cruise missiles Y a journalist died. Does he also intend to be afraid of this attack? What is hidden behind such action?

-In reality, that is an insult against the United Nations. And the Russians are trying to show that they have no respect for the United Nations, or Antonio Guterres. And in reality they will not respect either the adjustments of international law or their obligation to keep the peace that they have as the founders of the United Nations Charter. That’s an insult.

-Do you think the attacks in kyiv will continue?

-We haven’t seen any attacks in kyiv in over a month. That was particularly the case when Antonio Gutiérrez was in kyiv. It’s hard to say why they continue to attack infrastructures and residential neighborhoods across the country. They can and will continue to. But as time goes on, we are gaining stronger protection against Russia’s missiles and most of them are unsuccessful.

“We will win the war”

-President Zelensky said that Ukraine will win the war. Because it says so? What is the advantage of Ukraine over Russia today?

-The advantage we have is that we protect our country and the entire population is fighting the Russians, not just the Ukrainian army. We all contribute to our armed forces, women too.

The Russians only have their armed forces and no one in Russia wants to participate in this war, they are just going to make money because in many parts of Russia the population is very poor. It’s hard to imagine, but the people there will die to support their families. We are not fighting for money, we are fighting for our future. And all of us, men, women, soldiers, civilians, we are together to protect ourselves and we have great support from all over the free world. That’s why I think the president said we were going to win. Because for us it is a matter of salvation.

the nuclear threat

-What fears does Ukraine have about how Vladimir Putin will behave? Especially if the Eastern offensive is as difficult as going to kyiv, which seems to be happening, isn’t it?

– No one knows what’s going on in Vladimir Putin’s head. But I think he will tell his population, the Russians, that they have already won. They will sell what they have as a victory and be able to regroup their military because they no longer have enough people and equipment to replace the destroyed equipment. And so they need more time to reunite and continue this war. Otherwise, their entire army will be lost. That’s why I think, at some point, he’ll say they’ve won. He can do this because he controls all the media in Russia and he can continue his propaganda and he will buy time to regroup his armed forces.

“And if the Russians can no longer use their conventional forces, as you described, they no longer have tanks, they no longer have troops, the troops have no discipline, the tanks have sunk to the ground … Can you try to use a tactical nuclear weapons to hold a region crucial to its ambitions?

-It’s very hard to imagine. It is a very serious matter to use a nuclear weapon for no reason against the Ukrainian civilian population. I think the whole international community needs to make it clear to Russia that this is unacceptable. And I also can’t imagine how its population will cope. What is important for this not to happen is to remain steadfast against Putin and he understands that he will not win this war.

-Are there any countries more responsive than others in Europe? Are there differences between the positions of Great Britain and the United States and the rest of Europe? How do you see that?

-Of course we have more support from the United States and Great Britain. But also from countries in Eastern Europe, which Russia is well-known and has a history of wars against Russia, such as Poland, the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and other countries. The thing is that European countries are more economically dependent on Russia than Great Britain and the United States. That is why they continue to be absorbed by that dependency and need very important decisions to regroup their economy and change their economic strategy and diversify. Some European countries, such as Germany or Hungary, are a bit more cautious. But they support Ukraine and need little time to change their approach to Russia’s hopeful economy.

A special court for massacres?

-You are the former Ukrainian Minister of Justice. The massacres in the suburbs of kyiv have become heinous and executions continue to be found. Europe wants to create a special court for war crimes in Ukraine. Do you agree with a kind of court like Nuremberg? How do you think it should be?

-It is very important that war crimes and everything committed by Russia here in Ukraine be investigated by an independent court. We already know that the International Criminal Court, based in the Netherlands, has already begun their investigation into war crimes and other European countries are already investigating. That is why it does not matter if we establish a new court. What is important is that the people and the international community know the truth of what happened in Ukraine. And that people who have committed these crimes will be tried in criminal court. Because if we don’t investigate, the Russians will continue to commit these crimes elsewhere.

-Who are for you those to be judged? Leaders like Putin, the chancellor, the military?

-Of course Putin and the people around him, the military. But also the civilians who decided to attack Ukraine. Because there are crimes of aggression in international law and the crimes of war and genocide committed by your armed forces here in Ukraine. And the soldiers did it in the war. But so are their commanders, the military officers who control Russia’s armed forces. And to find out who is responsible, we need an investigation.

I can’t say right now who is personally responsible. I know that it is a Russian policy to intimidate the population. I also want to know who made those decisions. That is why we need a court.

Paris, correspondent

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