The people of Ukraine and the people of Russia

The Ukraine people are in a quagmire! The Russian people are in a quagmire! The EU is in a quagmire! The world at large is in a quagmire! All because of man's insanity and failure to negotiate and reason for peace but rather decided to allow the massacre of thousands of innocent civilians to resolve issues. For most people, "who is to blame and why” is a questionable subject where truth is often lost in the translation; the Ukrainian-Russian conflict is one of them! If sanity prevailed, it could have been avoided but it was not meant to be! The notion that "freedom” needs blood to sprout is hogwash. Each day passing, millions of people are glued to their television screens watching the ugly theatre of war atrocities unfolding in front of their eyes. Common sense by the EU and superpowers seems non-existent in the very heart of Europe. Instead, they use all sorts of spin and fake news to win over support for their own political agendas with plenty of cash for arms to sustain a bloody but doomed war.The real truth is nowhere to be found! Yet, deep in the ashes of despair there exists a sliver of hope — being the last casualty of war — in which sanity may prevail to end the bombardment and killing spree of the innocent. Meanwhile, the sight of hundreds of women and children on the move trying to escape death and devastation is heart breaking. Among the wandering crowds, the sick and the old make up mile-long trails of people trekking in bitterly cold conditions to escape the horrors of man's stupidity. The Ukrainian-Russian conflict is inexcusable but also shameful for the EU institution that utterly failed to prevent the start of such a crime in the heart of Europe. The EU Commission has chosen passiveness rather than take leadership to mediate and avoid the tragedy.While all males are enlisted to fight the Russian army, millions of refugees and displaced persons-mostly women, the old and children-roam across the land to reach safety into neighbouring countries! The UN reported there are more 3.5 million refugees seeking refuge out of Ukraine as well as over 10 million displaced persons in their own country. That's insanity! Hanging on to power by a regime in a ruined country paved with graves offers no consolation for those Ukrainian families mourning their dead! The idea of martyrdom for "country and glory” remains a myth of the past and has no place in a sane democratic society where peace and negotiated solutions provide higher rewards than the brutality of war.Double standards The Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg keeps on raising the stakes with his animated threats and warnings of a World War III at every given opportunity. Meanwhile, the USA, EU and UK have unilaterally imposed punitive sanctions on Russia and oligarchs including Putin himself. There are also considerations that Putin and Russian government officials be prosecuted for "crimes against humanity” at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Such moves, display the hallmarks of classic political hypocrisy! Under those same terms one can equally argue that: Turkey should be prosecuted for "crimes against humanity” committed during its 1974 invasion and occupation of Cyprus using illegal napalm bomb and killing over 6,500 Greek Cypriots; the United States also should be prosecuted for war crimes committed in Vietnam using Agent Orange chemical warfare, and its role in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and other countries! In disrespect for human lives, thousands of civilians were killed and justified as "collateral damage”. Regardless of which media or side a person listens to, one gets a different view of the real reasons behind the blame games of the war atrocities. Without any transparency, misinformation is tactfully applied to mislead but also to justify government decisions for ulterior motives. On April 13, 2014 for example, the Ukrainian government issued a decree authorising the creation of civilian "voluntary paramilitary units” for up to 12,000 people. Ukraine is probably the only nation to have a Neo-Nazi friendly regiment in its armed forces. Such unconventional policy raises eyebrows of ulterior motives and as to why so?Subsequently, the far-right extremist, neo-Nazi nationalist group The Azov* Order-created on May 2014 in Mariupol-joined forces with the Ukrainian Armed Forces and on June 2014 systematically attacked Russian pro-separatists in the south eastern region of Ukraine. As a result of atrocities committed, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in March 2016, linked the Azov* Regiment for "war crimes, mass looting, rapes and the illegal detention and torture of people”. Those attacks continued for eight years and cemented the prelude to the present bombardment of Ukraine. Watching the daily destruction of cities and war carnage, including the psychological trauma suffered by millions of people, is unforgivable, to say the least! Human Trafficking