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EESTI ELU reedel, 17. juunil 2022 — Friday, June 17, 2022
Nr. 24
English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publications Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca Digital: www.eestielu.ca
We know who’s to blame but who’s liable for the damages done to Ukraine Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common prac tice with a long history. Referred to as war re parations, they are compensa tion payments made after a war by one side to the other. They’re intended to cover damages or injury inflicted during a war. One can immediately ask who’s going to force Russia to pay for the destruction it’s inflicted on Ukraine, both physical and human. If the West has the necessary deter mination, Russia doesn’t have to be coaxed or pressured. G7 countries have wisely frozen the Russian central bank’s currency reserves within their respective jurisdictions. These funds in total are sub stantial, estimated to amount to approximately 400 billion dollars. With respective legis lation these funds can be confiscated and the delivery of reparations made entirely pos sible. Did Russia start the unpro voked war and cause the ensur ing devastation of Ukraine? The international community has overwhelmingly reached a ver dict in this. There is little dispute about who’s responsible for the war. On March 16, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, ruled by a vote of 13–2, with Russia and China dissenting, that Russia “shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on February 24”. Earlier in the month, the UN General Assembly demanded by an overwhelming majority, that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders”. Vladimir Putin and the Russian leadership have been widely designated as war crimi nals. In response, Putin has accused the US and the European Union on “defaulting on their obligations to Russia” by freezing its international currency reserves. Could this “offence” be equivalent to Russian aggression causing
thousands of deaths, war crimes and crimes against humanity? What could be the total amount of reparations owed by Russia? Already by mid-March the Ukrainian government stated it would take at least $575 (US currency) billion to rebuild that which Russia had destroyed in just three weeks. This did not include the 19th century archi tectural treasures that cannot be replaced. This covers only the physical infrastructure. Can we crassly put a price on deaths, injuries and per manent psychological damage? The US government has esti mated that every human loss be valued at nearly $10 million. If we lower this for Ukrainians to $5 million then the 10,000 losses by mid-March would total $50 million. Physical and emotional wounds cause a more devastat ing impact – conservatively estimated at another $50 million. It’s a cold-blooded way of calculating, but Russia, as the duly convicted party must be penalized and bear some of the actual costs in human losses and injuries, not only through remorse and shame. In less than a month, Putin’s forces caused an estimated $700 billion in damages. A dollar figure cannot reflect all of Ukraine’s losses. What calcu lation does one use to evaluate the trauma in children who no longer speak, have missed school and undergone no growth socially? How can the massive deterioration of the environment be totalled, the harm done by munitions that poison the water, land and air? Russia must not be allowed to escape from compensating Ukraine. For a full century Ukraine has suffered from losses, which Moscow has in flicted with impunity. At least 1 million died at the hands of the Red Army in 1918–1921 when Ukraine was fighting for its independence. At least 4 million perished, mainly from starvation, from Josef Stalin’s Holodomor campaign of the 1930s. In 1941 the Soviets killed 10,000 to 40,000 languishing in Ukrainian jails. Russia’s incompetent mili
Jõekääru has been one of the cornerstones of our community, has helped our youth over three generations now, to form friendships and relations that last a lifetime. These are the ties that keep our community alive. Therefore an ‘alumni’ reunion at Jõekääru occasionally helps to enliven this social infrastructure. June 11–12 was a weekend full of the same activities that participants experienced some years/decades ago – morning exercises, raising the flag, breakfast, working with leather, art, sports. folk-dancing, cooking and of course, shooting at the rifle range, all followed by a dinner party. Photo: Peeter Põldre
UCC statement on Global Affairs Canada officials joining celebrations with Russian war criminals The Ukrainian Canadian Con gress (UCC) issued the following statement in re sponse to a June 12 Globe and Mail article, Canadian representative attends Rus sian embassy party in Ottawa which reported the atten dance of an official from the Department of Global Affairs Canada at celebrations held at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa:
while they wait for delivery of weapons promised by allies. Ukraine is in desperate need of armoured vehicles, howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, am munition, tanks, drones and other materiel. The UCC again calls on Canada and allies to deliver these weapons into the hands of brave Ukrainian soldiers immediately. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and other international experts, Canada’s military aid and assis tance to Ukraine, proportionate to GDP, is far below that pro vided by the United States, the Baltic states, and other allies. As the Ukrainian people conti nue their courageous defence of liberty in Europe, the UCC calls on the Government of Canada to substantially increase mili tary aid to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Canada can and should do more.”
The Russian government is
committing genocide against the Ukrainian people. One does not break bread with war crimi nals. The only meaningful re sponse the Government of Canada can provide is to expel the Russian diplomatic mission from Canada. The UCC has long advocated for the expul sion of Russian diplomats, who represent a criminal, terrorist regime. Furthermore, Russia must be listed as a state sup porter of terrorism. These calls have gone un heeded and unanswered. The failure of our government to adequately respond to the threat Russia and its representatives in Canada pose has deleterious effects on the security of all Canadians. We call on the Government of Canada to take these steps immediately. The war wrought by Russia is now in the second, more deadly phase. Over 100 Ukrainian soldiers die each day
tary in 1940–1941 led to 3 million Ukrainian deaths at the hands of Hitler – during a war that Russia started in collusion with Nazi Germany by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. In the post-war era, when Nikita Khrushchev administered Ukraine, 3,000,000 Ukrainians died from a deliberate famine. Ukraine’s culture became the target for Russia’s intensive campaign of repression. It takes firm Western resolve to hand out justice when the invasion is halted. Fair com pensation for Ukraine is not unrealistic. As mentioned before,
Russia’s central bank currency reserves in G7 countries total approximately $400 billion. They have been frozen. Overall, there could be more than $1 trillion frozen by Western countries. Added to this is the $321 that Russia will earn from exporting oil this year – over a third more than in 2021. According to the Institute of International Finance, Russia will have a record $240 billion surplus generating an extra 8.5 trillion rubles ($103 billion) in its budget revenue. Although the West will likely commit its resources, it’s
simply wrong to expect the West to restore what Russia has destroyed. But for now, neither the Russian government nor most of its population will ad mit to any unjustified damages Russia has caused. They’ll most likely reject any war debt. And the destruction continues at full force. Finally, an inescapable di lemma – demanding justice through reparations will pro bably make Russia’s recogni tion of Ukraine’s independence and integrity unacceptable for the Kremlin. Is a compromise here feasible? Most likely not.
“That the Department of Global Affairs would see fit to attend celebrations organized by the genocidal Russian govern ment, while Ukraine pleads for more arms to defend itself from an unprovoked invasion, is deeply offensive to Ukrainian Canadians and an insult to the memory of the brave Ukrainian people, soldiers and civilians, who have been barbarically slaughtered by Russia’s armed forces in an unprovoked in vasion of their country.
IHOR MICHALCHYSHYN, UCC CEO and Executive Director
LAAS LEIVAT
