Nobel Prize Winner: Ukraine Must Be Able to Defend Itself | Opinion
As a human rights lawyer, I have used my knowledge of the law to defend civilians and human dignity for many years. Unfortunately, the law alone is not enough to prevent Russia from committing atrocities against innocent Ukrainian civilians. We need to be able to defend ourselves.
Russian troops have no regard for international law or human rights. They are deliberately carrying out war crimes against the people of Ukraine. They are shelling residences, schools, churches and hospitals. They are attacking evacuation corridors. They are torturing people. They are abducting Ukrainian children. They are robbing, raping, and killing Ukrainian civilians. Our international system of peace and security has not stopped it.
It takes only 42 seconds for rockets to hit our schools, homes, and churches in Kharkiv from their launch points inside Russia. More often than not, civilians don’t have enough time to reach a bomb shelter. Since their invasion, Russian troops have inflicted a constant stream of atrocities aimed at breaking the spirit of the Ukrainian people. At the beginning of this month, a Russian missile targeted a beautiful family of five, leaving only the father behind to mourn his wife and three young daughters. This summer, the day before the NATO summit began, Russia targeted Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital with a missile attack. Dozens of children battling life-threatening diseases were forced to evacuate and were unable to receive the care they desperately need.