War in our time: The Russo-Ukrainian conflict how do we respond?

In movies and historical documentaries, there are no good or bad sides to war. While the prospects of war seem tragic and gloomy for all participants involved, war presents the bystanders, the spectating counties, and the rest of the world, with a moral mirror. One that compels us to take a deep reflection and choose what side of truth and justice we align with.

That is in the fictional realm of cinema, but the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine is no fantasy. It is ongoing at this very minute. Early this February, Russian president, Vladimir Puttin declared war upon his neighbouring state Ukraine after it declined the warning to withdraw from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). What initially seemed to be a mere attempt at political coercion, has resulted in multiple airstrikes into Ukrainian soil that has seen 137 dead and 316 injured as of Thursday. The Russian troops have advanced to seize the now-defunct, Soviet-built Chernobyl nuclear power station, the site of the world’s worst atomic energy disaster, and the surrounding exclusion zone, as well as the capture of KYIV’s major airport.

But Ukraine is a sovereign nation, why must it be bullied by Russia?

Mr Putin regards Ukraine and Russia as indivisible, “one people, a single whole,” and considers its chummier integration with the West and its will to join NATO, with deep suspicion and treachery.

While various versions of the fact of this political dilemma are widespread across news headlines, this article is not about what side is right or wrong, or what country should bow to another. It is about the rest of the world, the individuals, and other states putting their interests and the interests of their allies first.

Quoting Dr Martin Luther King; “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". If the unbiased truth is allowed to thrive, where the first wrong was committed will be identified and must be corrected, without leading to any more casualty.

Martin Niemöller, an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hilter in the post-war era said; First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

For great power nations sitting on the fence, third world countries still struggling with corruption, insecurity, and other peculiar crises, how do they respond to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war that might be the catalyst for a more unpredictable series of results. The sane response may be indifference; However, even negligence is a response; one presumably the best, until it reaches us.