EUvsDisinfo

Happy Halloween, and don't be deceived!

Ukraine has not refused peace. It has refused to surrender its territory, sovereignty and security to the country that invaded it. Peace is a negotiated end to aggression, not a demand that the victim capitulate. Russia is attempting to portray the latter as the former.

Four years of Russian occupation brought Oleshky a humanitarian catastrophe. While Russia obstructed aid and evacuation efforts, Ukraine used heavy-lift drones to deliver food and medicine to residents. The Kremlin’s attempts to shift the blame onto Ukraine for the suffering caused by Russia’s own illegal occupation are as predictable as they are cynical.

Throughout its illegal invasion, Russia has damaged or destroyed at least 155 churches, more than 4,200 educational institutions, over 1,800 medical facilities across Ukraine, and an uncountable number of residential buildings.

What the Kremlin calls ‘gentleness’, international law recognises as war crimes.

On 1 November, Russia’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe’s Anti-Torture Convention took effect, ending independent international monitoring of its detention facilities.

Having repeatedly obstructed scrutiny, the Kremlin has now removed one of the few remaining safeguards against torture and ill-treatment in its prisons.