LONDON: By authorising the atrocity on Okhmatdyt with its devastating results, Putin vividly illustrated the need for NATO to provide Ukraine with more air-defence systems to protect its infrastructure.
If ever there was a reason why a country such as Ukraine should join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, it happened in its capital, Kyiv, last week.
Doctors and nurses were going about their daily business looking after sick children in Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, when it was hit by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. Lesia Lysytsia, a doctor at the hospital, Ukraine’s biggest paediatric facility, told the BBC that the moment the missile struck had been ‘‘like a film’’, with a ‘‘big light then an awful sound”. One part of the hospital was destroyed and there was a fire in another. “It’s really very damaged, maybe 60-70 percent of the buildings’’, she said.
The horrific scenes from the hospital, showing young children suffering from cancer and with IV drips, sitting outside the hospital surrounded by rubble, went viral around the world. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko, said that among those who died were doctors, adding that he feared more people, including children, were trapped under the remains of the hospital.
Eight children were among about 50 people wounded by the attack on the hospital.
The incident happened at an awkward time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on an official visit to Russia at the time. Modi’s televised comments were highly significant and to the point. ‘‘Whether it is war, conflict or a terrorist attack’’, he told President Putin, ‘‘any person who believes in humanity is pained when there is loss of lives.
But even in that, when innocent children are killed, the heart bleeds and that pain is very terrifying’’. These carefully chosen and emotive words by a respected politician were striking, as Putin has rarely been publicly criticised face-to-face over the war in Ukraine by the leader of a country, especially by one who frequently describes Russia as India’s most trusted and dependable friend.
Okhmatdyt Children’s hospital was one of three separate Ukrainian medical facilities to be struck by Russian missiles on 8 July. One such attack could potentially be attributed to human error or explained as a tragic mistake. Three targeted attacks on the same day, however, suggests a deliberate Russian strategy to destroy Ukraine’s healthcare infrastructure, just as the Kremlin has already targeted and destroyed much of Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure.
The organisation Physicians for Human Rights has documented at least 1442 attacks on Ukrainian health care facilities, workers and other medical infrastructure by Russia since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
These include 79 attacks on children’s health care centres, 54 of which destroyed or damaged children’s hospitals. In an attempt to distance itself from the horrendous scenes, the Kremlin denied any such missile attack, claiming without evidence that the Ukrainians did it themselves as a result of anti-air missile malfunctions. Other than the Kremlin’s ‘‘useful idiots’’, no-one believes this bizarre version of events.
The sickening scenes of devastation at the hospital were, however, not all bad news for Ukraine. At the time, President Zelenskyy was a guest of honour at NATO’s 3-day summit in Washington. This marked the 75th anniversary of NATO’s foundation, the ‘‘most successful alliance in history’’, according to its outgoing Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg. Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine was top of the agenda, and a declaration agreed by all 32 members said Russia ‘‘remains the most significant and direct threat to security’’.
By authorising the atrocity on Okhmatdyt with its devastating results, Putin vividly illustrated the need for NATO to provide Ukraine with more air-defence systems to protect its infrastructure.
This was promised by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also confirmed US-built F-16 fighter jets are in the process of being transferred to Ukraine this summer and will be the first time Ukraine will receive the advanced aircraft. Something Kyiv has long requested.
Then there’s the question of Ukraine’s membership of NATO. Everyone agrees that had Ukraine been a member of NATO before February 2022, Putin would not have given the order for the full-scale invasion, knowing that Article 5 of the treaty would have been invoked – an attack on one member is an attack on all.
Russia cannot win an all-out war against NATO. The ongoing invasion was high on the agenda as NATO leaders gathered in Washington last week. While they issued a declaration that Ukraine’s path to membership is “inevitable” and ‘‘irreversible’’, they once again stopped short of officially inviting the country to join the alliance.
In fact there appeared to be deep divisions on the issue. Objections centred on the potential for a further dangerous escalation of the current confrontation with the Kremlin.
Those opposed to Ukraine’s request argued that by inviting Ukraine to join, NATO could soon find itself at war with Russia. The many supporters of Ukrainian membership, however, believe that keeping the country in geopolitical limbo is a mistake, only serving to embolden Moscow and prolong the war.
On this point the supporters are correct. Ukraine’s membership of NATO would end Putin’s dream of restoring the former Russian empire and force the Kremlin to rethink its role in the wider world.
It would also strengthen the alliance. For more than two years, Ukrainian troops have defied expectations and successfully resisted the Russian military, which before the invasion was widely regarded as the world’s second most powerful army.
As a member of NATO, Ukraine would bolster Europe’s security, contributing to its unique combat experience and knowledge of the most advanced battlefield technologies.
A further argument in favour is that Ukraine’s membership might help deter Russia from engaging in aggression or malign actions in other parts of Europe, and confirm the counter-productivity nature of Russia’s revisionist agenda.
When historians look back on Putin’s irrational decision to invade its neighbour, they most likely will emphasise its counterproductive outcome. Far from limiting or even reducing NATO’s border with Russia, Putin’s great achievement is that he has actually doubled it. Before the war, Helsinki had no intention of joining NATO.
However, fearing that a triumphant Moscow would set its sights on Finland, just as it did in November 1939 when it snatched 11 percent of the country, Helsinki applied to join the defensive alliance, becoming a full member on 4 April 2023.
Sweden’s last war ended in 1814, and when its rifles and cannons aimed at Norway fell silent, the once-warring power would not take up arms again.
For the next two centuries, Sweden embraced a policy of neutrality, refusing to take sides in wars or join any military alliance. Fear of Putin changed all that practically overnight, and in March this year, Sweden joined NATO.
Vladimir Putin’s problem is that he is paranoid about NATO. His experience of the Warsaw Pact, put together by force by his hero Joseph Stalin after WWII, has led him to believe that NATO is some form of monster, gradually creeping towards Russia to gobble it up. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The myth of NATO being a danger to Russia is absurd, as NATO does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Moscow.
It is only a danger to the Kremlin’s expansionist policies.
The other myth promoted by Moscow is that NATO consistently wants to expand. Again, this is not true, as NATO doesn’t expand by itself. It is a voluntary, defensive organisation, and countries only apply to join it when they feel under threat, as in the case of Finland and Sweden.
The alliance only expands when new members successfully and voluntarily join. When the Soviet Union collapsed, an event described by Putin as ‘‘the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century’’, the Warsaw Pact was dissolved and there was even the idea that NATO wasn’t needed any more. No threat – no need.
Notably, in 2000 Russia’s new president, Vladimir Putin, even discussed the possibility of Russia joining NATO, but did not wish to go through the usual application process!
Today, 75 years after its foundation in response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union, NATO’s membership has increased from 12 to 32 countries through 10 rounds of enlargement. As well as Ukraine, two other states have formally informed NATO of their membership aspirations, and 6 others have joining in mind.
To quote from President Biden’s closing speech last week, ‘‘NATO over the years has become stronger and more united than ever’’.
Perhaps he should have added ‘‘all thanks to Vladimir Putin!”
John Dobson is a former British diplomat, who also worked in UK Prime Minister John Major’s office between 1995 and 1998. He is currently a visiting fellow at the University of Plymouth.