War against Ukraine: human rights activists fear starvation

Russia bombed infrastructure in Ukraine. As a result, parts of Kiev have no electricity for hours at a time, and other regions are threatened as well. Human rights activists are warning of a catastrophic famine.

Human rights activists fear that many people in Ukraine could starve – because of Russia’s constant rocket attacks on the infrastructure. “As soon as temperatures drop below zero, many people will die if help is not forthcoming,” said the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) in Frankfurt.

“Putin accepts the starvation of many Ukrainians”

The historical experiences of Ukrainians include the brutal killing by starvation (“Holodomor”) carried out by the former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin (1878-1953), which cruelly cost the lives of several million Ukrainians in the 1930s. By deliberately aggravating a famine, Stalin wanted to force the peasants to bow to his forced collectivization policy – i.e. to give up their independence and join together in state-controlled collectives.

Now Russian President Vladimir Putin is about to “again accept the starvation of many Ukrainians,” according to the human rights organization, which claims to have humanitarian aid bases in a nationwide network in Ukraine. The massive destruction of infrastructure by the attacks by the Russian army would have dramatic consequences.

Few hours of electricity per day in Kyiv

In the capital Kyiv, there is currently only four hours of electricity a day. The situation is also dramatic in rural areas. National and international aid organizations would not be able to communicate with their bases without electricity, and they all lack generators and satellite-based mobile phones. The IGFM appeals to all people in Germany who are not urgently dependent on the energy flat rate paid out by the federal government to “donate this subsidy in part or in full to organizations that provide humanitarian aid in the Ukraine”.

Massive power cuts were again announced for today in Kyiv. It will be worse than originally feared, the general director of the state utility Ukrenergo, Sergy Kowalenko, wrote on Facebook. According to international humanitarian law, “every possible measure” must actually be taken to protect the lives of civilians and basic infrastructure such as power plants or water supplies.

Selenskyj calls on compatriots to persevere

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on his compatriots to hold out in the face of Russian attacks on the power grid and other important infrastructure. “We have to get through this winter and be even stronger in the spring than we are now,” said Zelenskyj on Sunday in his nightly address to the nation. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko had previously warned of a blackout if Russia continued its attacks. Then it cannot be ruled out that electricity, water and heating in Kyiv will fail, Klitschko said on Ukrainian television.

“We’re doing everything to prevent that. But let’s be frank: our enemies are doing everything to ensure that this city is left without heating, without electricity, without water supply, in general that we all die.” Kyiv plans to set up around 1,000 warming rooms. It is questionable whether that would be enough for the current three million inhabitants.