BY FR. SHAY CULLEN
AGAINST the pride and vicious intentions of Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s invasion, brave Ukrainians have sacrificed and fought and died with courage in large numbers, fighting for their homeland.
Putin will be remembered and brought to justice and condemned for this massacre of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians by the thousands and the wanton destruction of cities.
Even the bodies of thousands of Russian youth are left to rot on the battlefield by the uncaring Russian leader. Long-distance bombing is destroying all civilian buildings. This is their battle strategy and with the forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians to Russia, a war crime in itself, they think they can conquer Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian propaganda tells the Russian people stories of great success.
This war of aggression and occupation of a sovereign nation is a gross violation of the United Nations (UN) Charter and is morally reprehensible and illegal. The UN Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, said that the war, together with the COVID pandemic, the drought and floods, and higher temperatures of climate change, “threatens to tip tens of millions of people over the edge into food insecurity followed by malnutrition, mass hunger, and famine.”
Global food prices have risen 30 percent since the invasion of Ukraine began. The only immediate answer is to get the Ukrainian grain and cooking oil and Russian fertilizer out to the world market to prevent the onset of famine in the poorest, drought-racked nations in Africa and the Middle East. In parts of Africa, the animals and crops of the poor have died. Climate change is destroying once fertile lands.
In Asia, the fruit harvest like mangos in Pakistan and India has dropped by 70 percent this year. In the Philippines, the harvest of natural organic (unsprayed with potassium nitrate) mango trees have failed in the past three years and this year only a small crop was harvested due to climate change and global warming.
The war in Ukraine is causing inflation. In the Philippines, the economy is reeling with the price of food increasing, electricity, fuel and transport. This is hurting the workers. Diesel alone is up due to the war and the European Union oil embargo on Russian oil. In Eastern Visayas, inflation was higher, increasing the cost of food and essentials overall.
The only relief was seen for the world so far has been the release of 15 billion US dollars by the World Bank for projects addressing food insecurity. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, blamed the “war of choice” made by Putin to invade a sovereign nation and he told the media that there was now looming the “greatest global food security crisis of our time.”
We are back to massive increases in the cost of survival and living and all have to make changes in our lifestyle and turn to alternative food sources like planting backyard gardens with vegetables. harvesting fallen branches for fuel, and using powerful solar flashlights or small solar panels to cut electricity bills.
The war in Ukraine will not be over for about two years because the world democracies cannot abandon Ukraine to the aggression of the Kremlin. If Putin wins in Ukraine, he will surely attack other former Soviet-era nations like Latvia and Estonia and start another European, or even a world war, with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The crises will grow worse and we can expect hardship ahead with more belt-tightening. Self-reliance and strong global sharing of resources with the poorest nations is what are needed. (preda.org)/PN
