One year on the horror continues

It is an anniversary that brings back memories of how horrors of a conflict cannot be easily erased because foolishness continues for one reason or another. When the tragedy was started on February 24, 2022, President Vladimir Putin believed that the world would be taken in by his patently bogus “Special Military Operation” to rid Ukraine of nazis and thugs; and worse, Putin who thought that his tanks could simply roll in and out. Even in his wildest dreams could the Russian leader have imagined the kind of fierce resistance that the armed forces and people of Ukraine have displayed.

The full fledged military operation has had terrific costs, not just for Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the United States but also the rest of the international community who have had to bear the brunt even if sitting haplessly on the sidelines by way of poor global economic growth and food grains supplies menacingly taking a hit. Moscow still has not given the impression that western sanctions are hurting; and western taxpayers—especially American—having to fork out that extra Euro or dollar to fund the war efforts of Ukraine. No one is sure of the costs but one estimate is that the United States’ tab alone could be in the neighborhood of US$ 50 billions and climbing.