To the Editor of New York Times:
“Ukrainian Forces Used Cluster Bombs, Evidence Indicates” (news article, Oct. 21) raised serious accusations against Ukrainian defense forces. They deserve the deepest investigation — for which Ukraine is not only open, but also eager to participate.
Every civilian death in this war is a tragedy for Ukraine that makes further reconciliation and reconstruction even more difficult. It raises the degree of hate — and plays into the hands of those who want to split the country. Ukraine doesn’t want that, so it will resist both the indiscriminate violence and the attempts to mar Ukraine’s name in the eyes of the world and its own citizens.
Not all things in the world can be explained by the Latin principle “cui prodest” (“who derives the profit”). But surely Ukraine is the last party that would be interested in making the local population hate the central government in Kiev.
Your accusation that the Ukrainian Army used cluster bombs wasn’t reconfirmed by Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observers. Every war is not only a tragedy, but also a flurry of contradicting testimonies. That said, we are ready to sit together with international specialists and analyze each particular case, without bias or ideological zeal.
From the very beginning this was a war that was brought to Ukraine and is being fomented from outside. It feeds on hate. And the hate feeds on propaganda — like the unthinkable notion of Ukraine’s “punitive war against its own citizens.”
It is a sincere desire of Ukrainians to stop the war and start a dialogue.
NYT,