A Ukrainian serviceman fires an NLAW anti-tank weapon during an exercise in the Joint Forces Operation. Photo / AP
A Ukrainian serviceman fires an NLAW anti-tank weapon during an exercise in the Joint Forces Operation. Photo / AP
OPINION
The international community's response to Ukraine's feisty president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's pleas for practical and tangible support to fight the Russian invasion has so far been limited.
Much of the world's retaliation against Russia has been political and economic: Brutal sanctions, severe restrictions and seizure of property from oligarchs.
USsupport for Ukraine has been financial and also short-range air defence systems, anti-aircraft weapons and drones.
The UK's response has been similar, with weapons and cash pledged.
These are all strong measures but, of course, Zelenskyy's request for feet-on-the-ground support has so far gone unanswered.
US Air Force provides pallets of ammunition, weapons and other equipment to Ukraine. Photo / AP
New Zealand's efforts to support Ukraine escalated this week with the Government announcing it will deploy a C-130H Hercules aircraft and 50 defence force personnel to Europe.
The announcement also reveals $13m of further support, including a contribution via the UK to procure weapons and ammunition.
This is a substantial contribution for a small country and other non-Nato countries should do the same.
The atrocities committed in this war continue, this week potentially reaching a new milestone after Russia was accused of using chemical weapons against Ukraine.
US president Joe Biden has already warned the use of such weapons would trigger a "severe" response and has referred to the invasion as a "genocide".
Such rhetoric is not a slip of the tongue. Biden means business and the urgency is real and acute because Ukrainian civilians are suffering.
News of these atrocities is competing with everything else happening in the world and it would be easy to start becoming numb to the hideous developments as they hit the news each day.
But we must not allow that to happen.
If chemical weapons have been deployed in this war then that raises the stakes yet again.
World leaders must decide quickly the best way to act against Russia, while also avoiding an escalation that could have catastrophic consequences on a wider scale.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be digging in, appointing general Alexander Dvornikov to lead the country's invasion. This man is reputed to have already ordered a brutal attack on a Ukraine railway station resulting in some 50 civilians dying.
US military analyst Harry Kazianis believes Dvornikov's appointment is a "dangerous sign" that Putin has no intention of giving up in Ukraine.
"Dvornikov is a smart tactician and strategist who will use siege warfare tactics just like they were used in Syria. My fear is that Dvornikov is under orders that if he can't take eastern Ukraine he will turn it into a giant Aleppo," Kazianis said, referring to Dvornikov's indiscriminate slaughter of civilians in the Syrian conflict.
Putin wanted a quick victory but six weeks in there seems to be no end in sight.
So, it is welcome that New Zealand is taking stronger action over Putin's hideous act. But one question puzzles me: Why is Russian Ambassador Georgii Zuev still in our country?
Western countries are booting out hundreds of Russian diplomats - more than 325 so far - in the wake of this bloody crime and it's time New Zealand did the same.
Italy, France, Germany and Spain and other countries took action against Russian diplomats two days after the killings of Ukrainian citizens in the town of Bucha near Kyiv - the bodies of 410 people were recovered in towns in the Kyiv area when Russian troops withdrew.
Zuev has declined to appear before select committees, or respond to requests by media, saying that would be "futile" - and that is, in my view, unacceptable.
MPs have been debating whether to order Zuev before Parliament for questioning.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has not ruled out expulsion in the future but she prefers to keep diplomatic channels open.
The Government should avoid this softly, softly approach. We must send a clear message to Russia that its actions are abhorrent.
Zuev should be expelled immediately and we must withdraw our ambassador and any diplomatic staff from Russia.
