The Costs of War

by Stephen Lendman

The human cost already is significant.

According to Russia's Defense Ministry on Wednesday, 498 Russian forces will killed, nearly 1,600 others wounded from fighting since last week.

The toll on Ukrainian troops is much higher.

Including its Nazified battalions and extremist paramilitaries, at least 2,870 combatants were killed.

Another 3,700 were wounded.

Nearly 600 surrendered.

The toll in Donbass is significant.

According to the Donetsk News Agency, Ukrainian forces shelled the republic with rockets and missiles 740 times in the past two weeks.

Over this timeframe, "473 residential houses and 185 civilian infrastructural facilities sustained damage, including nine medical facilities, 16 educational institutions, 11 objects of social assistance, 11 vital infrastructure facilities, electricity, water and gas supplying facilities, 81 vehicles have been damaged."

Over two dozen DPR civilians were killed, scores more wounded — including women, children and the elderly.

Much the same is happening in Lugansk.

None of the above is reported in the West from official sources or MSM press agents about millions of Donbass residents considered non-people.

By US/Western standards, killing, brutalizing or otherwise harming people free from their control is OK, according to Washington's "rules-based order" — what flagrantly breaches the UN Charter and other international law.

Aggressor casualties from legitimate self-defense retaliation are considered crimes of war and against humanity.

At this time, DPR and LPR freedom fighters continue to liberate territory in their republics from the scourge of occupation by Kiev's Nazified battalions.

As of March 3, 40 LPR townships were liberated. The DPR reported similar progress.

According to thesaker.is, Kiev's air force, navy, "long range, standoff capabilities (and) air defenses are gone."

Two-thirds or more of Ukrainian forces — including its Nazified battalions are "surrounded and condemned" to defeat.

Demilitarizing Ukraine is mostly accomplished.

As more US/NATO weapons pour in, Russian forces will target and destroy them.

Russia's military controls Ukraine's airspace and coastal waters.

At its discretion, it can block or destroy weapons deliveries to Ukrainian forces as part of its demilitarization campaign. 

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko stressed the danger, saying:

"We are extremely concerned about those arms delivery programs" to Ukraine.

"Everything in this situation is very dangerous."

"There are no guarantees that there will be no incidents" with NATO regimes.

The risk of things "escalat(ing) in an unnecessary way" is understood by both sides.

Grushko added that Moscow warned the West in vain that the menace posed by Nazified Ukraine would "explode sooner or later" if its war on Donbass along Russia's border wasn't diplomatically ended.

At the same time, neither Russia or the West seeks greater war than already.

While direct East/West clashes have been avoided so far, the risk of pushing things this far by accident or design by US-dominated NATO is ominously too high for comfort.

When wars begin, they take on a life of their own.

Russia is committed to smashing Kiev's war-making machine — a US/NATO/hostile to its security proxy force along its borders.

NeNazifying the country is the other major objective.

No nation knows the scourge of Nazism more acutely than Russia.

The Great Patriotic War was the bloodiest in its history.

Tens of millions died. Countless millions more suffered horrifically.

Never again reflects core Russian policy. DeNazifying Ukraine is pursued with this aim in mind.

The costs of war since last week include soaring prices of oil, gas, other commodities, and transportation costs.

The latter is affected by high energy prices, as well as from closure of European airspace to Russian aircraft, its airspace closed to the West.

High inflation is certain to go higher, ordinary people to be hardest hit in Russia, throughout the West and elsewhere.

Separately, talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations were delayed from Wednesday to Thursday.

After both sides agreed to hold them in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha region of Belarus near Poland's border, a Kiev statement said they'll be held elsewhere.

US-installed puppet Zelensky  delayed them twice — as ordered by the Biden regime.

Russian officials have been in Belovezhskaya Pushcha since Tuesday, awaiting the arrival of their Ukrainian counterparts who failed to show up.

The objectives of sides are worlds apart.

Talks if continued are unlikely to resolve differences unless the toll of war on Ukraine forces the regime to accept Moscow's legitimate demands.

A Final Comment

On Wednesday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the following:

"You have seen that and what I can predict is that the next initiative will be one aimed at excluding Russia from the UN." 

"Based on Article 6 of the UN Charter, they are planning to start in the coming weeks a debate on excluding Russia from the UN."

The Article states the following:

"A Member of the United Nations who has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council."

Russia and China have veto power to block the above action if pursued.

Excluding a major nation from the world body would risk pushing things closer to greater war than already.