this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2026
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[–] huey_m@piefed.social 18 points 1 day ago (2 children)

War crimes are war crimes exactly because you don't want to open the can of worms exposing your own people to reprisals. That can was opened by Russia, and as reprisals go this is a very, very mild response that's clearly attempting to target infrastructure not people (and consumer infrastructure at that, not even things like power and water).

I think targeting consumer infrastructure in response to having your schools targeted is pretty damned reserved. We consider the abuse received by someone murdering their abuser in how we respond, I think even war crimes need to be considered in the context they're committed. I'd similarly say tortured POWs escaping and murdering their torturers should have that context considered when judging what if any punishment should be received.

I think it's hard to take a hard-line stance here against Ukraine when there's no real international response to stop war crimes being committed against them. I think if the UN or Europe was putting boots on the ground in response to Russian war crimes explicitly, you can better make the argument that there's a responsibility to let justice take its course... it's hard for me to say someone can't respond by, if we're being honest, a far more minor crime when on the receiving end of far, far more brutality.

I think there's a point where abstract morality conflicts with practical situation. And in a situation where there is no "police" enforcing the law, it isn't reasonable to say only one side must strictly adhere to it, likely at the cost of their survival, to have a moral high ground in death.