By Kathy Hughes
Contributing Writer
The brutal siege of Leningrad by the Nazis during WWII lasted over 800 days, during which one million Russian civilians starved to death. Today, Leningrad is the city of St. Petersburg, but the horrors of the memory are forever etched in the memory of the Russian people.
Perhaps the lone exception among the Russian people, Vladimir Putin seems to stand unmoved by the suffering caused by what was a merciless policy of starvation and bombing inflicted over 800 days. Descriptions of desperate, starving people eating their pets and bodies lying in the streets seem not to have affected Vladimir Putin, even though his relatives, including an infant brother are known to have died in the siege.
German leaders have since apologized for the unrelenting punishment inflicted by the siege. Yet, today, the Russian leader shows no shame in repeating this terror on residents of Aleppo, Syria, whose women and children pose no threat to Russia, at all. How can he, how dare he, participate in slaughtering civilians who are defenseless against aircraft who seem to have the sole aim of destroying Aleppo to the ground?
Still, Mr. Putin continues to lie and posture about exterminating innocent people by denying them food, water and vital medical supplies. He knows it is improbable that he will ever be held to account in acting as henchman and assassin upon these distant victims.
One observer has stated that the world is involved in a third world war with five or more nations engaged in fighting. The alliances are complex, and so far this “war” is a stalemate. The Syrian leader, Assad, has declared he will fight to regain control of what was Syrian territory, evidently even if it means laying waste to the land, and extermination of the people; this policy is as evil as it is senseless.
