Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, 2022, is the largest war in Europe since WWII.

It was preceded by other armed conflicts in which Russia was openly engaged. The past crimes that have remained unpunished spawned new ones; Russian military commanders Igor Strelkov and Sergey Surovikin broke into Ukraine bringing their experience of three decades of violence. Ruins of Mariupol are echoed by the ruins of Aleppo and Grozny. The massacres of Chechen civilians in Samashki and Novye Aldy went unpunished, which entailed the mass murder of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha. People in occupied Mariupol were forced into “filtration camps” built according to the “filtration system” once used in Chechnya.

Long-lasting peace is unattainable without memory and justice.