Geneva Convention, take it or leave it

But this is entirely false. The Kerch Bridge was a legitimate military target: universities, hospitals, playgrounds, pedestrian bridges, and critical civilian infrastructure such as energy supplies are not. Finally, the Kerch Bridge plays a crucial role in the illegal invasion of Ukraine, as the main route for transporting soldiers, military equipment, and supplies to the front lines in the south.

Moreover, the bridge was built illegally and without the consent of Ukraine, to whose territory Crimea belongs. None of this applies to the targets Russia targeted in Ukraine on Monday, some of them with Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea, which are considered comparatively accurate.

It is one of the most striking asymmetries in Moscow's war of conquest that the Ukrainian defenders continue to feel bound by the Geneva Conventions, while the Russian aggressors no longer even maintain the pretense of respecting international law.

For months, for example, Putin's propagandists have gone on television to call for systematic war crimes against Ukraine, and the Russian military has been willingly implementing much of it. But the truth is just the opposite: Russia has become a terrorist state and should be branded as such by Western countries.

An end to German excuses

The new, massive Russian attacks this week are also a stark reminder of how shameful it is that after nearly eight months of war, the West has still done almost nothing to help Ukraine protect major cities and critical infrastructure against Russian airstrikes. This is despite the fact that Russia's methods, which violate international law, have been there for all to see since the beginning of the war.

It is not an exaggeration when Ukrainians say that they are also dying for our interests.

What Ukraine needs now is an end to constant excuses, notably those from Germany. The West must quickly deliver modern Western air defense systems to Ukraine, because every day that Ukrainian cities remain insufficiently protected means even more civilians are killed.

The same is true of the war effort in the east. The faster Ukrainian troops retake occupied territories, the fewer Ukrainian civilians can be arbitrarily murdered, raped, or tortured by the occupiers. Because this is still a reality in the occupied territories: as we see new mass graves, torture cellars and rape victims found in every town liberated by the Ukrainians.

It is not an exaggeration when Ukrainians say that they are also dying for our interests. After all, if their country were to fall, the next targets of Russian neo-imperialism would be NATO partners such as the Baltics or Poland.

Language of strength

The least we should do, therefore, is to shorten Ukrainian suffering. To do so, we must give them better tools to liberate their country more quickly. This includes heavy Western weapon systems such as the Leopard-2 tank and missiles such as the ATACMS, which are launched from the Himars missile launchers and cover the entire Russian-occupied part of Ukraine with their 300-kilometer range.

It is also necessary to lift restrictions on weapons supplied from the West, because currently Ukrainians are not allowed to use them to attack military targets inside Russia. We are thus imposing shackles on the Ukrainians that further exacerbate the asymmetry in favor of Moscow in this war.

It is both unfair and counterproductive for Russia to be able to attack even critical civilian infrastructure in Ukraine with impunity, while Russian military installations on Russian territory supporting the invasion of Ukraine remain off-limits.

And yes, it is also important to show Russia that it is vulnerable on its own territory if it continues to systematically destroy the lives and livelihoods of the Ukrainian nation.

Putin understands only the language of strength. That is why we should respond to every new Russian terror campaign by supporting Ukraine even more resolutely in its struggle defend itself from the invaders.