The world is facing a period of unprecedented danger. At the end of January, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward. They are now set to 90 seconds to midnight – the closest to global catastrophe the world has ever been. The main, but not the only reason is the war in Ukraine.
Early in the course of the war Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg asserted ‘we must prepare for the fact that it could take years’. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned last August, the world had entered ‘a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War’.
Despite many warnings that the war could provoke nuclear confrontation, President Biden and Prime Minister Sunak are still calling for escalation. Encouraged by this, in December President Zelensky called on Nato allies for 500 more tanks; in January he appealed for some of the latest fighter jets.
Ukraine is a war fought on two fronts – the invasion of Russia and resistance of Ukraine; and a proxy war between the US-Nato and Russia. Sadly, Ukrainians are the all-round losers. One year on, the statistics tell the story.
According to UNHCR sources:
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- over 8,000 civilians are recorded dead and almost 13,500 more injured – the actual figures are considered to be much higher
- approximately 8 million Ukrainians are internally displaced
- another 8m have crossed Ukraine’s borders, including 2.8m to Russia and 1.6m to Poland, and
- nearly 18 million Ukrainians are ‘in dire need’ of humanitarian assistance.
