Russia should be held responsible as a state, not at the level of individual actors – expert

What is a sufficient and symmetrical response to Russian terror?

We spoke on this topic with Olha Ayvazovska, an expert on election legislation and political processes and the head of the board of the “Opora” Civic Network.

Olha Ayvazovska: Ukraine’s revenge should be cold. At most, it must meet certain international standards and rules so that Ukraine does not turn into such a monster as the Russian Federation. After the publicly filmed shelling and torture, Ukraine must communicate well and spread this information to reach the decision-making centers. Discussing what is happening in the occupied territories, Ukraine will be able to ensure the safety of its own citizens once it has de-occupied and established control over those territories. The de facto prisoners of war there have no protection whatsoever. They are protected de jure by the Geneva Convention, but the Russians do not comply with any of those requirements.

Now it is necessary to insist that Russia should bear responsibility as Russia, and not exclusively by individual actors. We are talking about recognizing the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism. This is important because with such recognition, the Russian state will become toxic. By toxic, this means that “grey-zoned “countries, those which oscillate between democratic and authoritarian regimes and which sometimes recognize international standards of law, while sometimes close their eyes to it, will not be able to conduct either political dialogue or economic relations with the Russian Federation. If they choose to, then they will also be subject to certain restrictions and sanctions.

I believe that this recognition is realistic, especially after the US Senate passed a resolution calling on the State Department to recognize Russia as a state that sponsors terrorism.

This is why the facts of recent events should be reported as proof that Russia will not stop.

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