EditThe immoral wars
The EU has exposed Russian war crimes in Ukraine; consistency demands applying the same standards regardless of who perpetrates the acts
On Good Friday, a day symbolizing sacrifice, redemption, and basic human dignity in the Catholic tradition, the world’s conflicts reveal a stark moral collapse. Wars no longer pretend to spare civilians. Instead, they target the essentials of life itself – water, heat, and electricity- turning entire populations into victims of deliberate suffering.
In Gaza, months after any declared end to major fighting, families still lack reliable drinking water, with infrastructure shattered and repairs blocked.
In Ukraine, Russia has relentlessly pounded energy facilities throughout the brutal 2025-2026 winter, leaving millions with sporadic power, no heating in sub-zero temperatures, and disrupted water supplies.
In the Gulf, strikes have already hit desalination plants, the lifeline for drinking water in arid lands. And U.S. President Donald Trump has openly threatened Iran’s electric power plants and other critical infrastructure, signalling escalation that could plunge civilians into darkness and thirst.
These are not collateral tragedies. They represent a calculated strategy to break societies by making daily survival impossible. International humanitarian law explicitly protects objects indispensable to civilian survival, such as water systems and power grids essential for heating and hospitals. Deliberate attacks on them – especially when foreseeably causing widespread suffering – violate the principles of distinction and proportionality. The International Criminal Court has pursued similar cases before, citing Russia’s winter energy strikes in Ukraine as potential war crimes and deprivation of essentials in Gaza. Yet today, such norms seem increasingly hollow. “Crimes against humanity” rings as rhetoric rather than enforceable red line.
Russian forces conducted repeated mass attacks on power stations and heating plants in Ukraine during the harshest winter in years, with temperatures dropping to -20°C or lower. Millions endured rolling blackouts, frozen homes, and water shortages as pumping stations failed. UN monitors documented the extreme hardship: civilians in Kyiv and other cities lost central heating for thousands of buildings, forcing reliance on generators or nothing at all. These were not isolated incidents but a systematic campaign, tripling prior winter strikes and aimed at civilian morale as much as military capacity. Recent reports from Ukrainian sources detail ongoing drone and missile barrages hitting residential areas and infrastructure, compounding the misery.
Gaza’s water crisis persists long after any ceasefire, with over 70% of systems disrupted, desalination plants destroyed, and families reduced to a few litres of often contaminated or salty water per day – far below emergency standards. Aid groups struggle against blockades on repairs and equipment, while disease risks rise from poor sanitation. In the Gulf theatre, tit-for-tat strikes have damaged desalination facilities in Iran, Bahrain, and nearby areas, threatening supplies for millions in water-scarce nations. Trump’s public threats to “obliterate” Iranian power plants and the U.S. strikes on bridges escalate this logic: use civilian essentials as leverage or punishment.
This race to the bottom normalizes barbarism. When major powers treat infrastructure attacks as routine tools, the exception of genocide or systematic civilian punishment risks becoming policy. Historical precedents, from sieges to scorched-earth tactics, show how such methods erode humanity’s shared values. All sides in these conflicts have blood on their hands and have caused civilian harm, but the deliberate turn toward collective deprivation marks a dangerous regression. International law does not vanish because one side claims self-defense or the other “started it”; protections apply universally or they apply to none.
The European Union cannot afford complicity through silence. Alliances do not grant immunity. If a partner or ally engages in or enables actions that meet the threshold of war crimes – targeting civilians via infrastructure – the EU must name it clearly, investigate, and impose consequences. Looking the other way erodes the bloc’s credibility as a defender of rules-based order. Europe has supported Ukraine against Russian aggression; consistency demands applying the same standards elsewhere, regardless of who perpetrates the acts.
Diplomatic pressure, targeted sanctions on enablers, and bolstering humanitarian corridors for repairs are minimum steps. Moral consistency is not weakness – it is the foundation of any claim to leadership.
On this Good Friday, the suffering inflicted in the name of victory or retaliation mocks the very idea of shared humanity. Wars started by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump highlight a broader failure: the erosion of restraint. Without renewed commitment to basic rules – even in the heat of conflict – we invite a future where no population is safe from engineered famine, cold, or thirst. The alternative is not naive pacifism but insisting that even in war, some lines remain uncrossed. Dehumanisation at war, be it conventional, is a shortcut to the nuclear holocaust.
Caption: A view of the destruction at the B1 suspension bridge by a US airstrike in the city of Karaj, Alborz province, Iran, 3 April 2026. A joint Israeli and US military operation continues to target multiple locations across Iran since the early hours of 28 February 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Updated: April 3, 2026 - 16:19
