Vladimir Putin's latest atrocity should make Russian soldiers realise he's a mass murderer and reinvigorate support for Ukraine in the West – Scotsman comment

Attacks on civilians will stiffen the resolve of Ukrainian troops to throw Putin's forces out of their country

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has produced countless war crimes and atrocities, from executions of prisoners and child abduction to the mass shelling of residential areas. So the missile strike that hit a popular pizza restaurant and other buildings in the city of Kramatorsk, killing at least ten people, including Yuliya and Anna Aksenchenko, twin sisters aged 14, was nothing out of the ordinary.

The latest attacks also saw 16 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region hit by missiles, with a 77-year-old civilian killed in Orikhiv, while cruise missiles slammed into some holiday homes in central Ukraine, injuring a child. “The Russian Federation does not strike at civilian infrastructure,” said Dmitry Peskov, the official paid to tell Putin’s lies.

Hitler’s Blitz on London, Glasgow and other UK cities was a horrifying experience for those involved, causing psychological problems for survivors who found themselves confronted by corpses, body parts and wrecked buildings. However, while the extent of ‘Blitz Spirit’ among those exposed to repeated bombings may have been overstated, it was certainly a powerful motivating factor for all those working to defeat the Nazis.

Many Ukrainian troops will know people who have been killed by Putin’s bombs and the grief and anger they feel will stiffen their resolve to defeat him. It should also weaken the morale of all Russian soldiers who possess a conscience. Putin is responsible for the deaths of so many innocents that he would drown in their blood. This is who he is. Russian troops are fighting not for their country, but for a mass murderer.

US President Joe Biden said Putin was losing the war in Ukraine, “losing the war at home and he has become a bit of a pariah around the world”. That some countries’ leaders still do not recognise Putin’s utter moral depravity is hard to understand and a telling sign of their own values. Their failure to condemn him wholeheartedly and help Ukraine should be remembered.

For the sake of Yuliya, Anna and thousands more, we must remain appalled and outraged by the horrors unleashed by Putin and committed to helping Ukraine see off his invasion.