Three years of Russian aggression: Why the world must stand with Ukraine

On February 24, 2025, three years had passed since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — an act that not only shattered peace in Europe but also violated every fundamental principle of international law. To mark this somber anniversary, I attended a rally on Cologne’s Roncalli Platz directly in front of the Cologne Cathedral, where people gathered to express solidarity with Ukraine and to remember the countless victims of this war of aggression. As a European citizen and a scientist who values truth, I feel compelled to offer this reflection — both as a documentation of Russian war crimes and as a clear call to support Ukraine’s continued fight for sovereignty and survival.

Rally on three years of war against Ukraine, Cologne, February 24, 2025.

The legal context: Russia’s invasion is a blatant crime against peace

From the perspective of international law, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is illegal in its entirety. The prohibition of aggressive war is one of the most fundamental norms established after the horrors of World War II. The 1945 Charter of the United Nationsꜛ (Article 2, Paragraph 4) explicitly forbids the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. Moreover, the Nuremberg Trialsꜛ declared aggressive war — the unprovoked attack on another state — the “supreme international crime”, encompassing within it all other war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Rally on three years of war against Ukraine, Cologne, February 24, 2025.

The claim by Russian leadership that Ukraine posed any kind of military threat to Russia is not only absurd, but demonstrably false. Ukraine had neither attacked Russia nor threatened its sovereignty. The war is not a defensive measure; it is an act of imperial aggression aimed at dismantling Ukrainian statehood, culture, and identity. Russia’s attempts to justify its actions through historical revisionism — portraying Ukraine as an artificial nation or a “lost Russian province” — directly contradict the right to self-determination enshrined in the UN Charter.

Rally on three years of war against Ukraine, Cologne, February 24, 2025.

Documented war crimes: A campaign of terror against civilians

Beyond the crime of aggression, the Russian military has committed countless documented war crimes during its occupation of Ukrainian territory. Independent investigations by the United Nations, the International Criminal Court (ICC)ꜛ, and numerous human rights organizations such as Amnesty Internationalꜛ and Human Rights Watchꜛ have verified:

• Indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, targeting schools, hospitals, and shelters.
• Mass executions of civilians, particularly in places like Buchaꜛ, where retreating Russian troops left behind mass graves and evidence of systematic torture.
• Deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, a clear violation of the Geneva Conventionsꜛ and a deliberate act of cultural erasure.
• Use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, documented across occupied areas, targeting Ukrainian women and girls.
• Attacks on energy infrastructure, plunging millions into darkness and cold during winter — a form of collective punishment aimed at breaking civilian morale.

These crimes are not isolated incidents but part of a calculated strategy designed to destroy Ukrainian society and forcibly integrate territories into Russia’s political and cultural sphere. Such acts bear striking resemblance to the crimes committed during the darkest chapters of the 20th century — from Nazi occupation policies to the Soviet deportations and mass repressions of entire ethnic groups.

The suffering of the Ukrainian people

The consequences for Ukraine’s population are catastrophic. Beyond the tens of thousands of military casualties, civilian suffering has reached incomprehensible levels. Entire cities such as Mariupol have been reduced to rubble. Millions have been displaced, seeking refuge within Ukraine or across Europe. Families have been separated indefinitely, and the psychological trauma of constant shelling, occupation, and displacement has left deep scars on a generation of Ukrainians.

Rally on three years of war against Ukraine, Cologne, February 24, 2025.

Moreover, Ukraine’s cultural heritage has also been deliberately targetedꜛ. Libraries, churches, museums, and monuments have been destroyed or looted, particularly in areas under Russian occupation. The goal is not merely military control, but the erasure of Ukrainian cultural identity itselfꜛ — a tactic that fits the legal definition of cultural genocide.

War in Europe: A lesson the world failed to internalize

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this invasion is the fact that it even happened at all. After World War II, Europe and the world agreed — through institutions like the United Nations, the OSCE, and the EU — that territorial wars of aggression would never again have a place in Europe. Russia’s invasion in 2022 shattered this assumption. It demonstrated that, despite decades of “never again” rhetoric, a nuclear power could still pursue imperial expansion through brute force, disregarding all norms established since 1945.

Rally on three years of war against Ukraine, Cologne, February 24, 2025.

This war is not just an attack on Ukraine. It is an attack on the entire post-war international order, on the very idea that disputes between nations can and must be solved through diplomacy and negotiation, not tanks and missiles. If Russia succeeds in normalizing the conquest of land by force, the floodgates will open for future wars of aggression — in Europe, in Asia, and beyond.

Why Ukraine needs our ongoing support

Three years into the war, Ukraine’s resistance has been extraordinary. The Ukrainian military, supported by civilian volunteers, has defended its territory with remarkable determination. But Ukraine cannot sustain this fight alone. Western countries must continue to provide weapons, financial assistance, humanitarian aid, and — equally important — political support in international forums.

Rally on three years of war against Ukraine, Cologne, February 24, 2025.

Some voices in Europe and the United States have argued that peace can only come through “compromise” with Russia. This is a dangerous illusion. Any forced territorial concession rewards aggression and invites further wars. True peace can only come through justice — meaning the full withdrawal of Russian troops, accountability for war crimes, and guarantees that Ukraine’s sovereignty will be respected in the future.

A call to action

Attending the rally in Cologne, I saw not just Ukrainians, but many Germans as well standing together — all united by the understanding that this war is not a “regional conflict” but a struggle between freedom and tyranny, between law and barbarism.

Supporting Ukraine is not merely an act of solidarity with a victimized nation. It is a defense of the very principles that make peaceful coexistence possible — the principles that underpin both European integration and the global order. We cannot allow war crimes to become normalized. We cannot allow borders to be redrawn by force. And we cannot allow a genocidal imperial project to succeed.

Rally on three years of war against Ukraine, Cologne, February 24, 2025.

For these reasons, I urge everyone to support Ukraine — through donations, political engagement, cultural exchange, and public advocacy. As Europeans, our responsibility is clear: we must show that aggression will not be rewarded and that the future of Europe belongs not to tyrants, but to free peoples.

References and further reading

• UN General Assembly, United Nations Charter, 1945, Article 2, Paragraph 4, linkꜛ
• Internationaler Militärgerichtshof (Nürnberger Prozess)ꜛ
• International Criminal Court (ICC), Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998, in particular Article 8 (war crimes) and Article 7 (crimes against humanity), ISBN: 978-92-9227-305-2, linkꜛ
• UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine – 1 August 2022 to 31 January 2023, linkꜛ
• Amnesty International, “Like a prisoner convoy”: Russia’s unlawful transfer and abuse of civilians in Ukraine during “filtration”, November 2022, linkꜛ
• Human Rights Watch, Ukraine: Apparent War Crimes in Bucha, April 2022, linkꜛ
• Wikipedia article on the Bucha massacreꜛ
• International Criminal Court (ICC), Arrest warrants issued for Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, 17 March 2023, linkꜛ
• Snyder, Timothy, The road to unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, 2019, Crown, ISBN: 978-0525574477
• Plokhy, Serhii, The gates of Europe: A history of Ukraine, 2016, Penguin, ISBN: 978-0141980614
• Galeotti, Mark, Putin’s wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine, 2024, Osprey Publishing, ISBN: 978-1472847553
• Kappeler, Andreas, Ungleiche Brüder: Russen und Ukrainer – vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 2023, C.H. Beck, ISBN: 978-3406800429
• UNESCO, In the face of war, UNESCO’s action in Ukraine, linkꜛ
• Lemkin, Raphael, Axis rule in occupied Europe, 2005, Lawbook Exchange, ISBN: 978-1584775768 (first work with a systematic definition of genocide)
• Wikipedia article on Ukrainian culture during the Russian invasion of Ukraineꜛ
• Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Daily Russian Offensive Campaign Assessments, linkꜛ
• Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), Russia’s war against Ukraine, linkꜛ
• Bellingcat Investigative Team, Documenting war crimes in Ukraine: Methodology and findings, linkꜛ