While Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has armed his citizens to protect their country amid Russia's invasion, the placing of civilians in Russian war camps is escalating a "war against civilians," according to retired Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt on Newsmax.
"Russia is now a rogue state: There's no misinformation about that, and they're waging a war against a vulnerable population," Holt told Sunday's "Wake Up America," noting a 2005 United Nations charter agreement that contracts U.N. signatories with a "responsibility to protect populations."
"And these countries that are U.N. signatories are under this charter with the responsibility to protect these people. I'm not advocating for an outright escalation, but I am saying that this has to be weighed by western countries in what we see unfolding before our very eyes."
The U.S. and Russia both also agreed to defend Ukraine against an invasion from a 1994 agreement that saw Ukraine surrendering its nuclear weapons to Russia, host Carl Higbie noted.
"The other thing that's very troubling is this [news that] thousands being taken out of Mariupol potentially and being put into camps on the Russian side of the border," Holt told co-host Amanda Brilhante. "This is really troubling, and if this is true, this is a great step up in their war against civilians."
Both Higbie and Holt noted the war of information being waged worldwide with reports out of Ukraine and Russia boasting conflicting reports.
"Yes, we should take these things with the grain of salt, and unfortunately we have to take them with a grain of salt on both sides," Holt said. "Everybody wants to get their information operations tuned just right, because there's as you know, Carl, many layers of audiences out there. There's the domestic civilians. There's the world.
"If these things are true, it's a setback for the Ukrainians, to be sure, but overall, my sources on the ground are telling me that the Ukrainians are not giving up an inch; in fact, they're starting to take a few inches back."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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