Editor’s Note: Michael Bociurkiw (@WorldAffairsPro) is a global affairs analyst currently based in Odesa. He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is a regular contributor to CNN Opinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.
Odesa
CNN
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As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches the one year mark, the bombing of a residential building in Dnipro on Saturday should not be seen as simply another red line crossed by the Kremlin.
What makes the Dnipro attack particularly repulsive is that it struck in the heart of a city that had been regarded as a safe haven for internally displaced people (IDPs) since the outbreak of hostilities between Ukraine and Russia back in 2014.
With a warhead of nearly one metric ton, it created a scene of destruction described by some in Dnipro as “hell.” It killed at least 45 people, including five children, with dozens more missing.
The shock from this strike could very well create a second generation of IDPs. Which could, in turn, place additional strain on already congested safe havens such as Lviv in western Ukraine.
Already, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the attack a “war crime.” It’s not hard to see why.
The cruise missile that hit the Dnipro apartment building, Ukrainian officials say, was designed to sink ships. Indeed it was the same type of missile used to strike a busy shopping center in central Ukraine last summer.
Shortly after this attack on a residential multi-story building, European Union spokesman Peter Stano said Russia’s increasing targeting of civilians in their homes was a “sign of escalation” on the part of the Kremlin. He…
