THE unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine has been making international headlines for more than a month now.
Humankind is witnessing with disbelief the horrific crimes taking place in the middle of 21st-century Europe.
The cruel, unjust and unnecessary war imposed on the world by the Kremlin has already resulted in a tremendous humanitarian crisis, with thousands of civilian casualties, seven million internally displaced persons in Ukraine and another four million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.
It is a tragedy caused by the sick imperial ambitions of an economically underdeveloped, but overstuffed-with-nuclear-warheads regime living in nostalgic hallucination.
Bucha, a small town near Kyiv, where a mass burial site was discovered after the Russian retreat with hundreds of corpses, bodies of raped women and girls, tortured and executed civilians, some with their hands tied, lying on the streets, has already become a gruesome symbol of Putin's vision of "neutrality" and "denazification" for Ukraine and brought back memories of Srebrenica.
Yet, the audacity of Russian propaganda and voices of various international 'experts' relentlessly trying to mislead, instil doubt, and distract from the burning fire are beyond any sense of human decency.
The Kremlin's behaviour is quite consistent, though. Shameless lies and denials even when confronted with evidence and facts: be it the poisonings of Alexander Litvinenko, Sergey Skripal and Alexey Navalny, or the illegal annexation of Crimea or the MH17 trial.
It is imperative to understand some basics of international relations before attempting to indulge in all sorts of theoretical discourse based on the false narratives.
The principles of non-use of force, peaceful settlement of disputes, non-intervention, self-determination and sovereign equality are the pillars of the contemporary world order.
In other words, each country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity are sacred. Every nation is equal, no matter how big or small.
By invading Ukraine, Moscow blatantly violated not only international law and the UN Charter, but also the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South East Asia and at least a dozen more bilateral and multilateral agreements that Russia is a party to.
The Russian military is deliberately targeting civilians, residential homes, critical infrastructure, medical facilities and shelters in Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at a press conference in Antalya, did not even try to conceal it: Russian pilots purposely bombed the maternity hospital in Mariupol.
But the Bucha tragedy puts the magnitude and brutality of crimes committed by the Russian military in an entirely new dimension.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted three resolutions condemning the aggressor and suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council.
There is an urgent need to establish a special international tribunal in response to the multiple violations of international humanitarian law by the occupiers.
Disinformation can be deadly. The Bucha tragedy did not happen by accident.
For many years, Russian political elites and propaganda have been inciting hatred, dehumanising Ukrainians and laying the groundwork for these atrocities.
It is our common responsibility to separate the wheat of truth from the chaff of poisonous propaganda.
The writer is ambassador of Ukraine to Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times