Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the sharp divide in Myanmar a yr after a army coup sparked mass resistance and armed battle, with the junta praising Moscow for attempting to “guarantee world peace” and the ousted civilian management decrying “alarming and horrifying” bullying.
Moscow – which has continued to assist and arm the junta led by Sr. Gen Min Aung Hlaing that crushed Myanmar’s decade-long democratic reform in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup – acquired instant backing from the regime after Russian forces invaded and attacked Ukraine on Thursday.
“Firstly, I see it as an effort to consolidate Russian sovereignty,” junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun advised RFA’s Myanmar Service.
“Secondly, it exhibits that Russia is a power to be reckoned with within the steadiness of energy to make sure world peace.”
Myanmar’s shadow Nationwide Unity Authorities (NUG) stated that whereas final yr’s army takeover was not a international invasion, similarities might be drawn between Russia’s actions and the way the army imposed its will on the Southeast Asian nation of 54 million individuals.
“The idea of bullying is analogous,” NUG International Minister Zin Mar Aung advised RFA.
“From a world standpoint, they crossed the border and invaded a small nation. It’s extra alarming and horrifying for geographically associated nations and for allies. We’re watching to see how international locations react to the shift within the steadiness of energy.”
Russia, a U.N. Safety Council member, has continued to supply the junta with drones, fighter jets, and armored autos which have been used to assault its civilians a yr after the coup, regardless of widespread atrocities and credible studies of crimes towards humanity. Min Aung Hlaing visited Russia in June, 2021.
“It needs to be incontrovertible that weapons used to kill civilians ought to not be transferred to Myanmar. These transfers really shock the conscience,” former U.S. Rep. Tom Andrews, who serves as U.N. Particular Rapporteur on the state of affairs of Human Rights in Myanmar, stated in a report back to the U.N. Safety Council.
The junta has cracked down on its opponents by assaults on peaceable protesters, arrests, and beatings and killings. The army regime has additionally attacked opposition strongholds with helicopter gunships, fighter jets, and troops which have burned lots of of villages they accuse of supporting anti-junta militias.
As of Saturday, greater than 1,580 individuals had been killed because the coup and a few 12,300 arrested, in accordance with the Help Affiliation for Political Prisoners, a human rights group based mostly in Thailand.
Imbalance of energy
The conflict in Ukraine can also be being monitored by the opposition-led paramilitary Folks’s Protection Power (PDF), which was fashioned within the aftermath of the coup to guard the nation’s civilian inhabitants and is combating the army throughout a large swathe of Myanmar.
Yebaw Wei Gyi, a PDF chief, stated his group is especially desirous about how the remainder of the world will react to the invasion and what the implications are for the junta, which has been focused with sanctions and ostracized by the worldwide group for its actions in Myanmar.
“Within the present situation, NATO international locations just like the EU and the USA are in a troublesome place to determine whether or not they need to go in and Russia is aware of,” he stated.
“Ukraine is just not able to battle Russia alone. However will the U.S., EU and NATO, who’re behind Ukraine, become involved? In the event that they do … it might result in a world conflict. But when they don’t, Russia will crush Ukraine and do what it desires.”
Halting democratic progress
Different observers in Myanmar stated that Russia’s actions had destabilized the world order and known as for concerted strain on Moscow to finish the battle.
“Russia’s army incursion into Ukraine has led to turmoil for worldwide relations,” stated political analyst Than Soe Naing.
“If the world fails to place a cease to this, we’ll fall again into an period of empire constructing. International democratization efforts will even undergo, and the clock will likely be turned again a number of centuries.”
Than Soe Naing stated that sanctions alone are usually not sufficient to rein in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sense of adventurism and known as for a paradigm shift in world army cooperation.
Nan Linn, a spokesman for the Yangon College Alumni Affiliation, stated that the individuals of Myanmar will stand with the Ukrainian individuals as a result of they see parallels between the coup and the way Russia used army aggression to violate their sovereign rights.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a matter of grave concern for world safety as a result of it’s a part of a really worrying development wherein highly effective nations and dictators are exerting affect on the earth,” he stated.
“We stand with the individuals of Ukraine within the Russian invasion as a result of we can not settle for such a bullying act with out respect for nationwide sovereignty.”
Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.