Diplomatic Community Calls for Stricter Sanctions Against Russia to End Siege on Ukraine

By: Michael Mike

A call has been made for stricter global sanctions against Russian Federation to compel it to stop the continued attacks of Ukraine.

Members of the Diplomatic Community in Nigeria who spoke to our correspondent insisted that the condemnation of Russian attacks on Ukraine has not shown to be sufficient to put an end to the attacks, insisting that something heavier needed to be done to make Russia stop the siege.

The European Council had recently adopted a sweeping 19th package of further 69 individual listings and numerous economic restrictive measures targeting key sectors which allegedly fuel Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including energy, finance and the military industrial complex.

The Council is also strengthening control over the movement of Russian diplomats across the EU and taking further measures against those responsible for the abduction of Ukrainian children.

As part of the package, the Council also imposed further measures on Belarus to restrict the latter’s support for the Russian war effort.

The package is said to have come in response to Russia’s escalating aggression against Ukraine, in particular the recent brutal military campaign deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, including energy, water and health facilities. These attacks, which have inflicted severe suffering on the civilian population, are seen to further underscore Russia’s unwillingness to pursue peace.

Some of the diplomats who spoke to our correspondent insisted that though the world has shown to be against the invasion with United Nations resolutions but extra actions need to be taken to twist the arms of Russian.

They stated that such action should include stop of diplomatic relations, trading, among others.

Ukrainian authorities have recently drawn the attention of the international community to the large-scale, deliberate, targeted, and systematic use of cluster munitions by Russia during its aggression against Ukraine.

Among the numerous documented cases, it alleged the killing of 22 people and injury of 31 in Chernihiv on 17 March 2022, following an MLRS Uragan strike; the attack on Kramatorsk on 8 April 2022, with a Tochka-U cluster missile that hit the railway station during the evacuation of civilians, resulting in the killing of 54 and 135 wounded; the missile strike on Kyiv on 17 June 2025, with a Kh-69 missile, after which 29 objects resembling cluster submunitions were discovered.

It claimed this is far from an exhaustive list of Ukrainian cities where the Russian Federation has used cluster munitions, alleging that Russian perpetrators deliberately and systematically use cluster munitions to maximize civilian casualties and destruction.

It decried that this is an element of Moscow’s broader policy of terror against the Ukrainian people, noting that such actions by Russia constitute a flagrant violation of fundamental norms of IHL.

The Ukrainian authorities further alleged that Russian troops apply the devastating practice of repeated air strikes in the same places to cause casualties among unarmed medics, police and rescuers who arrive at the scene of the attacks.

It said: “The nature of Russian double strikes has become much more brutal and targeted against members of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine, who are protected persons under IHL. Since February 2022, at least 105 rescuers have been killed in the line of duty, and more than 500 have been injured. We are recording a further increase in the number of attacks by Russia on humanitarian personnel, transport, and cargo. This is targeted terror against emergency services.

“Russia openly publishes videos showing how it deliberately targets rescuers with drones — people who are not fighting, who are unarmed and who are saving lives after Russia’s own shelling. This is not just terror — it is blatant inhumanity. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale military invasion, 105 employees of the State Emergency Service have been killed and 502 wounded. These actions fall under the category of war crimes.”

Diplomatic Community Calls for Stricter Sanctions Against Russia to End Siege on Ukraine