Gut-wrenching. Heartbreaking. Infuriating. These were my emotions in watching the Oscar-nominated “20 Days in Mariupol” documentary.

Close up and personal, the film crew captured disturbing video of Ukrainian civilians under attack by ruthless Russian forces besieging their city. I watched children rushed to hospital emergency rooms, with grave wounds inflicted by the invading army—and I watched them die.

I watched terrified families hunkered down in basements doubling as bomb shelters, and I watched the heat and lights go out during the dead of winter, due to unceasing attacks from tanks and planes.

Also in those basements were the courageous Associated Press (AP) journalists, the last remaining international journalists in the beleaguered city.

I watched the horrific aftermath of the Russian bombing of a maternity ward in Mariupol, where rescuers brought a seriously wounded pregnant woman out into the frigid cold air with no blankets to warm her. The woman, Irina Kalinina, later died of her injuries, and her child was stillborn.

And I watched city workers overwhelmed with the number of civilian deaths; their task was to bury them in a mass grave. The butchery was almost too much to witness, but witness we must to really understand what is happening to our Ukrainian friends. We owe it to them to watch this documentary, and to work tirelessly to get them the aid they need to repel the Russian advances.

Speaking of the aid package pending in the U.S. Congress: What infuriates me the most, besides the senseless carnage in Mariupol, is that funding for new munitions and other aid for the Ukrainians is stalled, a political football tied to the Republicans’ demand for greater border security from the Biden administration.

Therein lies the risk. If the aid is not forthcoming soon, there may well be another Mariupol, God forbid!

For those wishing to watch this compelling documentary, click here for the PBS’ Frontline airing. And I hope that “20 Days in Mariupol” does secure the best documentary film award for the AP during the Oscars on March 10.

Ron Cooper © 2024