Myanmar Spring Chronicle – November 04 Scenes
MoeMaKa, November 05 2022
6 fighter jets from Russia for the dictatorial military; From which point will Myanmar’s political crisis be approached?
Myanmar Witness, one of the monitoring groups, announced that some of the six Russian-made fighter jets ordered by the dictatorial military since 2018 have recently arrived in Myanmar. Sukhoi 30-type aircraft are said to have been ordered from Russia during the NLD government. Each jet is worth approximately $35 million USD, and Myanmar is now using the jets extensively in civil war rather than protecting against external threats, and they are now being used in ethnically armed areas, the Sagaing region, and central Myanmar. Attacking not only military targets, but also villages and, in some cases, religious buildings and schools by fighter jet and helicopters are becoming a daily occurrence.
The jets that have arrived now are used to take the upper hand because the attack force on the ground has weakened and the number of casualties has increased due to domestic political disagreements and armed attacks, rather than to defend the sovereignty of the country.
In the previous civil war battles, there were attacks from the air, but air strikes were not carried out every day as recently as now.
Some policy lobbies and civil society organizations are campaigning to stop the sale of jet fuel to the Myanmar military council. However, it may be difficult to completely block the flow of fuel to Myanmar, where civil airlines also operate and the military council is in a position to purchase jet fuel for civilian aircraft, or from the route that has already started importing fuel from Russia. So there will still be difficulties for the blockade to succeed.
Russia’s sale of military equipment allows the military council to purchase weapons in the civil war without any difficulties and to fight against the PDF forces and ethnic resistance organizations. However, as the number of deaths and injuries increased, the number of ground marches and clearing attacks was reduced, and it is seen in regions of Sagaing Division that air attacks, dropping their soldiers to fight and retreat, were carried out by helicopters.
The attack began with an initiative that had never existed in the past, and the military council had to use more air support.
In some cases, airstrikes have resulted in civilian deaths as well as widespread deaths of minors and students. The war is taking on a more brutal form, and it will leave the worst records and wounds of the civil war.
The next piece of news for today is the news that U Kyaw Moe Tun, the Myanmar representative of the National Unity Government at the United Nations, requested to present the information obtained by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, named IIMM, to the Security Council, and the news that former US Ambassador Scott Marshall urged the international community to take more urgent action on the Myanmar issue.
It is still a difficult question to answer to what extent the United Nations will be able to find a solution to Myanmar’s political crisis. Almost 2 years have passed since the military coup in Myanmar, and the United Nations has not been able to do more than a humanitarian aid organization and it has not been assigned yet. The role of ASEAN in solving the political crisis seems to be more important than that of the United Nations, and in a situation where ASEAN cannot effectively urge for the implementation of the 5 Points Consensus, the United Nations can only defame the military council and even have no right to provide humanitarian aid to regions in urgent need.
It may be necessary for the National Unity Government to review these situations and adopt a new international diplomatic strategy. I also think that it is time to give up on the idea that the United Nations can solve the Myanmar issue.