A local Military expert says Vladamir Putin is using the Ukrainian refugee crisis as a weapon.
The latest estimates are that five million people could be seeking refuge in the EU with over 100-thousand coming to Ireland.
Kilkenny’s Kieran Brennan who is the former second-in-command of the Irish Defence forces claims the Russian’s expect the economic and social costs of dealing with this huge influx will cause division and dissent in Europe:
“I’ve no doubt that Putin’s strategy is to pile as many refugees as he possibly can into Eastern Europe, into the European Union and hopefully at some point there will be a fracture in the unity within the EU because of the massive amount of refugees coming in, and that will be to his advantage”
The retired Major General also says that he has no doubt that the Russian shelling of towns and cities is a war crime:
“I’ve huge sympathy for the people of Ukraine and I hope the International Criminal Court will take action”
Hear his conversation with our Sue Nunn on The Way It Is here: