🇲🇲 Junta air strike leaves kids, volunteer teachers dead. And for what?

Hello friends!

Two updates from key stories this week. In Myanmar, a sharp, shocking increase in airstrikes across the country underscores the depravity of the military. Elsewhere, Anwar Ibrahim swings by Moscow at possibly the most awkward time possible all year (although I have a conspiracy theory about that, though I shall spare you all. Just know I’m winking.) 

I’ve also just this week started a new semi-regular project, Flat White Kopi Susu, which looks at the Australia-Indonesia relationship. Join me over there if you’re interested in either country!

See you next week,

Erin Cook

🇲🇲 Air strikes across the country in horror week

That the Myanmar junta can still, years after the coup, manage to shock and disturb with this degree is a disgusting testament to how demonic and irredeemable the outfit is. 

A military airstrike on Ohe Htein Twin village, in Sagaing region, killed 20 students and two teachers, the Associated Press reports, citing resistance groups, aid workers and local media. Sagaing, of course, was the centre of March’s devastating earthquake prompting a ceasefire of middling success. 

The death toll has risen throughout the week as children die of their injuries. The Irrawaddy reports students at the school, run by the National Unity Government, were aged between just seven and 16, while the two killed volunteer teachers were only in their early 20s. The Irrawaddy stresses that the targeting of a school constitutes a war crime. 

Ko Yay Nagar of Depayin People’s Defence Force had inspected the site and told the Irrawaddy this was no ordinary air strike and said the military must have used cluster bombs: “Within a 100m radius, many small craters were found. If it had been a regular bomb, there would be one large crater.” This Irrawaddy piece is not light reading, but it’s the sort of reporting that makes it a must-read. 

AP noted that the state-run MRTV television had aired reports denying the attack, saying ‘subversive media outlets were intentionally spreading fake news.’ Sickos.

The military did not take the rest of the week off, bombing Rakhine State and Mandalay Region on Wednesday. Three people were killed and another three injured after a strike on the Arakan Army-controlled Kyauktaw, in the State’s north. It follows an attack on Kyaukphyu a day earlier. Most civilians had fled the area in anticipation of clashes, Myanmar Now reported, but a two-year-old girl was among those killed.

Four others were killed in Mandalay Region’s Kyaukpadaung Township this week. “They circled over the village and attacked. The people in the house where the bomb fell were cutting cattle feed, and when the aircraft came, they hid in the toilet. The bomb fell near the toilet and killed everyone. People in neighbouring houses were also hit,” one witness told Myanmar Now. 

I hope I live long enough to see the Myanmar junta get what it deserves.  

🇲🇾 Anwar’s delicacy with Russia serves no clear end

Russia has rolled out the red carpet for Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim this week, in Moscow for a four-day trip. It’s his second trip over since he won government back in 2022. He’s met with President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. A huge asterisk here to say, despite a lifelong obsession with reading Catherine the Great biographies, I know nothing of contemporary Russia. Elsewhere, meeting both the president AND the prime minister is a big deal and I will presume that is the same there.  

Anwar is attending the two-day 16th International Economic Forum Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum, concluding today. As Sebastian Strangio notes over at the Diplomat, that’s a hell of a name. Hosted in the city of Kazan, Anwar is the keynote speaker. Malaysia is also keen to get on the BRICS docket, though as I write this nothing has been said about that. 

It’s a hell of a time to head over. Just hours earlier, the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had found, formally, that Russia was responsible for the downing of Malaysia Air’s MH17 in 2014 that killed 298 people. The flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over Russia-controlled territory in Ukraine using arms supplied by Russia. The agency found Russia had violated the Convention on International Civil Aviation, better known as the Chicago Convention, which says states stay away from civil aircraft. 

The Netherlands and Australia have pushed for the last decade on this together. Australia lost 38 nationals and residents on the flight and has pursued Russia over this ever since. “We call on Russia to finally face up to its responsibility for its horrific act of violence and make reparations for its egregious conduct, as required under international law,” Australia’s recently reelected foreign minister, Penny Wong, said as per the Associated Press.

What say you, Anwar? After all, this tragedy saw dozens of Malaysians killed and, paired with the disappearance of MH370, severely damaged the flag-carrying airline’s reputation for years. 

I brought it up with Putin, Anwar promised in a Facebook post Wednesday evening. “Malaysia remains resolute in ensuring accountability and a just resolution for the victims and their families who continue to bear the weight of this tragedy,” he wrote, as reported by Reuters. 

And Putin’s totally on board! “I mentioned that this is a report made by ICAO, to which he (Putin) replied that from the beginning, he had requested that the investigation be independent and thorough,” he said. Dutch authorities have previously noted that attempts to investigate had been thwarted by Russia, but yeah sure. Maybe this time.  

It’s a delicate balance that Anwar has not managed well and it’s given an in for critics of the prime minister. Former Penang chief minister P Ramasamy, who probably should be worrying about his own problems, took a swing. “It’s deeply unfortunate that the Malaysian government has yet to take a firm stand to demand accountability and compensation from the Russian government. Anwar’s failure to do so, despite overwhelming evidence and international consensus, reflects a lack of moral courage and leadership,” he said in a statement, as per Malaysiakini.  

Which is the crux of it, to me. This isn’t one of Asia’s regional mega-powers putting him between a rock and a hard place. This is Putin’s Russia, sidelined by much of the world and clearly very keen to get a foothold in Southeast Asia. Anwar has way more to lose here than he has to gain. Still, it wouldn’t have been the first time Anwar has made me scroll through the news thinking, what in the world is he doing here?