By Kok Xinghui
In the hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared his “special military operation” against Ukraine on February 24, several Southeast Asian nations released carefully couched statements that balanced their concerns about the invasion with a wariness about angering one of the world’s most powerful nations. Singapore however stood out. Within hours of Russian tanks rolling into Ukrainian territory, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s government outrightly condemned the “unprovoked invasion…
