Two more SU-34 fighter-bombers swept from the Ukraine skies today.
That's 10 RU fighters - fighter-bombers - and an AWACs aircraft in 10 days. Southern Ukraine is no longer a free-fire zone for RUAF.
It's been two years since that fucking night of February 24.
We knew — well, we've been told "it's not 100% confirmed yet...but THIS is possibly due at 4 am or 5 am, stay put."
A half-glass of single malt whisky with ice poured into a glass, the final hours alone in sweet silence in front of a laptop.
Scrolling through the news all the time.
And then the morbid face of Putin twisted with sick rage live on TV. And, shortly after, the rolling thunder of missile strikes coming in from all around Kyiv.
That was supposed to be the apocalypse of a nation, but, thanks to so many men and women standing up, that night became the beginning of Ukraine's finest hour.
The one that old grandpa Winston was once talking about.
Oh, it's been an epoch of time ever since that day.
The Battle of Kyiv. The heroic resistance of Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv. A lone Ukrainian Marine sacrificing his life to blow up a bridge and stop advancing Russian tanks.
The tragic debacle in the south. The Russian extermination of Mariupol. The Bucha massacre. The unspeakable meat grinder in Donbas. The Kharkiv operation. The cheering crowds jubilating from the Ukrainian colors getting back to Kherson.
The fields of death and gore at Bakhmut and Avdiivka. Battles in the sea and the air.
So many ups and downs, so many heroes, human-made miracles. The price of survival as a nation is terrible. We're going to mourn and shed tears many decades in the future over what Russia has done.
We've seen unbelievable things in this war. Ukraine has done and is doing incredible things in this war in spite of all odds.
The Ukrainian military has been making a gargantuan sacrifice against one of the largest and the most brutal war machines in human history.
Everyone in this war has revealed their true face, from very ordinary people to the highest-ranking power brokers.
Frankly, I don't get it how some could choose to side with the evil, bloodlust, blatant lies, hypocrisy, and imperial savagery over the story of a nation that was supposed to go extinct within weeks but now enters the third year of resistance against the most terrible war of extermination since Adolf Hitler.
With everything that has happened over the last few months, we all should be ready for a lot of hard things to happen. A lot of hopes have been broken due to things we have no control over.
Yet, we need to keep doing what we should and what is simply right.
We've made an extremely long way, and the struggle continues no matter what.
âThe Russians were hunting us down. They had a list of names, including ours, and they were closing in. We were the only international journalists left in the city of #Mariupol. We were reporting inside the hospital when gunmen began stalking the corridors. Surgeons gave us scrubs to wear as camouflage. We were whisked into a dark basement. The police officer who helped said to us, âif they catch you, they will get you on camera and film you saying that everything is a lie. All your efforts will be in vain.â
â this is not from a Hollywood horror movie. This is Mstyslav Chernovâs statement about surviving the siege of Mariupol so that his footage could be shown. If theyâd been caught, this post would not exist, the truth about Mariupol would be erased from history, and more than likely this entire team of journalists would be dead."
It's a pro-democratic critique of the media and propaganda (which build that hubris) in democracies. And the lack of democracy in media.
I don't have the time to read NC but I can kind of guess where he is coming from, and his arguments are probably not without some justification. But the media landscape in Europe is slightly different to the States with public TV and radio having far greater influence (as you know). But this may have actually exacerbated the hand-wringing and indecisiveness because every man and his dog got airtime in the interests of "being fair". But again, that is part and parcel of a functioning democracy, so I'm happy to bear it.
There was certainly no lack of democracy in German TV over the last couple of years IMO.
The mood this year contrasted starkly with the more upbeat 2023. âIt was very self-congratulatory last year, with so much hope pinned on the Ukrainian counteroffensive,â said Heather Conley, head of the German Marshall Fund.
This year, prospects are darkening as Russia reconstitutes its army and has shifted to a war economy. âWeâre going to see Ukraine suffer from battlefield losses, we could see significant Russian gains, and the Ukrainians have no ammunition left,â Conley said.
Admiral Rob Bauer, chair of the Nato military committee, acknowledged that the west had been âoverly optimistic about the war in 2023â, believing that âif we give the Ukrainians the ammunition and training they need, theyâll winâ.
more like western hubris than any lack of democracy.
In contrast to the authoritarian state you seem to be rooting for there has been massive discussion here in Europe, resulting in indecision and hamstringing of any serious response.
That is part of the package with democracies.
But slowly people are realising how serious the Russian threat actually is and are starting to respond accordingly.
About bloody time if you ask me.
The mood this year contrasted starkly with the more upbeat 2023. âIt was very self-congratulatory last year, with so much hope pinned on the Ukrainian counteroffensive,â said Heather Conley, head of the German Marshall Fund.
This year, prospects are darkening as Russia reconstitutes its army and has shifted to a war economy. âWeâre going to see Ukraine suffer from battlefield losses, we could see significant Russian gains, and the Ukrainians have no ammunition left,â Conley said.
Admiral Rob Bauer, chair of the Nato military committee, acknowledged that the west had been âoverly optimistic about the war in 2023â, believing that âif we give the Ukrainians the ammunition and training they need, theyâll winâ.
It looks to me, from what I'm reading on Xitter, this is already beginning/underway. America has been exposed as a potentially unreliable partner - dependent upon which party is in power. And now some of the European countries are waking up, and dramatically boosting military spending. Good. Putin won't stop at Ukraine, so he must be stopped from taking Ukraine.
yep, I think that is what is happening. There is open talk now about a "Pearl Harbour" moment for Europe, with some saying it is just around the corner and others saying we are already in the middle of it.
The European response has been tragically slow, but it is definitely gaining momentum. This also means Putin has a decreasing window open to him to chalk up a victory before he gets swamped.
The biggest threat, both here and in the States, is how the next cycle of elections pan out.
