(from the Instagram of my favorite Chicago photographer)
Lena is on the second photo (and I am not, although I was right by her).
Tag: ukraine
About The Radio And Being In Direct Reach
I just think that people in the US can’t really understand the concerns of the European nations regarding potential Russian aggression. Yes, there was a Cold War. Yes, there was “duck and cover,” building bomb shelters, and such. But the US never experienced an actual Russian aggression, so all these scares were and still are very abstract.
I thought about that when Boris showed me his recent purchase last week. It was more like a joke for him, but the backstory is worth mentioning.
This is a Philips radio, which also has a large flashlight and a built-in siren. It can be charged from a wall outlet or a USB port, but it also has a built-in solar battery and, as a last resort, a rotating handle that you can turn to generate some electricity by hand. And in addition, it can be used to charge other devices via USB.
Overall, it can be viewed as a perfect “rescue me if I am lost in the woods while hiking” device, except for one small thing. The first time this radio appeared in a store was when the Finnish government was seriously preparing for potential Russian aggression and asked all citizens to have a three-day food and water supply, and to note the location of their nearest bomb shelter.
Half of Europe experienced direct Russian aggression over the last hundred years. Many cities were shelled and partially or almost completely ruined. Many countries lost big chunks of their territory. It’s very real and very close. It’s in people’s memories. And I don’t know how to get it into my countrymen’s heads that it’s not OK.
Support Ukraine Rally
This weekend, my best friend Lena from Ann Arbor came for her annual “Orchid Show visit.” Now, this visit has another, somber meaning. Although the show runs from the beginning of February to the end of March, we try to plan Lena’s visit so we can attend the rally in support of Ukraine, marking the dark anniversary of the full-scale invasion.
Igor was there before us, in a better position and with a better camera, so the pictures are mostly his. Also, I will come back to this post to fill in the names of the speakers, because I am not 100% sure of most of them.
One thing I noticed is that over these four years, everyone learned to say “Slava Ukraine!” without an accent. And the Lithuanian Consul General gave the entire introductory part in Ukrainian, which caused uproar from the crowd. As always, I was happy to see Dick Durbin, a great supporter of Ukraine (and I learned that his ancestors were from Lithuania!)
The rally started with the USA and Ukrainian Anthems.
Senator Durbin took the stage and told the crowd that there is support for Ukraine on both sides of the aisle, and that he will keep fighting.
It was cold, but we stayed there for an hour and a half, and the whole time I was thinking about our visit to Vilnius in March 2022 and how there were Ukrainian refugees everywhere. We could not imagine back then how long the full-scale war would last, and we hoped for a quick victory for Ukraine. I know that we need to focus on our fight at home, because our victory at home will benefit the rest of the world, but I still feel that I am not doing enough to support Ukraine. Not talking enough about the war, and letting people to forget.
Last week, Boris asked me whether people around me know how often Kyiv is shelled. I told him: oh, I know! And he asked, “What about the others around you?” Again, I understand that out atmost focus is here and now, but still…
More Photos From The Sunday Rally
(from my favorite photographer)
Ukraine Is Not For Sale Rally
As Igor commented: Ukrainians know how to get people together on a very short notice: the Sunday rally , though last-minute announced, got a decent crowd and press coverage.
All photos are from Igor’s album.
We Did It :)
It appears that I can’t share the video itself without sharing the entire LinkedIn post, but I hope the video will still be visible.
We did it 🙂
Time Magazine: Trump Is Getting Fooled by Putin Again
Here is the article, and I agree with every word here!
What a difference a week makes.
Seven days ago, Ukraine’s supporters were watching on optimistically, as all signs pointed toward Donald Trump allowing Ukraine to acquire long-range Tomahawk missiles at a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.
Giving the green light for Ukraine to buy and use such powerful weapons would have dramatically increased the country’s firepower and ability to strike military infrastructure inside Russia.
But Trump, whose tone towards Russia had hardened since his Alaska Summit with Putin in August failed to produce any meaningful results, made a U-turn that few saw coming.
Zelensky’s most recent trip to Washington had a lot more in common with the notorious shouting match that took place in the Oval Office in February. On top of Trump’s withholding of weapons Ukraine needs, he returned to some of his old talking points. Most alarmingly, he insisted that any halt to fighting would mean Ukraine give up the Donbas region to Putin—an area Russia has failed to take total control of, despite 11 years of fighting.
According to a report in the FT, Trump told the Ukrainian leader that if he did not bow to Putin’s will, Ukraine would be “destroyed.” The meeting reportedly descended into a bad-tempered shouting match, with Trump throwing away maps of the frontline, repeatedly swearing, and echoing a Kremlin talking point that the invasion is a “special operation, not even a war.”
Trump held a surprise two-and-a-half-hour phone call with the Russian President Vladimir Putin while Zelensky was on his way to America.
During that call, Trump reportedly agreed to a second face-to-face summit with Putin, this time in Budapest. Hungary is one of Putin’s few allies in the West, and its Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, has repeatedly dug his heels in on Western efforts to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. To say it will be an embarrassment not just for Ukraine but many of its European allies is an understatement.
The meeting will allow Putin onto E.U. and NATO soil, where in theory he should be arrested given an ICC arrest warrant. The sight of Putin standing alongside the most powerful man in the world in a NATO country will instead likely be used as Kremlin propaganda—and another sign that Trump has once again been played for a fool by Putin.
For all the positive noises that have come each time Trump has made commitments to Ukraine, or encouraged NATO allies to spend more on defense, or apparently started to see Putin for who he really is, the facts speak for themselves. A BBC Verify report in August found that the number of Russian attacks on Ukraine has doubled since Trump’s inauguration. In recent weeks, mounting drone incursions have even brazenly entered NATO skies.
Trump’s desire for the war to end seems sincere. He has also made no secret of his wish to win a Nobel Peace Prize. But if the war in Ukraine ends with the nation’s future largely in the hands of its invader, the very idea that Trump is deserving of the prize would be a dishonor.
The Russian President is a man who lives by the axiom: give an inch, take a mile. When the Obama Administration let down Syria, Putin was more than happy to intervene there to prop up his ally Bashar al-Assad. The West’s decision to turn the other cheek after Putin annexed Crimea in 2014 may have also emboldened him to launch his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin scoring another summit with Trump is a diplomatic coup. So is Trump’s decision to renege on Tomahawks for Ukraine and swing back to Putin’s way of thinking.
A version of Occam’s razor—that the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is probably correct—applies here. If Trump continues to reward Putin and punish Kyiv, Putin will most likely further escalate in Ukraine and test the West.
There is still hope that Trump may swing back to Ukraine, and heeding Zelensky’s call for an additional 25 U.S. Patriot anti-missile batteries is a good start.
Those closest to the U.S. President should urge Trump to do more for Ukraine, and stress that his current strategy is making Putin look smarter and stronger than Trump’s America.
For a man who cares about optics, that may be Ukraine’s best hope.
Ukraine Independence Day Mega March
I didn’t post the photos and videos from the Ukraine Independence Day march because I was very upset about how it was handled this year. Also, everything was happening amid the talks, and what’s not. There was obviously no hope for any positive outcome, but there was still an uncertainty in the air.
I am finally sharing these photos today, on the day of yet another deadly Russian attack.
My overall impression of the August 24 march was that the event was muted in public opinion, even with the “peace” talks being in the news headlines. When I walked to the Jarvis CTA and looked at the people sitting at the cafes, I knew that exactly zero people cared about what day it was and what it meant.
Also, I was unpleasantly surprised to see that the march took place on the State Street rather than Michigan Avenue, and on a sidewalk rather than the street itself (which might be not such a bad idea giving multiple road closures this year, but still).
The crowd was massive, but I believe the overwhelming majority of it were Ukraininas and people of Ukrainian decent. The new chant of this year’s march was “Ukraine is not for sale!”
My overall feelings about the war at the moment are at the rock bottom with pretty much no hope for any acceptable outcome.
Yesterday’s Rally
One of my favorite real-life people on Instagram, Matt Kaplan, reported on yesterday’s meeting. Proud of Igor doing his part in this battle!
Surprisingly, there were some Fox News people, so there was a little bit of coverage there.
Annual Ukraine’s Independence Day March
Please attend
Hettie's Reflections 