Tag: ukraine
Good News!
Yesterday, I spoke to an old colleague of mine with whom I do not speak so often. Even when we speak, that’s usually a quick exchange on our careers. Yesterday, I spoke to him for longer than three minutes, and I asked him whether he would attend my next meetup, which will feature Bruce Momjian. He replied: It would be great, but I will be in Ukraine! My jaw dropped. I know his wife, and I know she’s Ukrainian, but as I said, we do not talk much recently. Sensing my unspoken question, he continued: You probably don’t know that N. (his wife) quit her job as a lawyer and now runs a non-for-profit. They supply all sorts of equipment to Ukraine, and she was going there every two to three months. They are opening a new distribution center, and this time, I am going to accompany her.
I can’t even describe how good it made me feel (and how inadequate I feel myself, trying to be everywhere and not committed enough to anything; at least, that’s how I feel sometimes.
Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!
Mega March for Ukraine on August 26 – please come!
Event details here
On 32nd Anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Illinois Division calls on all the communities to participate in the Mega March UKRAINE-UNBREAKABLE NATION. We will start at the Congress Plaza Garden 501 S. Michigan Ave at 3:30pm, march will end with a program on the west end of Riverwalk (upper Wacker & Orleans/Franklin. For Sponsorship opportunities and inquiries please email at info@uccaillinois.org or inquire via messenger
Come To Anti-Putin Rally On August 20!
Details of the event are here.
Also, i wanted to make a copy of Igor’s Instagram post:
I couldn’t agree more with what Igor is saying. I can’t stress enough how critical it is to continue to oppose the war, to say no to Putin.
I think about it a lot recently – people tend to forget that the war is going on. Too many people reverse to “We should end this war – somehow,” not understanding that nothing had changed – it is still the same war, people are dying, and a big portion of Ukraine is occupied. It can’t be ended because “everybody is tired.” And it can’t be peace “at all cost.”
Today, I finished listening to Mikhail Zygar’s War and Punishment – such an awesome book! I picked it after I heard a short interview with Zygar on NPR. I was immediately taken by the way he spoke: clear, to the point, talking about his guilt in what was happening. And that’s how the whole book goes. I was reading about the events which happened “on my watch,” and I was horrified at how ignorant I was, how I was not following the events, and how I didn’t take the time to analyze the root causes of events.
War And Punishment
Yesterday, I listened to Michail Zygar interview on WEZ, where he talked about his new book War and Punishment. OMG, he is brilliant!!! Unfortunately, they do not have this interview as a separate episode on their website, so I can’t embed it here, but it was so good! So to the point!
And it turned out that although the book is currently unavailable on Kindle and is back ordered as a hardcover, it is available as an audiobook! I am going to start listening right away!
The War And The Media
Over the weekend, I had a conversation with a person who is not only very intelligent and hold very progressive views but is also not ignorant of what’s happening in Europe—someone who knows that there is the rest of the world outside of the US.
Still, my account of how the war is unfolding and what is really going on at the front appeared to be a revelation. She asked me whether I think the American media does a good job reporting about the war, and I said – no, gave multiple particular examples, and spoke about the trend in general. The war disappeared from the front pages, and even during the latest mutiny, the interest was directed toward Russia, not Ukraine. And I cited my friend, who said that no photographs and no reports could capture the horrors of destruction.
She listened to me with great attention and said: we live in a bubble that the media created. And we do not even know we live in a bubble.
I blogged about it so many times that I lost count. People do not understand the gravity of the situation; they push away the fact that the war didn’t stop, that people keep dying – every day.
And they keep explaining to me why NATO will never get directly involved, and I, in turn, keep explaining the consequences of that and the inevitability of confrontation with Russia, if not now, then in the future. And all of this feels hopeless.
Thoughts On What’s Happening…
SCOTUS decisions … I do not even want to talk about it. During my escort shift on Saturday, we talked about what happened last week, and the verdict was unanimous: we don’t know what was worse; every day was just new craziness. However, I think that the end of affirmative action is the worst. I don’t know what universities will do. I do not know how in the world these judges could think it was a great idea… How were they thinking?!
… upon returning from Finland, I started to go to the beach each time I worked from home. Same as last summer, it is a most satisfying relaxation, even if for a very short time. Most days, the Park District Day Camp is out there. Each time, I pass a large group of eight-nine-year-olds playing in the sand, splashing in the water, building castles, hugging and piggy-backing, all skin colors mixed – a perfect emblem of Rogers Park. I hope these beach memories will stay with them for the rest of their lives…
***
So, the recent events didn’t bring Ukraine back to the front pages… They brought Russia to the focus of attention. Since the start of the war, I have become used to the adverse reaction to the fact that I am Russian. These reactions subsided through the last year, but on Saturday, I had it again: “You are dangerous; what are you guys doing?” I replied to the effect that “it’s them, not us,” because I do not want to be associated with the fight between two evils. Maybe I am not expressing it clearly, but I would be instead blamed for Russian aggression toward Ukraine than the mutiny and what’s not. I am sad that people focus more on Russian internal affairs than the war.
***
We had heavy rain for most of the weekend, but especially today, and our gym flooded again! Less damage that time, but still…
And working on the book – lots of tedious tiny things…
The Photo Exhibit At Esplanada
Ukrainian Rally June 10
It is difficult to write just about anything related to the war these days when all you think about is, “Please, let it be a success; let it be victory.” The news comes and goes, the situation is changing, and just three days ago, things were different.
I am glad that this rally attracted more people, I am glad it was visible, and I am thankful to everybody who participated. And I am sorry I am not doing enough.
Save Ukrainian Children Rally
I could not make it to this rally because it was happening precisely at the same time as the West Side Story matinee, and it does not make me happy at all, especially because there was not so many people.
Igor made a lot of pictures, but I think that this short video says it better. We bothregret that despite of explicit request not to mix this event with Navalny meeting, some people still tried.
On the more optimistic note, I share Igor’s joy about a person who came to the rally because they saw Igor’s flyer, and about another person who shared that they were very “Crimea-is-ours/Great Russia/Pro-Putin” but when they started to explore the information on the Tlegram channell, it changed them entirely, and now they when out to support demands to stop atrocities.
I believe in math :), so “one person at a time” works for me.
Hettie's Reflections 