Tag: war

Igor’s Article

Today, one more time, a person who has known me for a long time, but does not talk to me too often, asked me “how am I” other than “lots of work.” I told him: there is a war in my life; it is here, it does not go away, and it will never go away from my life until it will be actually over.

That’s how I am, and although most news sources moved the war in Ukraine to the second tier of coverage, I didn’t move it there.

That’s why I was so happy that Igor’s article about the war in the Wednesday Journal made it to the front page of the Opinion section. I hope that enough people will see it – here is it.

The State Of War – Again

In the past couple of days, my optimism about the development at the war front started to return partially because there was some good news, partially because I could see some panic in the ranks of pro-war bloggers.

At the same time, I was deeply saddened by some conversations I had with my Russian friends. All of them are against the war. All of them say that they feel endless shame and disgust with the actions of the Russian government and pain a sorrow for the sufferings of the people of Ukraine.

But that’s where the similarities end. The are two ways they think about “how this can end.” One – Russia will become a complete outcast in the world, a country completely isolated from civilization, and will stay like this for long, maybe forever. And another way – Russia will be destroyed and disappear from the earth’s surface, “and we deserve it.”

s I mentioned before, I firmly believe that only the defeat in this war might give Russia a chance to come back as a new country, a defeat as profound as Nazi Germany in WWII. But with my friends, such a defeat is either a tragedy or “it won’t be enough, it won’t change the people.

Both make me sad, and I do not know what to do with it…

Broken Ties – Andrey Loshak’s Movie

Highly recommend watching this movie to all my friends who ask me “how Russian people feel about what’s going on”. There are English subtitles

It Does Not Go Away

Although I didn’t see that many refugees on a trip this time, the sense of a more massive war approaching is here. And t does not really matter whether you are now in Europe or anywhere else. Each day, the news from the front leaves me paralyzed with horror, and every day, my mind is running circles asking – why, why, why there is so little help?! I said it already multiple times, and I can repeat it again: if Russia continues pressing the Ukrainian forces out of their territory, if Russia is left victorious, it won’t stop there! There is no hope for Ukraine; there is no hope for the world; there is no hope for Russia’s rebirth as a different kind of state if this won’t be stopped. 

***

My mood regarding the war is going up and down. I was excited yesterday when several western leaders arrived in Kyiv and made all their announcements. Today, I hear the comments that “we need to think about our future relationships with Russia, after the regime in Russia changes.” First, this regime must change, and I don’t believe it will change unless Russia is defeated. I hope that everybody understands that…

The State Of War

I can’t think without horror about the war, about what’s happening right now. I was never so pessimistic about it since the very first days. I am so angry about ammunitions not coming to Ukraine, the US not accepting refugees, and all these talks that “the peace should be achieved at all costs.” 

It’s so simple. I do not understand how those who suggest “peace in exchange for territory” do not realize that this won’t bring peace. That if Russia gains just any territory as a result of this war, that would be a signal that “it can be done.” That Russia won’t stop. Estonia and Lithuania, and other parts of Ukraine will be the next targets. 

Why did nobody learn any lessons from WWII? Why does nobody see parallels? Rhetorical questions. 

I do not understand what exactly “nobody wants a massive war” means. There is a massive war, and there will be a massive war. The only question is whether it will be initiated by the Western countries or by Russia. I hate to put it this way, but that’s what I think. 

***

It’s hard to be hopeful after what has happened in the past couple of days at the front. Both because of the fear for the Azovstal defendants and how the war vector might change now.  

And another thing I have been thinking about for the past several days. How so many Russian people still do not understand one simple thing: there is no “middle” in who started the war. There is no “middle” in who invaded another independent country.

All these people who dare to say that “the US started it,” “Ukraine provoked it,” and “otherwise, they would invade us”- all this is a classic victim-blaming! That’s the same as “she was raped because she wore a short skirt.” That’s if such accusations would be justified. 

And the last stanza. All these people who say “we lived in peace before” and “nobody hated anybody” how they won’t understand that the conquered nations just had to tolerate the conquerers. 

***

All this time, starting from February 24, I tried to talk to mom and explain to her what was going on. Sometimes I had the impression that she had started to understand. At least she looked at the alternative sources of information. Igor and Anna tried as well.

Yesterday, there Chicago Veterans Association had a gathering dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the organization. Igor and I worried about how it would go for mom because we knew that the veterans had a firm opinion of the war, and that opinion was not in favor of the Russian army.

According to Igor, everything went pretty civil there, but we were not sure whether mom was paying attention to what was going on. It turned out that she literally chose to ignore everything said there. I hoped yet another time that when she would see that everybody in the organization was against the war, that everybody would condemn Russia’s war crimes, she might realize that something was wrong with her reasoning. But unfortunately, she chose not to apply any logic.

I told Igor that I had given up.

It’s not that she does not have information or does not understand English; she has all the resources, and she chooses which ones to trust.
And when I am trying to talk to her, ai receive plain propaganda in response.

Europe Day

Although due to the current situation, the whole world knows what May 9 means to Russians in most countries the calendar is marked with another holiday – Europe Day.

Europe Day held on 9 May every year celebrates peace and unity in Europe. The date marks the anniversary of the historic Schuman Declaration that set out his idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe’s nations unthinkable.

The Schuman Declaration or Schuman Plan was a proposal by the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, made on 9 May 1950. It proposed placing French and West German production of coal and steel under a single authority that would later be opened to other European countries. The ultimate goal was to pacify relations, between France and West Germany in particular, through gradual political integration, which would be achieved by creating common interests. Schuman said that “the coming together of the countries of Europe requires the elimination of the age-old opposition of France and Germany…the solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.”

It is so sad to see today, that his hopes didn’t materialize and that the opposite happen, in the most unthinkable way! I hold a strong hope, however, that this time, the European countries won’t stop in the middle of the way and will make sure that nothing like this will ever happen again.

The Victory Over Nazism Day