My heart is with the people of Ukraine

Wikipedia: Ukraine⩘ 
Mastodon: #StandWithUkraine⩘ 
Rita Armstrong: @saint_rebel_ukraine_@mastodon.world⩘ 

"We will be defending our country, because our weapon is truth, and our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will defend all of this."
– Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy

Introduction: Mar 20, 2022

As I read and view the news about Russia's brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine⩘  each day, my heart breaks over and over: cataclysmic destruction⩘ ; frightened civilians running for their lives; a destroyed maternity hospital; dazed and bloody civilians; long trenches being filled with corpses; destroyed residential neighborhoods; a lifeless hand sticking out from the rubble of a bombed civilian building; cold, hungry civilians trapped by indiscriminate, seemingly intentional shelling of evacuation corridors; and the callous face of Vladimir Putin as he spews his vile lies⩘ .

In a Letters from an American post on Mar 10, 2022⩘ , Professor Heather Cox Richardson provides valuable context, talking about Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 29th Fireside Chat, which he gave on June 5, 1944, the day before D-Day. In it, he talked about the fall of Mussolini's Rome and how "the ideology of fascism, which maintained that a few men should rule over the majority of the population, was hollow."

She then talks about what the invasion is revealing about Putin's autocracy:

   The last few weeks have demonstrated the same advantage of democracy over authoritarianism that FDR saw in the fall of Rome. Russia's invasion of Ukraine was supposed to demonstrate the efficient juggernaut of authoritarianism. But Putin's lightning attack on a neighboring state did not go as planned. Ukrainians have insisted on their right to self-determination, demonstrating the power of democracy with their lives.
   At the same time, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown the weakness of modern authoritarianism. Putin expected to overrun a democratic neighbor quickly, but his failure to do so has revealed that his army's perceived power was FDR's "tinsel at the top": lots of bells and whistles but outdated food, a lack of support vehicles, conscripted and confused soldiers, and compromised communications. The corruption inherent in a one-party state of loyalists, unafflicted by oversight, has hollowed out the Russian military, making it unable to feed or supply its troops.

Letters from an American⩘  by Professor Heather Cox Richardson, Mar 10, 2022.

Whatever the outcome, Putin has been exposed for the immoral thug he is, and his military has been exposed for its corrupt, incompetent, and uncivilized behavior. That countries like China⩘  and India⩘  have so far failed to clearly condemn Putin's behavior says more about them than him.

My heart is with the Ukrainian people.

Good sources of coverage:

• The Kyiv Independent⩘ 
• The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak⩘ . "A war correspondent's open notebook, reporting live from Kyiv. Compelling human stories that illustrate what's happening during the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

Ongoing reflections – 2022/2023

• Dec 31, 2023 (day 676 / 3,602): Russia hits back after Kyiv attack on border city⩘  by George Wright & Adam Durbin, BBC News.
  
  • "At a UN Security Council meeting requested by Russia to discuss Kyiv's strikes on Saturday, several countries stressed that Russia was paying the price for invading Ukraine and starting the war.
  • " 'If Russia wants someone to blame for the deaths of Russians in this war, it should start with President Putin,' the British envoy to the UN Thomas Phipps said."
• Dec 29, 2023 (day 674 / 3,600): Still reeling from this morning's tension. Every moment feels like it could erupt into explosions again.⩘  by Iryna, @iryna@mstdn.social⩘ 
  
  • "The most surreal aspect is that the missile strike on a maternity hospital or a residential building no longer shocks us so much; we realized long ago that russia is capable of such actions. What is truly shocking is that the world continues to permit these atrocities."
  • 
    https://mstdn.social/@iryna/111663808829938767⩘ 
  • "Residential buildings, maternity hospital, schools, kindergartens, shopping mall. Today russian troops launched putin's loud 'signals' at these civilian objects. My house shook from some of them."
    https://mstdn.social/@iryna/111663262112961144⩘ 
• Dec 29, 2023 (day 674 / 3,600): Russia shatters Ukraine holiday season with massive missile barrage⩘  by Isabelle Khurshudyan, Lizzie Johnson, Anastacia Galouchka, The Washington Post.
  
  • "Russia fired more than 100 missiles at Ukraine on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, striking multiple residential buildings, a shopping center and other civilian infrastructure in the biggest barrage so far in a previously quiet winter.…
  • "At least 18 people across the country were killed in the attacks, and more than 132 were injured. Affected buildings included a shopping mall in central Dnipro as well as a nearby maternity ward, which had its windows blasted out and blackened.…
  • "Denise Brown, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, said in a statement that she condemns 'Russia's heinous wave of attacks on populated areas of Ukraine over the past few hours, which has left a path of destruction, death and human suffering.'
  • " 'For the Ukrainian people, this is another unacceptable example of the horrifying reality they are faced with, and which made 2023 another year of enormous suffering,' Brown said.
  • "Volker Türk, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said he was shocked at the attacks on Ukraine. 'International humanitarian law explicitly prohibits attacks deliberately targeting civilian objects, as well as indiscriminate attacks, under any circumstances,' he said in a statement.
• Dec 27, 2023 (day 672 / 3,598): US to provide Ukraine with up to $250m in arms and equipment⩘ , The Guardian.
  
  • "The US will provide Ukraine with up to $250m in arms and equipment, including air defense munitions and artillery ammunition, the US has announced.
  • "The package of arms announced on Wednesday includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, additional Himars ammunition, javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems as well as artillery and small arms ammunition.
  • "The latest assistance was made using the presidential drawdown authority, which allows for the speedy delivery of DoD stocks to foreign countries."
• Dec 25, 2023 (day 670 / 3,596): The frontline city Russia could seize again⩘  by James Waterhouse in Kupiansk, BBC News.
  
  • "As we moved away from the market, an ease in pressure was accompanied by a realization of how empty the streets were. Mostly the elderly stroll the pavements.
  • "Through a wooden hatch we meet an exception, Sofia, a 17-year-old who has grown up with Russian aggression. Her father is fighting on the front and you soon grasp how this war has hardened her.
  • " 'When the full-scale invasion began, we realised there were deaths everywhere,' she says. 'Understanding this makes you stronger and more resilient in stressful situations, even during shelling.'
  • "Sofia's family home in the nearby city of Izium was destroyed so they moved here. All of her friends were forced to leave Kupiansk long ago.
  • "She outwardly fears very little, but is clearly unimpressed with her country's fate being determined by sceptical western politicians.
  • " 'I would invite them to see with their own eyes what it's like here,' she says. 'Then they would no longer question whether aid is needed or not."
• Dec 25, 2023 (day 670 / 3,596): Christmas on the front line (photos)⩘  by Irynka Hromotska, The Kyiv Independent.
  
  • 
    Photo: Valentyn Kuzan/72nd Mechanized Brigade
• Dec 17, 2023 (day 662 / 3,588): Cannon Fodder: What happened to Russia's elite 'Black Berets'?⩘ , video report by BBC World Service Documentaries.
• Dec 15, 2023 (day 660 / 3,586): Yes, tiredness is ravaging the Ukrainian soldiers I meet. But they never think of giving up⩘  by Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian. "The prospects of a long-lasting war have always seemed grim to the outside world, yet Ukrainians embraced this from the start, with doomed optimism. Two years on, we're all much more tired. Yet, what we have also learned is that with weariness come experience and confidence."
• Dec 15, 2023 (day 660 / 3,586): Hungary blocks €50bn in EU aid for Ukraine hours after membership talks approved⩘  by Lisa O'Carroll, The Guardian.
• Dec 14, 2023 (day 659 / 3,585): EU to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova⩘ , BBC News.
• Dec 10, 2023 (day 655 / 3,581): ⩘  by Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova and Tim Mak, The Counteroffensive.
  • "Iryna Kozyreva will spend the holiday season without her son.…
  • " 'As long as my child is in captivity, I cannot celebrate anything at home. My thoughts are with him,' she said. 'These Russian bastards came and stole our life, our peace, our joy and our serenity. There is no point in celebrating Christmas. That's why it's so hard.'
  • "All throughout Ukraine this scene is repeating over and over again. Families will gather without loved ones. The terrible theme of the winter holidays is that someone is missing at the gathering.
  • "An estimated 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers are currently in captivity."
• Dec 8, 2023 (day 653 / 3,579): Ukraine in 'mortal danger' without aid, Olena Zelenska warns⩘  by Laura Kuenssberg in Kyiv, BBC News.
  
  • "In an exclusive interview to be broadcast on Sunday, Olena Zelenska told the BBC the slowdown in aid represented a 'mortal danger' for her country.
  • "She said: 'We really need the help. In simple words, we cannot get tired of this situation, because if we do, we die. And if the world gets tired, they will simply let us die.' "
• Dec 6, 2023 (day 651 / 3,577): Ukraine war: Mood dims in Kyiv as US stand-off imperils war effort⩘  by Jessica Parker, Kyiv, BBC News.
  
  • "Ukraine is facing some of its most difficult days since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
  • "The much-anticipated counter-offensive appears to have stalled, and the US and EU are struggling to agree fresh financial and weapons aid.
  • "A package of help from the US has become embroiled in wider Congressional squabbles. And the world's attention is diverted by the Israel-Gaza war.…
  • " 'The only person that benefits from what's going on now is Putin.' "
• Dec 4, 2023 (day 649 / 3,575): Ukraine's triple stalemate⩘  by Zachary Basu, Stef W. Kight, Axios.
  
  • "In three critical arenas – the halls of Congress, European capitals and on the battlefield – Ukraine's war effort has encountered a storm of stalemates that pose an existential crisis to the country's future.…
  • "On the battlefield, Russian President Vladimir Putin's bet that his invading forces could outlast Western political will appears to be paying off.…
  • "A Washington Post deep dive⩘  found that cheap drones, an "ocean" of Russian mines, Putin's willingness to endure massive casualties, and Ukraine's lack of air power have contributed to the stalemate.
• Dec 3, 2023 (day 648 / 3,574): In second act, Russian activist group Pussy Riot protests Ukraine war⩘  by Robyn Dixon, The Washington Post. "More than a year after members of the Russian activist group Pussy Riot, Maria Alyokhina and Lucy Shtein escaped from Moscow disguised as food couriers, the feminist punk-protest band is touring the United States with a new antiwar anthem that howls in rage at Kremlin propagandists they accuse of poisoning Russian minds." Not my style of music, but I do admire their courage.
  
  • Video: Pussy Riot – Swan Lake⩘  by Masha Alyokhina, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot, Lucy Shtein. "The whole song is our protest against Russian propaganda."
• Dec 3, 2023 (day 648 / 3,574): 'My mum's books survived Putin's missiles': defiance after blast destroys Kherson children's library⩘  by Ed Vulliamy, The Guardian
  
  • "There it is, on a wintry morning: charred masonry, gnarled metal, glass shards, rubble and dust.
  • "Yet another ravaged building in Ukraine: each has its own story, and this violation is against Kherson's regional library for children, a place of effervescent creativity with a wonderful collection, named Dnipro Seagull library, after the birds that soar over the city's mighty river – a symbol of the region.
  • "Atop the stairs, there was a beautiful stained-glass panel featuring a seagull on the wing. Founded in 1924, the library was due to celebrate its centennial next year.
  • "The seagull glass is now shattered, after the precision hit by two Russian artillery shells late last month. The streets around the library are empty of people and cars; the sky is grey.…
  • "The attack on the children's library is but one latest instance in Russia's assault on Ukrainian culture in general, and what might be called 'librocide' in particular. Shortly before the attack on the Dnipro Seagull library, another in Kherson, the larger adult Universal Scientific Library, was also targeted, hit and badly damaged.…
  • "PEN Ukraine's director, the philosopher and essayist Volodymyr Yermolenko: 'Imagine: more than 500 libraries have been destroyed or damaged by the Russians during the full-scale invasion. Over 500!' "
• Dec 3, 2023 (day 648 / 3,574): Soldier tells BBC of front-line 'hell'⩘  by James Waterhouse, BBC News.
• Nov 25, 2023 (day 640 / 3,566): Kyiv hit by biggest drone attack since war began⩘  by James Waterhouse in Kyiv, BBC News. "President Zelensky also noted that the attack came on the same day that Ukraine commemorates the 1932-1933 Holodomor famine – brought on by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin – which killed several million Ukrainians."
• Nov 19, 2023: Joe Biden: The U.S. won't back down from the challenge of Putin and Hamas⩘ , The Washington Post.
• Nov 19, 2023: Ukraine war: The Russians snitching on colleagues and strangers⩘  by Amalia Zatari, BBC News. "Snitching, or reporting neighbours, colleagues and even strangers to the authorities, was common in Russia's Soviet era. Now, as the government cracks down on critics of the Ukraine war, people with personal grudges and political ideals are denouncing others once again."
• Nov 19, 2023: The other Russian war the world forgot⩘ , The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak. A reminder that Russia behaves towards civilians and civilian infrastructure in a brutally barbaric manner beyond Ukraine, including in Syria.
  
  • "Due in part to Russian intervention, the Syrian Civil War has gone on for more than a decade. Reporting from the Turkish-Syrian border, we talk to Syrians about what it means to persevere.…
  • "The war in Ukraine has now gone on for more than 600 days. The dominant feeling is one of exhaustion and pessimism, at least for the time being. But then you look at the Syrian refugees, their advocates, and ordinary civilians – and it feels pretty self-pitying to talk about how long the war has lasted. Their war has been going on since 2011.
  • "Yaserji arrived in Turkey as a refugee himself twelve years ago, after his home in Aleppo was destroyed. Yet, twelve years into the war, he opened up the orphanage just in the last year – almost as an act of defiance to the ongoing Russian and Assad regime strikes in northwest Syria. 'It is the Russians, and Putin, that are in complete control,' he said. 'They can stop at any point bombing schools and hospitals and kids. They can stop at any point creating more orphans and they decide not to.' "
• Nov 15, 2023: Locals forced to take Russian passports, report says⩘  by Vitaly Shevchenko, BBC News.
  
  • "Ukrainians are being denied healthcare and free movement unless they take up Russian citizenship, evidence suggests.
  • The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an alliance of public service media including the BBC, interviewed refugees for the investigation.
  • "They spoke of relentless pro-Russian propaganda in the occupied lands.
  • "One refugee from the occupied territories, Larysa, told the EBU's Investigative Journalism Network that one of her friends was not provided with insulin for her diabetes – a key part of treatment – until she applied for a Russian passport.
  • "Another friend had to become a Russian citizen to have her broken arm treated, Larysa said.
  • "She also spoke of other types of pressure forcing Ukrainians to assimilate as Russians.
  • " 'Pensions are not provided without Russian passports, food is not provided without Russian passports, and medical services are out of the question. There are lots of checkpoints on the roads. And every time they stop you, they check your documents, and then say they will not let you through without a Russian passport next time.' "
• Nov 12, 2023: The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak⩘ . "A few days ago, a new item was exhibited in the square: the Rescue Train. In early March 2022 it was evacuating civilians from Irpin, which is located just 10 kilometers near Kyiv – and was just outside the area occupied by Russian forces.…"
  
  • 
  • "In March 2022 when enemy troops approached Kyiv and cut off all evacuation routes, the only way to escape from Irpin and the surrounding settlements was by rail.
  • "At Irpin station, thousands of women and children waited for a ride to freedom. On 28 February 2022, railway workers began to leave on evacuation trips, each of which could be their last.
  • "More than 1,000 people were rescued every day, with three trips a day. Each car could carry up to 150 passengers. To accommodate more people, mothers with children were allowed to sit in the cab.
  • "On March 5, 2022, when the train was on its way from Kyiv to Irpin, the Russians fired at it. A shell destroyed the track and smashed the carriages. Two carriages derailed. Fortunately, there were no passengers on the train and none of the crew were injured.
  • "Almost 10,000 lives were saved by this train before Russian bombings destroyed a critical bridge, making further evacuation impossible.
  • "For every Ukrainian, this train is not just a piece of iron that once transported people. It is first and foremost about the sacrifice of the railway workers who were willing to go into the war zone, knowing that they might not return.
  • "The first days of the full-scale invasion were perhaps the most terrible for the whole of Ukraine, and the capital in particular. The Kyiv region was occupied in the first week, and fierce fighting continued there until the end of April, when the region was liberated.
  • "The shelling of a civilian train carrying people fleeing the war is further proof of Russia's terrible cruelty. This blue carriage with rusted holes from the shelling is a giant reminder of all those who saved lives…."
• Oct 21, 2023: "Hello, Daddy! We miss you very much." Little son of a fallen Warrior sometimes writes letters to his father "in the heavens"⩘ , Aure Free Press.
• Oct 5, 2023: 'A new form of warfare': how Ukraine reclaimed the Black Sea from Russian forces⩘  by Luke Harding in Odesa, The Guardian. "Kyiv has turned the region into a no-go zone for Moscow's bristling warships."
• Oct 5, 2023: Russian attack on village cafe kills at least 51 people, Ukraine says⩘  by Luke Harding in Odesa and Pjotr Sauer, The Guardian. "Volodymyr Zelenskiy accuses Moscow of 'genocidal aggression' after missile hits building in Hroza, Kharkiv province.… Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskiy, said the strike was an 'insidious Russian attack that has no military logic'. He said the 'whole civilised world' had to defeat 'Putin's evil', adding: 'This is not just a metaphor or figure of speech.' "
• Sep 23, 2023: Russia is taking my friends one by one – and now I struggle even to write about them⩘  by Oleksandr Mykhed, The Guardian.
  
  •    "It has been a summer of alarming calls. After news about yet another Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure in any given Ukrainian city, the calls begin. The scale and number of attacks and the choice of targets are such that we often know the victims. The theatre in Chernihiv, the market in Kostyantynivka, the residential district of Sumy. Russia is aiming for global famine and destroying port infrastructure in the south of our country. Destroying the crops. Destroying the ships. Destroying the cathedral in the very centre of Odesa. Blow after blow, shock after shock batters our consciousness. Tragedies that take your breath away – and each subsequent one instantly relegates the previous horror further back into the annals of time. It is like every week you are being plunged into yet unknown depths of the ageing process."
• Sep 20, 2023: Revealed: how Russia deliberately targeted Kherson's hospitals⩘  by Luke Harding, The Guardian. " There have been 1,147 verified attacks on Ukrainian hospitals since the start of the invasion." Fucking barbaric behavior.
• Sep 6, 2023: Russian strike on crowded Ukraine market leaves at least 17 dead⩘  by Shaun Walker in Kyiv and Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian.
     "A Russian strike has hit a crowded market in the Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, killing at least 17 people….
     "Ukrainian officials said a further 32 people were wounded in the attack, one of Russia's deadliest attacks in months, 12 miles (20km) from the frontlines in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
     "Video of the aftermath showed fires raging in destroyed buildings and soldiers carrying body bags away from the scene. The Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said a child was among those killed.
     " 'A regular market. Shops. A pharmacy. People who did nothing wrong. Many wounded,' the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote in a post on Telegram."
• Aug 29, 2023: More than 1,000 schools destroyed in Ukraine since war began-UNICEF⩘ , Reuters. "More than 1,300 schools have been totally destroyed in government-held areas of Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion and others have been badly damaged, the U.N. children's fund UNICEF said on Tuesday."
• Aug 28, 2023: Ukraine confirms capture of key village on Zaporizhzhia front ⩘  by Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv, The Guardian. "Ukraine has confirmed it has captured a key village on the southern Zaporizhzhia front, the latest step in a gradual advance aimed at splitting the Russian lines that defend the overland route to Crimea. Hanna Maliar, a deputy defence minister, said on Monday morning that the village of Robotyne, south of Orikhiv, had been liberated, bringing Ukraine into contact with Russia's main defence line to the south covering routes to the Sea of Azov. Although the territory gained in the Orikhiv sector is relatively modest – about four miles since the start of the counteroffensive in June – Ukraine's progress has been steady as it has cleared dense minefields and trenches on the frontline."
• Aug 16, 2023: Russia is committing grave acts of ecocide in Ukraine – and the results will harm the whole world⩘  by Andriy Yermak and Margot Wallström, The Guardian. "The people of Ukraine have grown cruelly familiar with war and death, inflicted on them by a nation state with vastly superior resources: they will never forget the human loss they have suffered in fighting to save their homeland. But Ukraine is also facing a destruction of habitat and nature on a scale that will reverberate far beyond its borders."
• Jul 24, 2023: 'Trying to make the world starve': Russian drones destroy grain warehouses at Ukraine ports⩘  by Peter Beaumont, The Guardian. "Russian drones launched a four-hour attack on Ukraine's Danube ports of Reni and Izmail, destroying grain warehouses and other facilities, as Moscow appeared to escalate its attempts to strangle Kyiv's globally important agricultural exports."
• Jul 19, 2023: Russia strikes Ukraine grain after ending sea deal⩘  by Paul Kirby, BBC News. "Russian missile attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea coast have destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain and damaged storage infrastructure, officials say." Every time I think the ruthless and heartless behavior of Russia's invasion of Ukraine can't possibly get worse, Putin and his military prove me naive and wrong. This was grain destined for some of the most food insecure people in the world.
• Jul 10, 2023: The flatpack homes rehousing Ukrainian families⩘  by Chris Baraniuk, BBC News. "In mere minutes, her house went from a family home to a blazing pile of rubble. 'Everywhere was fire,' recalls Alla Pylypenko, a teacher, as she describes the terrible afternoon last March when Russian tanks attacked her village in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine. Shells struck the house, she says.… But Mrs Pylypenko and her family now have a new home in the garden of their old one – a factory-made house that was assembled in just a few days last autumn. The building, a donation to the family, was one of the first homes of its kind built by Ukrainian firm HOMErs, which says its designs could benefit millions of refugees and people still in Ukraine who have lost their properties in the conflict.… Given the extent of damage in Ukraine, any reconstruction efforts will have to be both fast and cost-effective. In March, the World Bank estimated that it could take $411bn (£323bn) to rebuild the country. President Volodymyr Zelensky has, in the past, put the figure at $1tn. 'There are about 200 destroyed houses in my community,' says Mrs Pylypenko. 'Modular houses are absolutely important for us.'
• Jul 8, 2023: Volodymyr Zelenskiy visits Snake Island on 500th day of Russian invasion⩘  by Tom Ambrose, The Guardian. "Ukrainian president thanks country's forces and hails 'this place of victory' that became symbol of defiance in early days of war."
• Jul 6, 2023: Russian cruise missile attack on Ukraine city of Lviv kills five⩘ , Associated Press. "Night-time onslaught believed to be heaviest attack on civilian areas of city since start of invasion." There is simply no limit to the depravity of Putin and his Russian military.
• Jul 3, 2023: Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina dies after being wounded in Kramatorsk strike⩘  by Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian.
  
  •    "She largely set aside her writing after the full-scale Russian invasion of 2022, to focus on documenting war crimes and working with children on or near the frontline.…
  •    "She was acutely aware of the risks she was taking. Her work forced her into frequent, close inspection of the destructive power of Russian weapons. 'We are, you could say, obsessed about our freedom, and we're ready to die for it. Russians cannot forgive us for that,' she said seven months before she was killed.…
  •    "Before her death, she had been working on a non-fiction book about Ukrainian women's experience of the invasion, Looking at Women Looking at War: War and Justice Diary, which will be published in English."
  • Also: My friend was out for pizza when the missile hit. Putin's targeting of civilians must be punished⩘  by Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian.
  •    "The Ukrainian government has identified the Russian agent whom they suspect of reporting the exact location of the restaurant. Everybody knew that it was always full of civilians, media, military on leave. But it was very unlikely that senior commanders would have been there. It is not a military target.…
  •    "Speaking on a major propaganda talkshow on the state-run Russia-1 Channel, the head of the Duma defence committee, Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, saluted the attack on Kramatorsk, saying: 'I take my hat off to those who planned it, who carried it out. My old military heart rejoices when I see how many of these kids' bodies are being dug up….'
  •    "As a Ukrainian who, like many others these days, feels powerless, numb and devastated because someone we know and love is injured, I am focused on prevention. We must demand an investigation so that instead of a salute from a general, Russian servicemen will receive an arrest warrant for these kinds of attacks."
  • Video: Popular Ukrainian Writer Dies From Injuries Following Kramatorsk Restaurant Attack⩘  by Serhiy Horbatenko, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, and Austin Malloy, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
• Jun 28, 2023: Four children among 11 killed in missile strike on Ukraine pizza restaurant⩘  by Luke Harding in Kyiv and Lorenzo Tondo in Kharkiv, The Guardian. "At least 56 people injured when Russian rocket hit packed restaurant in eastern city of Kramatorsk.… Ukraine's prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, said Russia hit Kramatorsk with two short-range Iskander ballistic missiles. 'They have a circular error probable (CEP) rating of between 30 and 70 metres, or 5-7 metres when equipped with a homing system, which means Russia was deliberately targeting civilians. Not that anyone needs any more proof of this any more,' he said."
• Jun 28, 2023: Editorial: The Guardian view on Ukraine's suffering: mourning the lives unlived⩘ , The Guardian. "More than 550 children have died since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year: more than one a day. Hundreds more have been injured. Mourning the dead, the country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has written not only of the destruction, but of what might have been: 'Many of them could have become famous scholars, artists, sports champions, contributing to Ukraine's history.' … In Ukraine, Russian forces have not only shown a ruthless disregard for civilians, but frequently appear to have targeted them – as they have in other wars. The UN secretary general's latest report on children and armed conflict names Russia among the worst violators of rights."
• Jun 24, 2023: Even if Wagner rebellion fails, Putin's presidency has never looked weaker⩘  by Luke Harding, The Guardian. "Images of tanks in streets of Moscow evoke memories of a faltering Soviet Union's final months in 1991.… Whatever the outcome of Friday's astonishing drama, Putin looks weaker than at any time since he became president in 2000. His decision to invade Ukraine has proven a major strategic blunder – the biggest of his career and one that may, sooner or later, force him from power."
• Jun 20, 2023: Others debate whether Putin's attack on Ukraine is genocide. As bombs rain down on us, I have no doubt⩘  by Oleksandr Mykhed, The Guardian. "It is now clear that Russian forces have no real strategy, only brutal tactics to wipe out a people and a culture."
• Jun 19, 2023: 'We couldn't wait': Ukrainian farmers improvise to clear their land of mines⩘  by Julian Borger and Artem Mazhulin in Husarivka, Kharkiv region, The Guardian. "At Oleksandr Kryvtsun's farm at Hrakove, about 40 miles north of Izium, the workers have welded bits of an abandoned Russian tank and armoured car on to an old tractor and its harrow and then wired it up to a battery-powered remote controller. The resulting machine looks like it belongs in a Mad Max film. The operator sits at a safe distance in the scoop of a bulldozer made comfortable with a wooden crate and some cushions and works the remote control panel, running the tractor up and down the fields, triggering mines."
• Jun 18, 2023: 'They enjoyed this': Ukrainian woman recounts five-month nightmare of torture and imprisonment⩘  by Dan Sabbagh and Artem Mazhulin in Zaporizhzhia, The Guardian. " 'There was a complete absence of any source of law, they did whatever they want,' Yahupova says, now speaking in Ukraine, describing the situation in a town after Russia 'gradually built up this repression machine' aimed at liquidating opposition and trying to force locals to collaborate."
• Jun 11, 2023: 'War criminals: whatever you do, we'll record it': the 'merciless' Ukrainian film about Mariupol⩘  by Ed Vulliamy in Kyiv, The Guardian. "20 Days in Mariupol by Mstyslav Chernov traces the Russian siege of the port in harrowing detail."
• Jun 11, 2023: What lies behind Russia's acts of extreme violence? Freudian analysis offers an answer⩘  by Peter Pomerantsev, The Guardian. "The blowing up of a Ukrainian dam echoes a traditional cycle of destruction and self-destruction marking the country's history."
• Jun 10, 2023: 'Three months ago, this wasn't possible': exiled Russians dare to dream of Putin's fall⩘  by Shaun Walker in Brussels, The Guardian. "On the sidelines of the Brussels forum, many admitted privately that some of the discussions about how to act in a hypothetical future Russia sounded like premature wishful thinking. But some also noted how quickly things might change in the country, and the importance of being ready."
• Jun 7, 2023: Nato members may send troops to Ukraine, warns former alliance chief⩘  by Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor, The Guardian.
• Jun 6, 2023: Thousands flee homes as collapse of dam is blamed on Russian forces⩘  by Dan Sabbagh in Kherson and Julian Borger in Kyiv, The Guardian. "Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes and an ecological disaster has been unleashed on southern Ukraine by the collapse of a major hydroelectric dam on the Dnipro River, which Kyiv said was blown up by Russia in a desperate attempt to ward off a Ukrainian counteroffensive."
  
  •    "We have all seen the tragic images coming out today of the monumental humanitarian, economic and ecological catastrophe in the Kherson region of Ukraine.
       "The United Nations has no access to independent information on the circumstances that led to the destruction in the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam.
       "But one thing is clear: this is another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
       "We are seeing the effects in the city of Kherson, the town of Nova Kakhovka and 80 other towns and villages along the Dnipro river.
       "Massive flooding. Large-scale evacuations. Environmental devastation. Destruction of newly planted crops.
       "And added threats to the highly threatened Zaporizhzia nuclear power plant—Europe's largest nuclear facility.
       "At least 16,000 people have already lost their homes—with safe and clean drinking water supplies at risk for many thousands more."
    – UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Remarks at press encounter on the situation in Ukraine.
  • Followup: Maps show how Kakhovka dam collapse threatens Ukraines bread basket⩘  by Ashley Kirk and Lucy Swan, The Guardian, Jun 8, 2023. "The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam has led to fears that a depleted reservoir will leave three critical regions in Ukraines bread basket without a key water supply. This has led to warnings about the region and wider worlds food supply, with Ukraine accounting for 40% of global trade in sunflower meal, 35% of sunflower oil, and 5% of wheat, barley and corn exports."
• Jun 5, 2023: War brings urgency to fight for LGBT rights in Ukraine⩘  by Emma Graham-Harrison and Artem Mazhulin in Kyiv, The Guardian. "Campaigners hope a new law will show LGBT soldiers that the country they are risking their lives for cares about them."
• May 29, 2023: 'I was so scared': the Ukrainian children taken to Russia for financial gain⩘  by Peter Beaumont in Odesa, The Guardian. "Ukraine says 16,000 children have been deported from Russian-held territory during the war – many by friends and relatives seeking to make money from fostering"
• May 28, 2023: Russia launches biggest drone attack yet on Kyiv as city marks its founding⩘  by Julian Borger in Kyiv, The Guardian. "Ukraine says it shot down 52 Iranian-made devices but debris killed one person and injured two."
  
  •    " 'Pieces of a drone came down just 400 metres from my mother's house,' said Okseniya, who was selling home-made beaded necklaces. 'She is so scared today. But people continue to live their lives because you cannot can be affected all the time. You need to continue to work, meet your friends, eat ice cream, go to a live event, a concert or a party.… It's like the values of your life have changed. You appreciate your life more because you feel like you can die every minute.' "
• May 26, 2023: Aftermath of Russian missile strike on Dnipro medical facility⩘ , Reuters. What is wrong with the Russians? How fucking warped must they be to target and destroy medical facilities, killing and maiming innocents with their goddamned missiles? #WarCriminals
  
  • 
• May 22, 2023: Before-and-after images of the destroyed Ukrainian city of Bakhmut⩘  by Ruby Mellen, Laris Karklis, and Adam Taylor, The Washington Post. My heart breaks whenever I read about or see the destruction depraved Russia is perpetrating on innocent civilians in Ukraine. "One year ago, the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, home to some 70,000 people, was known locally for its salt mines and sparkling wine. Today, it is a symbol of Russia's brutal and relentless war.… Most civilians have fled. Leafy green streets are now scorched landscapes…."
• May 16, 2023: Russia's most potent hypersonic weapon neutralised, says Ukraine⩘  by Luke Harding in Kyiv, The Guardian. Finally, the Ukrainians are getting the missle defense systems they need. I don't understand why it took so long, but I'm grateful that they are finally better able to defend against Russia's terrorist attacks.
• May 8, 2023: Haunting photos from Ukraine that earned AP a Pulitzer Prize⩘ , The Associated Press.
• Apr 28, 2023: Nineteen dead after Russian missles hit Ukraine⩘  by Hugo Bachega in Uman & Antoinette Radford in London, BBC News. "Among those killed were a mother and her three-year-old daughter in the city of Dnipro, officials say.… Oleksander, a 35-year-old resident of the block hit in Uman, said he had been woken up after he heard a powerful explosion.… 'Russia is a terrorist state. You can see, there's no military object here. And it happened at four o'clock in the morning, as people were sleeping'.… 'Peaceful people were just sleeping.' "
• Apr 22, 2023: Murder, 'alcohol and prostitutes': Wagner convicts pardoned by Putin return to terrorise home towns⩘  by Pjotr Sauer, The Guardian. "Violent criminals who served with the notorious Russian militia in Ukraine are terrorising the communities they return to.… Earlier this year, Vladimir Putin signed legislation making it a criminal offence to publicly criticise Wagner fighters or publish negative reports about them."
• Apr 17, 2023: Former senior diplomats urge west to 'go all in' on military support for Ukraine⩘  by Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor, The Guardian. "We have to provide the weapons and ammunition Ukraine needs to fight, and defeat Putin's war of aggression. The faster Putin understands that he will not achieve his objectives in Ukraine, the earlier peace can be achieved, and the sooner the suffering of the Ukrainian people will end."
• Apr 15, 2023: 'My vendetta against Putin': the Ukrainian sculptor whose haunting work is shaped by war⩘  by Luke Harding in Odesa, The Guardian. "My work isn't an installation or performance. It's a message that comes from pain."
• Apr 1, 2023: 'Rebuilding is part of our resistance': how Ukraine is bringing Bucha back to life⩘  by Lorenzo Tondo in Bucha, The Guardian.
• Mar 30, 2023: 'Vulkan files' leak reveals Putin's global and domestic cyberwarfare tactics⩘  by Luke Harding, Stiliyana Simeonova, Manisha Ganguly, and Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian.
• Mar 23, 2023: Russia launches deadly strikes across Ukraine as China's Xi departs Moscow⩘  by Helen Regan, Olga Voitovich and Svitlana Vlasova, CNN. "As Xi flew back to Beijing, Russia's military launched a barrage of strikes with Iran-made Shahed drones on Ukraine's Kyiv region, killing at least nine people, according to Ukrainian authorities. Andrii Niebytov, the Kyiv region's police chief, said seven others were injured when a drone struck a dormitory building in the town of Rzhyshchiv. In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, at least one person was killed and 34 injured—including two children—after Russian missiles hit apartment blocks, in what has been described as a 'deliberate strike' to 'kill civilians,' according to senior Ukrainian official and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak. Video of the attack shows an explosion blasting through the side of two nine-story residential buildings."
• Mar 19, 2023: 'If we get out of here it will be a miracle:' a family at war in the hell of Bakhmut⩘  by Isobel Koshiw and Anastasia Vlasova, The Guardian. "As a history teacher by training and a head teacher for more than a decade, Viktor talked about the historical reasons for Russia's invasion. 'War is not new to us but this is the war of wars," he said, under the cover of trees, his arms bearing a T-shirt tan from his time serving outside. "People need to understand that they have come here to destroy us. It is a cycle of history.' "
• Mar 8, 2023: Traditional Glassblowing Methods Suffuse Kateryna Sokolova's Modern Vessels with Historical Spirit⩘  by Kate Mothe, Colossal. Sokolova's studio is in Lviv. Imagine creating such beautiful artwork during wartime!
  Followup: Lviv was hit by the massive missile strikes launched by Russian on the night of Mar 8, 2023, which included the destruction of a residential apartment building and multiple civilian deaths.
• Mar 4, 2023: Their houses were destroyed in the war. Now boxer Oleksandr Usyk is helping Ukrainian families move back home⩘  by Ben Church, CNN. To donate: United24 Rebuild Ukraine⩘ 
• Mar 2, 2023: Does Europe want Ukrainians as living partners or dead heroes?⩘  by Kateryna Mishchenko, The Guardian. "Today European cities are full of Ukrainian flags. But what does their presence mean? Do these flags represent the revolutionary future or rather its commemoration? Is Ukraine supposed to be a dead hero or a living partner? It's time to decide."
• Feb 24, 2023: Blinken: Zelensky Is Right to Demand That the U.S. 'Do Even More and Do It Even Faster'⩘  by Morgan Ome, The Atlantic. "The Atlantic's editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, in conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken."
• Feb 24, 2023:
  
  • President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: "When you attack us, you will see our faces. Not our backs, but our faces."
  • President Joe Biden: "As the world prepares to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, I am in Kyiv today to meet with President Zelensky and reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."
• Feb 23, 2023: Documentary - The year that never ended⩘ , directed by Anton Shtuka, The Guardian. The Ukrainian comedian Vasyl Baidak sparks an unlikely and enduring friendship with retiree Iryna Terekhova when he works with a group of young people from Kyiv to rebuild her home, destroyed during the Russian occupation of March 2022.
  
  •    "It's as though it's not just the building that are targets, but also your memories, your nostalgia, your past. It's your peaceful childhood that's under attack."
  •    "I wait for the war to end. Then we'll see what to make of our lives. That's when our new year will begin."
  •    "Hope never dies."
• Feb 21, 2023: 'Ordinary Ukrainians are so generous': five writers on a year of war reporting⩘  by Isobel Koshiw, Dan Sabbagh, Daniel Boffey, Emma Graham-Harrison and Luke Harding, The Guardian. "Those first few hours of the war were undramatic, but they have stayed with me—my introduction to the pragmatism, courage and determination that I would come to know so well, Ukraine's extraordinary response to extraordinary horror."
• Feb 19, 2023: 'We will never be the same': chef Olia Hercules on Ukraine's year of war⩘  by Olia Hercules, The Guardian. "As the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine arrives, author Olia Hercules recalls those first horrifying days, and the pride she feels as she watches her home country's fight for survival."
• Feb 18, 2023: Sean Penn says US has to accept 'level of shame' for not arming Ukraine faster⩘  by Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian. " 'Don't give me one wing,' Zelenskiy says, amid an argument that if Ukraine does not win the war now, then the US and the west could be embroiled in a long and expensive fight."
• Jan 31, 2023: Ukraine intel chief predicted Russia's war. He says Crimea will be retaken.⩘  By Isabelle Khurshudyan, The Washington Post.
• Jan 23, 2023: To Defend Civilization, Defeat Russia⩘  by Tom Nichols, The Atlantic.
  
  •    "Ukraine needs any weapon its troops can learn to use, including tanks, to hold the line on the international order and the world's safety."
  •    "We are all afflicted by normalcy bias, our inherent resistance to accept that large changes can upend our lives."
  •    "If Russia finally captures Ukraine by mass murder, torture, and nuclear threats, then everything the world has gained since the defeat of the Axis in 1945 and the end of the Cold War in 1991 will be in mortal peril."
• Jan 21, 2023: The Bitter Truth Behind Russia's Looting of Ukrainian Art⩘  by Anna Nemtsova, The Atlantic.
• Jan 15, 2023: When Russia bombs a building full of people, this is the aftermath⩘  by Siobhán O'Grady & Anastacia Galouchka, The Washington Post. This is an article with photographs of the aftermath of the Russian missile that slammed into a Ukrainian apartment complex in Dnipro on Saturday, Jan 14, 2023, destroying as many as 72 apartments, killing and wounding scores of civilians, including many children.
  
  Rescuers work to free victims from the rubble. (Wojciech Grzedzinski for The Washington Post)
  
  •    "Just before 8 p.m., rescue workers finally dug Lyuba out of the remains of her home and slowly lowered her to the ground in a yellow stretcher. She lay silently as they wrapped her in a foil blanket.
  •    "One of the workers who carried her down blew her a kiss and leaned over her. 'I promised I was going to save you and I did,' he said. 'Everything is going to be okay.'
  •    "Then they whisked her away in an ambulance.
  •    "One of the Ukrainian Red Cross medics who helped carry her to safety said she believed both her legs were broken. Her face was covered in blood.
  •    "When asked what message she would want to send the world after this attack, the medic, who identified herself only as Natalya, 36, didn't hesitate.
  •    " 'Stop Russia,' she said."
  • See also: Russian commander responsible for striking at Dnipro residential building identified⩘ , NV: The New Voice of Ukraine. "After occupying Kherson for eight months and pledging to keep it forever, Russia's army abandoned the city in southern Ukraine in November and retreated south and east across the Dnipro River. With them, Russian soldiers took truckloads of cultural treasures looted from the region's museums."
• Jan 13, 2023: 'Hellish' battle for Soledar symbolises state of Russia's war in Ukraine⩘  by Peter Beaumont, The Guardian.
• Jan 10, 2023: Russia not found⩘  by Leonid Gozman, Novaya Gazeta Europe. "Up until recently, the word Russia was associated with both good and bad. Dictatorship, Stalin, prison camps, but also Russian culture, space breakthrough, Victory. But all of that is in the past. As did once the words Germany and German associate not with Goethe or great German scientists but with the SS, the mad Führer, and ovens in Auschwitz and Treblinka, so does today the adjective Russian carry in itself only death, destruction, aggression, and lies."
• Jan 7, 2023: Russia launches strikes in Ukraine in violation of self-declared ceasefire⩘  by Emma Graham-Harrison in Kyiv, The Guardian. "Russia has launched attacks across Ukraine, killing at least two civilians, in violation of a unilateral, self-declared ceasefire for the Orthodox celebration of Christmas on Saturday."
• Jan 1, 2023: President Zelenskiy delivers new year message of hope⩘  by Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian.
  "Let this year be the year of return. The return of our people. Soldiers – to their families. Prisoners – their homes. Emigrants – to their Ukraine. The return of our lands. And the temporarily occupied will become forever free. Return to normal life. To happy moments without curfew. To earthly joys without airstrike alerts. The return of what has been stolen from us. The childhood of our children, the peaceful old age of our parents. May the new year bring it all."
• Dec 26, 2022: The revenge of history in Ukraine: year of war has shaken up world order⩘  by Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor, The Guardian. "Georgiy Kasianov, the Ukrainian historian, puts history in the cockpit of a conflict that may create a new world order. 'Russian forces have been smashing their way through Ukraine spurred in large part by historical fiction,' he wrote in Foreign Affairs. 'But history also propels the fierce Ukrainian resistance. Ukrainians, too, harbour a particular understanding of the past that motivates them to fight. In many ways, this war is the collision of two incompatible historical narratives.' "
• Dec 24, 2022: Ukrainians struggle to find and reclaim children taken by Russia⩘  by Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova, The Washington Post. "Daria Herasymchuk, Ukraine's top children's rights official said last month that 10,764 Ukrainian children had been reported by relatives, family or friends to have been deported by Russia without their parents."
• Dec 23, 2022: The Guardian picture essay – Ukraine's Evgeny Maloletka: agency photographer of 2022⩘  by Evgeny Maloletka and Matt Fidler, The Guardian. Today is day 303 of the invasion. Most Ukrainians are trying to survive freezing cold weather with disruptions to their electricity and drinking water due to the intentional destruction of civilian infrastructure by Putin's military. Though it may be painful, I think it's vitally important to view photos and read articles like this regularly, to better understand what Ukrainians are going through, to feel the resilience of their spirit, and to be clearly aware of the brutality and inhumanity of the invasion.
• Dec 21, 2022: The making of a young Hero of Ukraine⩘  by Quentin Sommerville, near Kupyansk, eastern Ukraine, BBC News. "For now, there are difficulties especially with the weather. But it doesn't stop us because we are taking back our land step by step, corner by corner."
• Dec 21, 2022: "Even if there is no electricity, the light of our faith in ourselves will not be put out." – President Zelenskyy addressing the U.S. Congress.
• Dec 21, 2022: Ukraine's year at war: 2022 in 22 photos⩘  by Oleksiy Sorokin and Kostyantyn Chernichkin, The Kyiv Independent.
• Ongoing updates: Rita Armstrong provides insightful updates throughout the day: @saint_rebel_ukraine_@mastodon.world⩘ 
• Dec 19, 2022: A good analysis: 2022 REVIEW: Why has Vladimir Putin's Ukraine invasion gone so badly wrong?⩘  by Peter Dickinson, Atlantic Council.
  A couple excerpts:
  
  •    Kristina Hook, Assistant Professor, Kennesaw State University: Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine will be studied as one of the era's biggest political, military, economic, and moral failures. Years of corruption and bad governance weakened Russia's military and institutional capabilities. The personal nature of Putin's authoritarianism encouraged pilfering over policy planning and selective law enforcement over meritocracy, while creating neo-imperial blind spots that prevented key members of the Putin regime from understanding the historic nature of the changes taking place in neighboring Ukraine.
  •    Diane Francis, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council: Ten months into Russia's invasion, Ukraine has gained the initiative thanks to a combination of battlefield courage and strategic skill along with massive Western help and favorable world opinion. Putin cannot reverse this. He has threatened a possible escalation to nuclear weapons but would do so at the peril of his nation. As he murders more civilians, bombs more infrastructure, and plunges Ukrainians into freezing darkness this winter, Putin is a reviled figure and is increasingly seen as a failure. Meanwhile, Ukraine is honored and celebrated across the globe.
• Dec 1, 2022: In Ukraine's capital, Putin's attacks don't dim the resolve to fight Russia⩘  by Liz Sly and Kostiantyn Khudov, The Washington Post. "The first snowfall of the season has brought subzero temperatures to a city plunged into darkness and cold by the attacks. But if Russian President Vladimir Putin's goal is to demoralize the population to the point of accepting compromises with Russia, he isn't succeeding. The danger and discomfort appear only to be hardening attitudes, deepening the resolve to keep fighting, according to interviews with Kyiv residents."
• Nov 23, 2022: The European parliament has declared Russia "a terrorist regime" over its brutal war on Ukraine and called on democracies around the world to follow suit⩘  by Jennifer Rankin, The Guardian. Every morning, I read The Guardian's live coverage of Ukraine⩘ . This morning's coverage was again about a massive Russian missile attack on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine, including an attack on a hospital that hit a maternity ward and killed a baby. It is so clear that Russia under Putin is a terrorist regime.
• Nov 14, 2022: Ukraine's secret weapon – the medics in the line of fire⩘  by Quentin Sommerville in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, BBC News. "Only one message comes from here," he says. "Peace. There is always a need for peace. Civilised society … and this is happening? Well, it means it is not civilised enough. I wish we'd learn that faster. All of us."
• Nov 14, 2022: Visiting liberated Kherson, Zelensky sees 'beginning of the end of the war'⩘  by Michael E. Miller, Anastacia Galouchka, and Kamila Hrabchuk, The Washington Post.
• Nov 14, 2022: The Russian Empire Must Die⩘  by Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic. "Russia's future will be shaped by how its leaders and citizens interpret the tragedy of this shocking, brutal, unnecessary war."
• Nov 6, 2022: The agony of not knowing, as Mariupol mass burial sites grow⩘  by Hilary Andersson, BBC News. " 'People should know the truth about these horrors,' said Tatyana, 'so that it will never happen again.' "
• Nov 5, 2022: Putin signs law to mobilize Russian citizens convicted of serious crimes ⩘  by Uliana Pavlova, CNN. "Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to conscript citizens with unexpunged or outstanding convictions for murder, robbery, larceny, drug trafficking and other serious crimes under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to be called up for military service to mobilize."
• Oct 31, 2022: Russian assault on Ukraine's power grid is the strategy of nihilism⩘  by Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian.
• Oct 29, 2022: Ignore Putin's words. His crimes in Ukraine speak louder⩘  by the Editorial Board, The Washington Post. "It is vital to keep all eyes and ears on Mr. Putin's deeds and not be distracted by his words. He launched a war of aggression to destroy Ukraine as a democracy and as a nation-state. He has sent tens of thousands of people—both Ukrainians and Russians—to their graves for no reason, none at all. He seeks to force those still alive in Ukraine into shivering misery. There can be no compromise with this depravity."
• Oct 29, 2022: What causes armies to lose the will to fight? Here's what history tells us – and what Putin may soon find out⩘  by John Blake, CNN. "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"
• Oct 26, 2022: 'Accountability gap': Nobel peace prize winner warns Russian war crimes going unpunished⩘ , interview by Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv, The Guardian. "Oleksandra Matviichuk's organisation has documented more than 21,000 Russian human rights violations since 2014 but she fears the world is looking the other way."
• Oct 20, 2022: We secretly filmed our lives in occupied Kherson⩘  by Dmytro Bahnenko, BBC News. "[T]he people of Kherson seemed anything but resigned to their fate. Protests against the occupation began early and grew in ferocity over the following few weeks. The Russian troops appeared shocked—in their minds they had arrived as 'liberators'."
• Oct 17, 2022: 'Kamikaze' drones hit Kyiv despite Putin pledge on no further strikes⩘  by Dan Sabbagh and Charlotte Higgins in Kyiv and Samantha Lock, The Guardian. "Pregnant woman and her partner killed in latest wave of drone strikes on Ukraine's capital." I have to say, I agree with what Anton Gerashchenko, a senior Ukrainian presidential adviser, posted: "So much pain because of TerroRussia."
• Oct 10, 2022: As the missiles strike Kyiv, of course we are scared – but war has made us practical⩘  by Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Guardian. "Out of more than 80 rockets fired into Ukraine today, at least half were reportedly shot down by the Ukrainian air defence. What can look terrifying and inevitable can be stopped with proper defences. This looks like the only rational answer to the irrational assault on our parks, universities, museums."
• Oct 10, 2022: WTF? Children's playground hit in Kyiv attack, Ukrainian official says, from Angus Watson, CNN Live Updates: Russia's war in Ukraine.
  "A children's playground was among the sites hit by a rocket or missile attack on Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Monday morning."
  Children's playground in the center of Kyiv after the attack⩘ , tweet and photos posted by Anton Gerashchenko, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, @Gerashchenko_en, Oct 10, 2022.
• Oct 4, 2022: From Iran to Ukraine, David is staring down Goliath⩘  opinion by Frida Ghitis, CNN. " Because they hold the moral high ground, the struggles of the Ukrainian and the Iranian people have inspired support around the globe among backers of democracy and human rights. In this era of social media, their anthems against fascism have gone viral, as has the brutality of their foes. The repressive regimes in Moscow and Tehran are now isolated, pariahs among much of the world, openly supported for the most part by a smattering of autocrats.… These are two regimes that, while very different in their ideologies, have much in common in their tactics of repression and their willingness to project power abroad."
• Oct 3, 2022: Fear and loathing – what is daily life like in occupied Ukraine?⩘  by Paul Adams, BBC News.
• Sep 30, 2022: Ukraine war: Tortured for refusing to teach in Russian⩘  by Zhanna Bezpiatchuk & Sofia Bettiza, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine, BBC News.
• Sep 21, 2022: The Kremlin Must Be in Crisis: Putin's erratic actions are not those of a secure leader.⩘  by Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic.
• Sep 11, 2022: Ukraine war: Shock and joy in newly liberated villages⩘  by Orla Guerin, BBC News, Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine.
• Sep 9, 2022: Why the Russian Military Brutalizes Ukraine⩘  by Tom Nichols, The Atlantic. I've been wondering about this: what possible strategic interest does the Russian military think it is trying to achieve by intentionally bombing hundreds of hospitals and health clinics, cultural institutions, and people's homes, and by brutalizing civilians? Tom Nichols interviews Nick Gvosdev, who holds a Ph.D. in Russian history from the University of Oxford and teaches at the U.S. Naval War College, in an attempt to find an answer.
• Aug 6, 2022: 'Absolute evil': inside the Russian prison camp where dozens of Ukrainians burned to death⩘  by Luke Harding in Kyiv, The Guardian.
  Anna Vorosheva, who was detained at a checkpoint in March while trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Mariupol, accuses Moscow of murder after spending 100 days in the Olenivka detention centre.
• Jul 15, 2022: Four-year-old Liza killed by Russian attack on Vinnytsia⩘  by Sarah Rainsford, Eastern Europe correspondent, Vinnytsia, BBC News.
• Jul 13, 2022: Russia's War Against Ukraine Has Turned Into Terrorism: The Russian military isn't just bombing civilians. It's also targeting the laws and values that protect human rights.⩘  by Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic.
• Jun 29, 2022: Evidence contradicts Russian claims about Kremenchuk mall attack⩘  by Lorenzo Tondo in Kremenchuk, The Guardian.
• Jun 28, 2022: Ukraine mall strike caught on CCTV from nearby park⩘  by Martin Belam, The Guardian.
• Jun 24, 2022: Ukraine war: BBC journalist Olga Malchevska returns to bombed Kyiv home (video)⩘ , BBC News.
• Jun 23, 2022: What a 1904 War Can Teach Vladimir Putin⩘  by David Gioe, The Atlantic.
• Apr 4, 2022: The Horror of Bucha: Russian invaders are now treating the entirety of the Ukrainian population as combatants, as dirt to be cleansed⩘  by Franklin Foer, The Atlantic.
• Mar 13, 2022: I have run out of words for the horror of Putin's crimes in Ukraine⩘  by Andrey Kurkov, The Guardian.
• Mar 13, 2022: The Democracy Turning Its Back on Ukraine⩘  by Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, The Atlantic.
• Mar 11, 2022: China is squirming under pressure to condemn Russia⩘  by Richard McGregor, The Guardian.
• Mar 10, 2022: The Spectacular Collapse of Putin's Disinformation Machinery⩘  by Tom Southern, Wired.com.