Texan-Ukrainian-American patriot, husband, father, and most importantly - Christian - saved by faith alone, through grace. In Christ alone. And working for His glory. #For King, Family, and Country.
A Ukrainian version of patriotic paintings representing national ideas:
Today is known as Memorial Day here in the States. During the weekend my wife got to attend an small neighborhood event in the Carolina’s in commemoration of the occasion. Which is all of the ultimate sacrifices made by Americans through our few centuries of existence. Typically, that would be considered from the beginning of the Revolutionary War in the 1770’s.
But I like to imagine that most of the early colonists of the new world, almost exclusively Protestant Christians (many of which left the old world – i.e. Europe – in order to start anew after religious persecution and wars over it) – could also be knighted for their service to their Sovereign Lord. After-all, American settlers began sacrificing their lives & livelihoods almost from the start as starvation, disease, and even Indian attacks often accompanied settlement of the wild west. But many pilgrims & Puritans endured it all for the glory of God.
It was the American Civil War, however, by far the most destructive of all that we have been in, that apparently led to the customs we know today in the national holiday of Memorial Day. Over a half-million dead from the North & South within a handful of years. Shortly after this nightmarish ordeal, southern women began scattering spring flowers on the graves of both – Union & Confederate dead [soldiers].
Over a century later, and we still have some debates over the causes & outcome of this war. American soldiers have served & died in many others since then – WWI & II, the Soviet proxy wars (Vietnam, Korea), and Middle-East ones more recently. Perhaps Ukraine can become the last battle of the Cold War in ways.
American soldiers represented in array.
As a Christian, I know God often commanded believers (in Old & New Testaments) to remember significant events in the unfolding of His plan of salvation – and not to forget His wondrous works in our individual & collective lives in general. As an American, I consider it important for me to know the history of my adopted nation – for it sheds light on current events in the united States, and helps not to repeat past mistakes. And since we are a conglomerate of immigrants from many nations that were united by Christian principles at the founding, and blessed with preeminence in many ways, I believe we ought to know more world history, also.
“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more,” said Jesus after the parable of the wicked servant (Luke 12:48).
So as I pause today to contemplate the price of Christian liberty (for I am consciously aware that although not all the wars we fought were likely justifiable, but God knows many died as defenders & liberators), my Ukrainian roots also remember the history of my Eastern European ancestors. Many Ukrainians have been fighting against foreign occupation & defending their right to national existence – for many generations – in the heartland of Eurasia.
Poem by Canadian officer John McCrae after witnessing the aftermath of 2nd battle of Ypres near Flanders, Belgium in WWI: “In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.”
I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that our struggle has lasted for the better part of a millennium in fact. I have written in prior posts a bit about the Mongol hordes that overran our predecessor Kyivska-Rus,’ the Nazi’s & worst of all, the tsarist Muscovites turned atheist-communist Soviets (who now go by Russia).
Just like those who’s body lies in the tomb of the unknown soldier who are known but to God, … only God knows the extent of the suffering, oppression, death and destruction experienced by Ukrainians over the centuries. Few know the trauma of genocide like Ukraine.
I pray also today that He may grant them – us I can say as a Ukrainian-American – the mercy of being spared from more tragedy in this current invasion of Russian fascists. Strength & resolve to continue defending independent land & liberating the occupied territories. And grace to build a blessed, more just country underlaid with the foundations of Christian truth & liberty into the future.
For our part, we resolve to make sacrifices of our own to help stop this Rascist (Russian + fascist) invasion & genocide in Ukraine. Prayer is a given, but we will continue to make financial contributions to Ukrainian defenders & displaced civilians (of which 6.7 million had become refugees, plus multi-millions displaced with Ukraine not able to return home). And Yuri hopes to take more trips there to help with humanitarian aid, logistics, ministry work etc. We’re grateful for those who have contributed some of their own funds. Together, we’re able to more. May the Almighty multiply our tokens.
Ukrainian chaplain Viktor with others near a cemetery.
PS: Viktor, the Ukrainian chaplain with whom Yuri traveled from Lviv to Kyiv on his recent trip to Ukraine is now equipped with body armor & a ballistic helmet before he heads to the Donbas frontlines this Friday to serve again. Please continue to pray for him and his family. And for the world’s crusade against Russian fascism in Ukraine to succeed – despite the enormous price paid by the people of Ukraine again.
Today, May 19th is Vyshyvanka Day in Ukraine – a day when Ukrainians where traditional embroidered clothing – a symbol of ancient beauty. Mariupol had such celebrations too (see pic) – but now it has been reduced to rubble by the Russian war machine.
[Analysis written by Denys Bulikov, pictures from Euromaidan press of past Vyshyvanka days in Mariupol, and illustrations of miraculous events from Християни для України added by Yuri].
I will leave the situation around Azovstal without comment. Ukrainian officials asked to wait and be patient, multiple Ukrainian journalists and media people spread panic already, and Russians are dancing like crazy around the topic – Russian senate wants to deny the exchange of captives, prosecute Azovstal protectors and execute them in the separatist DPR. Russian media also share totally different numbers of Ukrainian troops surrendered – supposedly 1000+. I did not hear about additional soldiers surrendering besides initial 264 – only gossip. I will wait for the more-less confirmed information. The rhetoric in Russia have suddenly changed. Russian ambassador in the US out of the blue just said that Russia will not capitulate in Ukraine. Moscow will not give up. I mean… since when Russian representatives talk about surrender? Did anybody ask him that? Does he feel that surrender is on the horizon, so he felt compelled saying that? Those words were not in Russian vocabulary – it was always about de-Nazification, demilitarization, destruction of Ukraine. https://snyder.substack.com/p/russias-genocide-handbook?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&s=03&fbclid=IwAR1ulwMIKhcYG8nTiPyL4zlXwQ7X8pZxn6gkw9nRADVxKJbeDxe97NBWZIs Another topic being suddenly pedaled by media – will Ukrainian army invade Russia? What?
Before the invasion, Oleg with other church members built a home in Mariupol with a chimney – when the utilities went off due to Russian bombing, kids came to the place to keep warm.
This is on the verge of the fourth month of this war which Ukraine was supposed to loose in 3-5 days. Look how tables have turned. And yes, I am pretty sure some penetration of Russian borders will happen. To make sure Russians will stop shooting over the border. Another piece of interesting information came through. While there is no way to confirm it, judging from the [confusion] on the ground, I tend to believe it. Supposedly Putin is involved with decision making so much, that he micromanages his troops all the way down to the BTG level (battalion tactical group). To say that this is stupid is nothing to say. I am surprised his generals did not rebel already (or did they?). The way Russian troops are moved and operated during these last three months makes me believe that a serious non-professional is in charge. Simply put, an idiot prone to emotional decisions with no regard to his soldiers lives. I think it fits well.
In Kharkiv a Russian rocket flew into the home of pastor Serhiy but didn’t explode – 6 people survived!
Russia is considering leaving WHO (World Health Organization) and WTO (World Trade Organization). I am sure some anti-globalists will say “good for them”, but this is just another step which will eventually turn Russia into another North Korea. In north-western Russia, in Komi republic, in Coca-Cola factory (which does not belong to Coca-Cola anymore) a new soda will be made. Stickers are still red and white, and the font is very similar to the original Coke. The name? Don’t laugh. Komi-Cola. Russian attack destroyed National plant gene bank in Kharkiv. This is the collection of about 160000 of seeds of various agricultural plants collected over the course of many years. In case certain crops die out, the bank has seeds to restore them.
Despite the risks, Ukrainian chaplains & volunteers evacuate people from frontline areas to safety (otherwise the fate of Ukrainians under Russian occupation is dire – rape, execution, deportation to camps in remote parts of Russia is common).
This piece of information however was later corrected. Apparently, a research facility with some amount of seeds was destroyed. But the main seed collection is still intact. There is another report out stating that Russia is getting short on ballistic and cruise missiles. That’s why they opened the reserves and are using older stock like KH-59 and really old ones like X-22. Now, getting short does not mean they are out. They are still launching them, just not as often, and there is no way to replenish them fast (if there is a way at all). KH-59s have a very bad record. Up to 60% of them fail on launch. While usually launched in pair, often only one KH-59 flies after the launch. Which means that the other one was released but failed to deploy. Speaking of faulty equipment. Just another nail in the coffin of the Russian military superiority is their flagman attack helicopter KA-52.
In Mykolaiv a rocket hit a church building! Despite this, all who were in the room somehow miraculously walked out..
Attack helicopters have short stubby wings which are called “pylons” to carry various munitions. There are multiple videos of KA-52 showing that those wings are oscillating up and down rapidly. Most of the time this “vibration” looked rather violent. Pylons are supposed to be very stable. Besides the fact that pilots shoot from them (and for unguided munitions those “up and downs” are definitely not good for aiming), missiles might get damaged from such shaking. Flare application against MANPADs attacks might be affected. And overall helicopter after a while will get a structural stress damage. Analytics did not agree on the cause of the problem, but everybody agreed that it is correctable if given time and resources. Which means that Russia cannot spare time and resources right now. This in part might be one of the reasons why KA-52 are shot down in numbers. Even though Russia claimed originally that those helicopters are the “real deal”. I mean, the first KA-52 was shot down on the first day of the invasion.
Nelya gave birth to a child during the shelling of a maternity ward in Zhytomyr: God saved them from the bombing!
On the ground things are slowing down everywhere except Severodonetsk/Lisichansk area. Russians are ripping themselves to shreds trying to encircle Severodonetsk. Often however, when they attack and need reinforcements, second echelon does not have enough soldiers to reinforce. There were attacks from Popasna and Izyum areas without significant movement. There is nothing significant going on in Zaporizhzhya and Kherson areas. In occupied Melitopol Ukrainian guerrillas keep killing Russian patrols. Yesterday they also blew up Russian armored train (yes, they have such a thing – it looks as it came straight from revolutionary war of 1920-s). In Kharkiv area Ukrainian troops keep pushing on the little enclave of Russian troops north of the city. In Volchansk area and south from it Ukrainian special operations units raid Russian positions and storages. At the end of April Roskosmos launched its Angara rocket with a “classified payload” – most likely a communication or a spy satellite. They painted a giant “Z” on the rocket before launch. Well, couple days ago it was reported that the payload is uncontrollable and is falling back to Earth. Russian technology is marvelous. And don’t even get me started on those laser weapons which Russia supposedly deployed to Ukraine. It is on the same level somewhere with soldier dolphins (if you missed it, apparently those guys are deployed too – they protect Russians ships from Ukrainian divers).
Ukrainian mothers have had to care for their children & defend them – all too often from the same enemies that invaded from modern-day Russia & are still waging war on Ukrainian soil to this day…
Today is first & foremost, the Lord’s day. Which means we ought to rest from our labors & honor Him with our devotion & worship, like the 4th commandment calls us to – for our good, btw. it is also the 73rd day of Russia’s total war on Ukraine.
Here in the States – this sabbath day also has a 2nd, overlapping, theme – Mothers Day. The founders, hundreds of years ago, also organized “Mother’s Day for Peace” petitioning to higher powers not to send their husbands & sons to die in wars, like the American civil war at that time…
But,… unfortunately, war is a human reality, ever since our forebears, including the ‘mother of all the living Eve (Adama), rebelled against the God of righteousness & order. Therefore, ever since, we’ve had human (& satanic) evil to battle with – WITHIN us, and AROUND us.
And only Christ, the Deity who took on flesh to become a man like us (though He remained sinless) who was appointed by the the Holy God we rejected – was able to defeat evil – and Satan himself.
On the cross, as a sacrifice for those who believed on Him, nonetheless. But He was no pacifist, I assure y’all. He knew His purpose wasn’t to lead an armed revolt against the pagan & cruel empire of His day – Rome.
He had a much greater role to play: that of mediator between Heaven and earth. He stood between the holiness of God & sinfulness of man – though humans were created in the image of God, & innocent at the first.
Alas, our world still goes through the trail of tears to reach the other side – heaven, or the garden of Eden we once lost. Mothers bear kids, & ought to pour out their love within their hearts – but most of all TEACH the imagebearers to resemble God in this fallen world as they resemble us in their appearance. How often do we hear others tell us: “wow, she looks just like you,” or “he acts just like his father – a copy,” etc.
And fathers and sons go to war, unfortunately. Hopefully in order to defend their families, women & children, and land – which is provision for their family. This is largely what God told our forefather, the first man: to work (build for his family by labor) and KEEP (protect what he has labored to produce by the sweat of his brow – against destruction & attack).
So men have ever since been confronted with a tragic reality: when you have chosen a woman to help you in fulfilling God’s directive to fill the earth with His glory – and she has born you children which bear both of your (now united as one) marks – you must continue to provide for your partner and the children of her womb, which also mean protection against evil. And evil most often comes from other men (& women) who do not understand their mission & worship the beast or devil, not the God of Truth, Goodness, Beauty & Glory.
A Ukrainian soldier carries a child – by some accounts over half of all Ukrainian children have been displaced in some ways due to this war – that’s over ten million!
And just like during the American civil war, supposedly good ol’ English-speaking folks on both sides, couldn’t come to an agreement to either amend the hostilities between them (weather they were mostly concerning the economics of slavery, tariffs, etc.) or part ways more peaceably. So shear force becomes the answer, & often one side decides to go to WAR against the other – though both usually contribute to it.
There were cruelties committed by both North and South in the American civil war, which resulted in immense suffering by women & children also..
In the case of the 21st century Russian war against Ukraine, however, one nation is choosing the same bloody path they have taken for centuries. Not only warring against Ukraine, whom they lay claim to as land that was part of a mutual civilization a millennium ago, but against literally every nation that has ever touched its boundaries. This war is not a case of two belligerent bullies trying to decide who gets to punk the other kids at school around (unless perhaps, to a unequal extent – we consider the American-led West as a bully, to which there a measure of truth).
But before America, at the very least the united States of America, even existed as a nation – Russia has been terrorizing its neighbors – and particularly Ukraine. They deny Ukrainian national identity – though it can be traced from the millennial Kyivska-Rus’ through the surviving Western principalities of Halych & Volhynia (on which territory I was born) eventually united into the Western half (ruled by King Danylo Romanovich) of the former State that got divided by the Mongol horde – and they deny our right to existence altogether.
For centuries now, almost from Tsarist times which began in the 16th century, Russia has suppressed Ukrainian cultural identity through banning our distinct national language (many times over the course of centuries to differing degrees from prohibition of print in Ukrainian, to forced Russianization), executing the Ukrainian renaissance (tens-of-thousands of cultural intellectuals eliminated by firing squad), indiscriminately killing population centers from Cossack times & onward, displacing our peoples to purposely weaken their fight for liberty, and multiple genocides. The purpose of all this: to prohibit their Western-Slavic half-brothers (by blood only, since though both claim Eastern Orthodox faith, the Ukrainian side can be said to resemble Christian behavior) from thriving apart from them.
A graphic to show how Ukrainians defending their homelands have looked throughout the centuries:
Therefore, as sad as it may seem to the rest of the world, Ukrainian husbands and sons are still going off to war – as they have been for a millennium now. Not all of those past wars were perhaps justifiable, accordingly to the Christian Just War theory. But there is no doubt at all that defending our families, culture, and land against Russian invaders is a ‘holy’ cause altogether. Meaning separate, or set apart from others. Because this evil brother (which is hardly the case after centuries of division & unilateral development by both) to the East reminds us of murdering, raping & pillaging mongols not christianized Slavic peoples, who seek peace not war. He is Cain, not Able, though he cries that the West is trying to kill him.
Ukrainian men stand in front of their women & children, to defend them from the evils of war. Russian soldiers, as a general rule, stand behind the civilian men, women & children whose land they have occupied – in order to use them as human shields so that Ukrainian soldiers can’t shoot back. This has been an extensively documented fact from our prior and current wars. We have been reminded of how they rape women & girls who had the misfortune of being surrounded by their tanks & weapons. And they do much of this drunk on Vodka – and drunken on propaganda of Russian imperial greatness and the propagation of Moscow as the 3rd Rome (which will never fall, according to them). God has a track record of making such self-exalting statements in the history of the world fall flat on their faces. Think of the Titanic – or Rome itself.
So on this Sunday (called Неділя – meaning no-work literally in Ukrainian), please remember the Ukrainian soldiers having to worship God while heavily burdened. May they get some rest on the front lines between relative civilization and barbarism. And the millions of Ukrainian mothers, many grieving the death of their husband or sons, others not knowing it they will return again, and still others not having a place to return to after their homes, possessions & property have been destroyed, stolen, & occupied by ruthless invaders.
I realize (now that I’m reflecting on what I have written 🙂 that this is a heavy post. We would like to wish all mothers who go through the pain of childbirth & raising men & women of faith truly reflecting God in this world – a happy Mothers Day. Unfortunately, war is inevitable in this fallen world. But we can smile despite the pain, nonetheless. For Christ in still transforming nations that follow Him – by more equitable laws, with beautiful architecture, & He still conquers nations that oppose Him.
P.S. Please pray and call for the defenders of civilians in Mariupol, which has been in the hell-on-earth created by Russia for over 70 days now, to be extracted (they have been purposely starved since Russians prohibit humanitarian aid & shoot up green corridors evacuating civilians, and the wounded have been dying of gangrene in immense pain without medical care in the hospitals destroyed by Russian missiles and bombs).
The meek will inherit the world, the Word assures us.
~ Written by Denys Bulikov, pics added by Yuri. There is this deepening sudden divide between Russia and Israel. After the circus created by Russian minister of international relations Lavrov couple days ago, official Israel got offended. They sent the note to Russia and everything. And instead of stepping back, maybe apologizing, official Russia took it further – they basically stated that official Israel supports neo-Nazis. They didn’t stop there. Official Russia also stated that Israeli military personnel fights alongside the Ukrainian neo-Nazis. You think they stopped there? Nope. Russia reached out to Hamas officials, and supposedly last night Hamas leader even visited Moscow. I mean, Russia supports terrorists in Syria, Libya, Iran, Ukraine, Georgia and some other less prominent places. Russia has relationship with Taliban and Hezbollah. Why not to add Hamas to it? Might as well. Very interesting company is on the Russian side indeed. I think the US has a chance to finally finish the Global War on Terrorism with the help of Ukraine. It looks like all world terrorists (at least, most of them) will be gathered in one place at some point.
I will not describe this in small details here, but I listened to more recorded conversations between Russian soldiers and their relatives, and there is this conversation about tortures which even after all I saw and heard already still boils my blood. I will not give you a mental image, but trust me, some Russian cannibals (I cannot call them animals) are creating physical tortures which are worse than recorded in medieval books. There are two main types of tortures. First one is employed by trained people to get information. They are accelerative in their impact (meaning pressure is increased slowly with resistance) and generally are not intended to inflict irreversible damage to the body of the captive. The other type does not have a purpose of getting information – it is a pure sadistic pleasure for the one who does it. There is no goal to preserve a body, so these tortures are the most gruesome and usually lead to a horrible slow death. During medieval times [Roman Catholic] inquisition was employing such tortures. Those tortures are often employed by Russian troops just for the sake of torture.
So the conversation was between the soldier and his mother about such tortures. The soldier witnessed some performed by Russian FSB, he even participated in some. He was bragging to his mother how he enjoyed it. He was surprised by this old Ukrainian man who wasn’t breaking even after the most horrible things were done to him. He mentioned that he would like to continue doing such things. His mother instead of scolding him told him if she was young enough, she would go to Ukraine and help. “We have to do this to them, – she said, – because hohols are not really people”. (As a reminder – hohol or khokhol is a derogatory Russian name for the Ukrainian ethnicity).
Russian-led ’DPR/LPR’ terrorists in Donbas have been torturing captured Ukrainians since 2014.
I listened to all this and still could not believe I am listening to two Russian people talk. It seemed it was from another planet. What had happened to those people? At the same time it is so weird to clearly understand the language. I think it would be much easier to accept this whole situation if the aggressors spoke an extremely foreign language, kind of like Germans sounded to Russians during WWII.
Again, do you really think removing Putin will just stop this? Russia needs de-Nazification as it happened with Germany in WWII. Only we would have to call it differently. In Ukraine extreme obsession with everything Russian mixed with hatred to other ethnicities and spiced with believe in Russian ethnic superiority is called “rashism” or “russism” – mix of word “Russia” with the ending “-ism”. Rashism or russism is the nazism of the 21st century.
…
Pope Francis cannot seem to condemn Russian invasion. He stated that “NATO was barking at Russia’s gate”, so Putin’s attack and rage was facilitated by NATO countries. I am sorry, what? Out of respect for my Catholic friends I will hold myself from insults, but, seriously, what in the…? I mean, Pope Francis used Putin’s quotes before to make condemning political statements, so I guess I should not be surprised after all.
Melitopol is slowly turning into a hellhole for Russian occupants. I reported before about multiple deaths of Russian guards in the city. Yesterday there was a bombing attempt on a life of the Russian-appointed mayor. Unsuccessful for now (several people were wounded though).
Flag of Russian opposition with ’freedom [to] Russia.’
The burnt storage facility in Moscow suburb apparently was a storage of books. And not just books, but school textbooks. Russia recently decided to import teachers from Russia into the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory. To teach kids “proper” history and sequence of events. I guess textbooks were supposed to come from that storage. There are continuous fires in provinces boarding Ukraine. The “Freedom of Russia” regiment is apparently a pinnacle of a growing opposition inside Russia to current regime. They already adopted their own letter “L”. So when there are fires or other sabotages in Russia, participants draw giant “L”s on walls, ground and papers. They also cross Z’s and draw L’s on top. While the movement is not large yet, it is growing in size. The most recent fire was in Dzerzhinsk where the tank car (train tank car, not the actual tank) with solvent blew up. Dzerzhinsk is the Russian main center for the manufacture of chemical weapons.
Info in Russian on how Russian soldiers can surrender in Ukraine & join the ’freedom to Russia’ legion.
Ukrainian troops are already getting trained up on American and European howitzers and MLRSs. Some of howitzers are already on the front line. Supposedly a small group of Ukrainian pilots is getting trained on F-16 jets. Ukrainian Navy is getting trained on the US Navy drones (that will be very interesting). I haven’t heard anything about them, but hopefully American Air Force drones are also being trained on. All those things cannot happen fast enough.
EU is in the process of approving the 6th sanction packet. While any sanctions are always good, it has embargo for Russian oil. However, implementation of said embargo is stretched over 6 months. So, over the course of at least 6 months Russia will be getting money from the EU. The neutral arrested account to be used to accumulate all payments for Russian energy (without Russian ability to use the money) did not happen. And it was such a great idea. Don’t even get me started on natural gas.
There is not much change on the ground. Multiple attacks on Donbas and Kharkiv front which were all repelled. Indiscriminate shelling and missile attacks, though it seems that Russia is trying “better” to actually hit infrastructure – railways, bridges, factories, storage facilities. There is a lot of movement in Transnistria. While “officials” in this separatist enclave are getting ready for the “Ukrainian invasion”, they actually seem to be getting ready for something else. Slowly most of their more-less able units are moving towards the south of the enclave. It seems that they are still following the old plan of Russian invasion. Or at least an older one. This older plan had more-less successful attack on Mykolayiv, airborne and marine assault on Ochakiv across Dnipro delta and strike on Mykolayiv from the south-west. The attacking forces (from Kherson area and from Ochakiv) would converge on Mykolayiv. Once Mykolayiv is taken, they were supposed to attack Odesa. This is where Transnistria troops were supposed to come in. While Ukrainian troops would be engaged east of Odesa, Transnistrian separatists would strike them from the west after sweeping across the defenseless city. This is otherwise a bold and not a bad plan (strategy wise), however it is only implementable if there is a general success in Mykolayiv area. And Russia would also need three times more troops. At this point Russians cannot get past Kherson. And after a bit more time I dare to say they will be chased out of there. So Transnistrian movements are just inertial moving pieces of a big broken plan. Unless they are designed for just a psychological effect. Of course, we cannot discount the fact that Russian military leadership lost all rationality a while ago along with their supreme leader. So suicidal attempts are possible.
Good intentions don’t necessarily lead to results.
As of today supposedly part of Azovstal is taken by Russians. There is currently fierce fighting. I can only hope they will live another day.
[Note: ReformUkraine acknowledges that there may be some offensive language in these stories, but this is a translation & these are the words of real Ukrainian survivors of war, so unedited].
On April 1, Kyiv Oblast was entirely liberated from the Russian occupiers. The next day, the Ukrainian military and journalists entered the settlements of Bucha, Hostomel, Vorzel, Irpin, and others. What they saw shocked the whole world: civilians were shot in the streets, many had their hands tied, and some were tortured. The bodies of people were also found in basements and apartments. Babel editor Yuliana Skibitska spoke to people from the liberated settlements of Kyiv Oblast. We publish their stories to document the crimes of the Russians as much as possible — and to help bring all the criminals to justice.
Kateryna Tytova, Hostomel—Bucha
On the afternoon of the 24th of February, I saw smoke and realized that something was burning near the Antonov airport. Then I saw a black helicopter flying on the horizon. There was a roar: they were fired at or were firing. At night there were messages that Russian troops were trying to land but were repulsed, so they did not take Hostomel. In a happy mood, we went to bed.
The windows in my house overlook Svyato-Pokrovska Street, the central one. In the morning I washed the dishes and saw that Russian military vehicles were moving toward Kyiv. We realized that we started celebrating too soon. They reached the crossroads from where the road to Kyiv starts, and the battle began.
Near the crossroads, there is a Czech Yard residential complex, a townhouses. Its residents started writing [in the local chat groups] that Russians were coming to their homes, and then began to evict people from them. There are even camera recordings of how they drove in, broke down doors, and threw things out [of the houses].
On February 28, my husband and I went out to see how the situation is. At the crossroads there was destroyed machinery and corpses of Russians. One of them was lying on the bridge — and still is there, for over a month already. Then we looked at the shot civilian cars. They were shot precisely — there were broken glass and bloodstains. We saw about a dozen such cars and itʼs only in one spot.
In the woods, we saw another car but it was closed. The cars with open doors were those where people had already been taken out. My husband opened the car to see — [there were] a boy and a girl under 20 years old, also shot dead. My husband helped load the bodies into the ambulance car. Then we went to the morgue in Bucha, as the doctors said that all civilians were being taken there.
[The entrance to the apartment in Bucha after the town was liberated from the Russian invaders.]
On March 3, fighting resumed. In the morning, everything seemed to calm down, we went out, my husband even walked around, looked at the destroyed Russian equipment, Russian soldiersʼ corpses, and talked to our military. Then a neighbor came running and said, “Listen, I have a fighter in the barn, he says heʼs ours, but heʼs not calling for help”. The soldiers pulled him out and began interrogating him. It turned out that he was a [Russian] tank driver, his tank was stuck at the gate of this neighbor, and he ran through the fence at night while there was a fight and hid in the barn.
We started to collect our belongings. I called my friend in Bucha, she said: “Come to us, have a rest, wash yourself”, but then the fight started again. We were sitting in the basement, realizing that one shell had landed somewhere near the house, knocked out the glass, and then there was the second, the third. When it became quieter, we grabbed everything we could and quickly ran under the bullets with three backpacks to Bucha.
When we reached Bucha, it turned out that there was no electricity in the city for a day, shops werenʼt working, just like in Hostomel. There was a very bad [cellular] connection, every next day it became worse. People sat in the basements, almost didnʼt go out.
In the morning, in the basement of the house where we were hiding, a family came — a mother with a four-year-old boy. They were injured because they were trying to drive from Bucha to Kyiv. At the checkpoint they were shot by Russian soldiers: they turned the car around and fired on it from a machine gun. We realized that we couldnʼt run away [from Bucha] by car, we should go on foot.
[A bullet-riddled car windshield, Bucha.]
In the evening, women knocked on our door, they were begging to help a man. My husband and my friendʼs husband ran to him. It was night, completely dark, and the only thing you knew is that somewhere there were Russians and tanks. They dragged that poor man — he had been walking home, Russian AMPV was passing by, and one of the Russian soldiers decided to just shoot him in the legs. We had a doctor in the basement, she took care of the wounded and, by the way, even helped to give birth. The rescued man survived.
My husband works as a biology teacher in Bucha. He overlooks one of the classes, and there was a girl Katya Chyzhkina in it. On March 5, her parents tried to take Katya out of Hostomel. Russian soldiers did not release them, turned the car around and started shooting from the machine gun. Katya was hit, she isnʼt here anymore.
We left Bucha [on March 11] through the fields, got to Irpin, where we were picked up by a bus and taken to Romanivka [village, controlled by Ukrainian army]. I now understand that we were very lucky. When we ran through Romanivka on a bus to Kyiv, there was a family of three on the road. A Ukrainian serviceman was standing nearby, shouting: “Donʼt show this to children, put hats on their eyes, they shouldnʼt see it!” Probably, they also ran just like us, someone missile or bullets hit them. A father, a mother, and child aged ten or less.
[The body of a woman killed while trying to escape from Bucha by car. The car had white strips of cloth on it as a symbol of a civilian vehicle.]
Anastasia, Tarasivshchyna village, Vyshhorod district
On February 25, at about five in the morning, we woke up to very loud noises. We looked out the window and saw that convoys of Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers were passing through our village.
Our village is very small, it does not even have a village council. Nearby is the Havrylivski kurchata (a large producer of chicken meat — Babel) factory, where the Russians set up a checkpoint. They deployed mortars and Grad systems, fighters jets and helicopters flew over us towards Demytiv village and the Kyiv Sea — to bomb.
Almost immediately the [cellular] connection was gone, to use the phone one had to cross the forest. We went out there to send an SMS that we were still alive. Well, and to send some information to the military — which vehicles went where, what flies and in what directions, where the troops were located. On March 7 our military replied that thanks to my SMS a lot of Russian equipment had been destroyed. And on March 8 [Russians] came to us and started going from house to house.
It was a “spetsura” (Special forces, jargon). There was a former military among us, he said that these are special forces. And they didnʼt look like a shabby soldier — shaved, clean ones, more polite. After coming to our house with weapons while we were sitting there with the children they greeted us with March 8 (International Womens Day). They asked if there are any [Ukrainian] military among us, and whether some of us provides information to the “nationalists” about the location of Russian forces. We were watching at hour children, so we just had to swallow and say, “No, of course, we have no cellular connection here, what are you talking about?”
There were a lot of Russians in the neighboring Havrylivka village. There were “Kadyrovites”, they occupied the upper floors of houses and fired on people from there. Many residents of Tarasivshchyna have relatives in Havrylivka, some visited their children, some — the parents. On some days you could freely move between the villages, on other days you were shot. They even shot a man who was just riding a bicycle on the street. A woman was coming from our village by car, trying to take out the children. They wanted to go to Havrylivka to pick up their relatives, the bullet also hit them and hit two children. One child was killed and another was wounded, now that child is in Belarus [was taken away by the occupiers], the relatives cannot get him out.
We knew we had to go away because we were scared for the children. We left in a convoy of eight cars, with white pieces of fabric with the words “Children” on all of them. While the cars were standing, tanks aimed at us. But we were lucky. On the day before, another convoy was leaving, and some of the cars were shot by the Russians.
[A car with the word “Children” written on it in Russian is seen with bullet holes in the windscreen on April 06, 2022.]
While we were under occupation, every night we went out to discuss the news with our neighbors — the news which we managed to read while we were in the forest where there was a cellular connection. At 6 PM we drank without clinking the glasses (there is a tradition to drink not clinking glasses at the funeral) with the toast this khuylo would die. On one of these evenings, two Russian militarymen came up to us, and introduced themselves as “Ascetic” and “Wanderer”. They started telling us: “Donʼt worry, you are here in the rear, so no danger for you. Why should you go to that Kyiv? As soon as you move to the Ukraine-controlled side, your men will be put in military uniforms, given machine guns, and returned to shoot us. And behind them, there will be special detachments that will shoot in the backs of men who will drop their weapons”.
Alina Junhe-Zolotkova, Vorzel
On February 24, my mother called me and said that they [Russians] had started firing heavily with Grad systems near Mariupol. I was at home in Vorzel, my husbandʼs father went to work in Hostomel, he worked at the Antonov (strategic ariport which Russians tried to capture in first ways of the invasion). Actually, thatʼs where it all started — we saw how helicopters flew there. They flew very low, were clearly visible and audible. The father-in-law managed to escape from the airport under fire.
For a day or two there was the internet, water, gas, and electricity. Then electricity and the internet went down, and in about two days there was no gas supply already. When the gas disappeared, the ruscists (typical name for Russian invaders among Ukrainian, a mix between “Russians” and “fascists”) came to us. Most of them were in the Kicheyeve settlement, we saw them from the window. We counted their equipment while Kyivstar (Ukrainian cellular operator) had minimal communication, called the Ukrainian Armed Forces hotline, and said how many of Russians came and where they were located.
They stood near the railway and fired in the direction of Irpin and Bucha cities. Mortars, Grad [systems] were fired under our windows, we just couldnʼt sleep for a week or so. They started to shell Vorzel. The occupiersʼ tanks went to the elderly peopleʼs yards. Many of the shot bodies were found in basements after they left, probably [these were the bodies of] those who refused to leave the house.
We tried not to leave the yard because the groups of Russian soldiers constantly changed there. There were Buryats, there were “Kadyrovites”. The Buryats said: “Yes, everything is fine, come out, we will bring you food, if necessary”. And the “Kadyrovites” said: “If you come out — we will shoot”.
They shot people near the railway, probably those who came out to call on mobile because it was the only place with a cellular connection. There was a rumor that you can take at least a little meat from the local meat factory. We were cut off from the center of Vorzel and we had nothing — neither shop nor pharmacy. When we went for that meat, we saw dead people with bags — they just tried to get to the place where they could take food.
[An elderly woman is forced to cook outdoors as she no longer has gas, heating, electricity or running water, April 4, 2022, Vorzel town.]
The ruscists wanted to take my husbandʼs nephew to Hostomel because they suspected he helps the Ukrainian army to set the targets. He had a cap was the inscription “Transit. Logistics. Crushed stone. Sand” and they thought it was some kind of undercover military. But then they talked about something in their own language — it was the Buryats — and left. They also said that we should fear them if we want to live.
The ruscists started to leave about 3-4 days ago (on April 1), and they were retreating very hastily — they climbed out of all cracks like rats. We stayed at home for another day because we didnʼt know if it was a retreat or if they would return. And only when people from Rubezhivka-Mykhaylivka village came and said that the Ukrainian army was coming in. Then we started going outside. We saw the smashed cars, painted with those nasty V letters. Fences destroyed by tanks, bombed roads, bodies, scattered belongings — when looted the houses, they sorted the things and took only new ones.
Oksana Semenik, Bucha
The atrocities in Bucha began the same day the Russian occupiers entered the city. They tried to enter in the first days of the war, but their column was crashed. Then they broke through our district, Sklozavodska Street, coming from the railway. We listened to the radio which said that “the Ukrainian flag is flying over Bucha”, and [Russian] tanks and other vehicles were driving around our district at that time.
As soon as they arrived, the electricity and gas disappeared. Perhaps the first thing they did they hit the water tower so that there would be no water. I think this is their tactic because my grandmother had the same story in the occupied village of Kyiv Oblast. They entered the village and immediately hit the water and power plant, the communication towers.
[One of the residential buildings in Bucha on April 7, 2022.]
We sat in the basement of the kindergarten all the time — there were thirty of us, with small children. We tried not to talk to each other so that the Russians would not come to us. Because those people who did not go down to the basement and watched everything from the windows said that soldiers went into apartments and basements, took food, or exchanged it for their shitty field rations. If the people did not open the door, they could drop a bomb or start firing.
When we went out to see what was going on in the area, it looked as if they were firing stupidly at everything: houses on the 8th and 9th floors, cages, stores, trees. They roamed the area, broke into shops, and drank beer on benches.
At that time locals started talking about those who tried to evacuate on their own — their cars were simply shot. If anyone went outside at that time, they were also shot dead. But then the locals at least took these corpses to basements and garages. In our local chat, they wrote about how people went to collect water — and they were shot as well. Most of the civilian corpses are on Yablunska Street. I think thatʼs because there are private houses with wells and people went there to get water.
A mass grave is exhumed by local authorities as they attempt to identify the bodies of civilians who had died during the Russian occupation in Bucha, April 8, 2022.
We had two options for how to get out of there. The first was to go through the checkpoints of the Russians, the second was by the rail tracks. Both were dangerous: you could have been shot at the checkpoints by a gunman if they didnʼt like you, and there were corpses on the railroad tracks as well.
On March 11, we saw that about a hundred of locals had gathered near the house — men, women, children, elderly. We also decided to try to escape and to leave for Irpin city. But rusnya [Russians] didnʼt let us through, so we went towards Zabuchcha village. Maybe they stopped us in order we no to see Yablunska street, because there were corpses there already and they didnʼt want us to see them.
We came out by a miracle because the crossing by pedestrians wasnʼt agreed upon — only cars were agreed. We reached the Zhytomyr highway, which was full of broken and shot cars with the “Children” signs. So we reached Horenychi, where we were picked up by a car.
Victoria from Shybene village, Borodyanka district
There were no battles in our village. On the evening of February 25, a convoy of Russian vehicles passed by and stayed on the road overnight. Our village is located on the way from Ivankiv settlement to Bucha and Hostomel. So they drove on the main road all evening, stayed at night, and spent the night on the road.
My house is near the main road. A few days after February 25, Russians came and then stayed for a long time. First, they smashed our stores and started taking away food and other valuables. The occupiers broke into the school, the village council, the club — and made it all their bases. They wrote the V letter everywhere on the buildings. And then they just wandered around the village out of boredom. If they met someone on the street, they could undress that person to the waist, shoot him in the legs — I saw it with my own eyes.
Then they started going from house to house and doing a “census”. They knocked on the gate when someone came out, and demanded to show the passports. They rewrote names, and wrote down how many people and who lived in each house. We were told that they had come to “free” us, and were looking for “bandits”.
[An elderly woman is waiting for her son’s body in front of a collapsed building in Borodyanka, April 8, 2022.]
One day there was a shootout. The occupiers said that “there was a provocation from the peasants”, they say that “bandits” attacked them and Ukrainian troops came. And when the peasants asked which Ukrainian troops, if we saw with our own eyes that it was theirs, they just lowered their eyes and could not answer.
The occupiers asked the peasants where the guerrillas were, “those who live in the woods”. They approached people and said: “We have been told that we have already surrounded Kyiv, so we will say goodbye, Kyiv is already ours”. They were always given false information. They were convinced that they had blown up the Kyiv power plant. Some soldiers complained that they had been told they had to come here for just a few days but had been staying for more than a week. They checked our passports and asked: “I thought we were in Belarus, why are we in Ukraine?”
The soldiers stood here for a month and began to leave a week ago (on March 25). In about two hours, the new ones arrived — it was already the Rosgvardia [National Guard of Russia], there were about 200 people. They only said that they would go from house to house, and if there would be no one to open the door, they would break it down. It was forbidden to walk in groups of two or three persons. Russians themselves always walked in large crowds — 6-10 people. They were afraid to walk alone.
When the Rosgvardians left, they stole all laptops, computers, desks, and chairs from the school. They smashed all the cars that didnʼt work. They caused a lot of mess, it was filthy everywhere they were. They crashed what they couldnʼt take away and left early in the morning, no one saw how they left.
On the next day, April 1, the first two cars with the Ukrainian military arrived. When the locals saw our troops, all they could do was just crying.
Sergey Zhypetsky, Irpin
At first, [the Russians] started firing at Bucha and Hostomel settlements, We could see it from our windows, they are facing Bucha. We thought that if they fired there, thatʼs because of the military units or an airfield there. And our district in Irpin is just a residential complex, with nothing but houses and grocery stores. I thought that with the lake on one side and the forest on the other nobody would need our area.
Then there were explosions near our house, people got scared and went down to the basement. I went to the window, and the corner of the house next to mint exploded: someone fired at it from a cannon or a tank. “Thatʼs not good,” I thought. I wanted to call my wife to watch, and in a minute there was another explosion, so we grabbed our documents, and clothes, and went down to the basement as well.
[Destroyed Russian military equipment near a house shelled by the Russian army in the city of Irpin, April 7, 2022.]
On the second day, they started shelling our district — two, three, four houses were fired. It felt like they had a task to fire on every house.
We sat in the basements for about two weeks because the shelling was heavy. One day I went up to the apartment to check if it was intact. I look — and see a hole in the window. The wreckage or a bullet hit the window, pierced the wall in the bedroom, flew through the corridor, pierced the bathroom door and got stuck in the tiles. I thought it was a wreck of a house next door, but the neighbors said it was a sniper firing because it was a round hole. Many windows in our area had such holes.
We almost never went into the apartment anymore, we sat in the basement. The shellings were more and more often. Many houses in our area have been destroyed so much, as the movies show, or the news from Syria. We have never seen such a thing before, but here we saw it with our own eyes. I didnʼt understand the point of shelling this unfortunate area — a residential area with just three grocery stores and nothing more. Why spend bullets and shells on it?
Houses in Irpin, damaged by the Russian army, on April 2, 2022.
But shooting wasnʼt the scariest: we sat in a good basement, it was a real bomb shelter. The worst thing is that they [the Russians] quickly turned off the electricity, water, and communication. You sit in the dark with nothing, you do not know what is happening, who is where. The worst thing is the unknown. Well, and we had to cook. We made a fire, and it was impossible to breathe this smoke. You were like a mole: you sit in the dark, and when you go out, you are blind for the first half an hour.
We went out for a short time when there was no shooting, like prisoners go for a walk. We looked outside, breathed — and rushed again to the basement. When these orks (common name for Russian invaders among Ukrainians due to their barbaric cruelty and often low level of intellect) left, our troops appeared and said that we could leave. My wife says: “Well, why do we sit? Iʼm tired, letʼs go”. Now we are in Kyiv, where we have relatives and friends.
None of my friends were injured, and none of the residents of our house were injured. Then I met a neighbor and she said that one guy either went up to the roof to see what was happening, or went outside, and a sniper immediately fired at him. He was taken to hospital and underwent surgery, but did not survive. Then one of the elderly went out to sit in the gazebo outside in the yard — some bastards fired at the gazebo.
Yaroslav Briginets, nicknamed Makhach, was a boxer and fighter of the Ukrainian Azov regiment.
Biography Yaroslav Briginets was born in 2002. On February 13, 2021, “Makhach” took part in a boxing tournament in Mariupol and took first place there.
In 2021, the tournament brought together 26 fighters – who fought for the title of the best boxer in six weight categories.
On April 6, 2022, blogger Mila Akulova reported that Yaroslav Makhach Briginets had died.
“You always fought to the end… Yaroslav “Makhach” Briginets. And pulled out friends who came under fire,” she wrote on Facebook, posting a video with Makhach.
“Once in a conversation you said that you don’t want to be sadly mourned if something happens … We will not cry brother, we will avenge your death! You are a real man, warrior, and hero. A man who always smiled and came to the rescue in any situation – without self-interest. Only 20 years… It hurts,” she added.
On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed an open, full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.
Since then, the Russian invaders have been shelling Ukrainian cities and committing massacres of Ukrainian citizens.
Who is Stepan Tarabalka – and is he really the Ghost of Kyiv?
Stepan Ivanovich Tarabalka – Ukrainian pilot, Major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He has a Facebook page.
Biography: Stepan Tarabalka was born on January 9, 1993 in the village of Korolyovka, Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukraine. At the age of 13, he entered the Carpathian Military Sports Lyceum, and then – the Kharkiv National University of the Air Force «I. Kozhedub». Graduated in 2014. Became a pilot on the MiG-29 fighter. Married to Elena Tarabalka. The couple has a son.
Stepan Tarabalka with wife. Photo Source: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100017489643380
How Stepan Tarabalka died
On March 15, 2022, the chairman of Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankivsk region – Bohdan Stanislavsky – announced that Stepan Tarabalka died in battle against Russian military who invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
“Defending Ukraine from Russian invaders, a native of Korolivka, Major Stepan Tarabalka, died. We sincerely sympathize with his wife Elena, son Yaroslav, father Ivan, mother Natalia, and family. Stepan fought for the freedom and independence of our country. He guarded the sky against enemies. Eternal memory and respect to our defender!” Stanislavsky wrote on Facebook.
On March 19, 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky awarded Stepan Tarabalka the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously.
On March 23, 2022, the air command “West” of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote about Stepan Tarabalka.
“Heroes do not die – heroes are among us! Stepan Taralbalka is one of the romantics who had dreamed of becoming a military pilot since childhood. And he confidently went to his dream. At the age of 13, Stepan entered the Carpathian military sports lyceum, and then entered the flying military – Kharkiv National Air Force University named after Kozhedub, which he successfully graduated in 2014,” the message on Facebook says.
“This is an officer of the new generation of the Ukrainian army, who began his official career at the very time when the war came to Ukraine. Protecting his country was a conscious choice for him. Everyone who knew Stepan Tarabalka personally says that he is a real officer and a professional in his field. Subordinates are equal to people like him, and senior commanders are sure that everything in the units will be under control. On March 13, 2022, Major Stepan Taralka died in an air battle with the superior forces of the Russian invaders. The President of Ukraine awarded the pilot the title of “Hero of Ukraine” with the award of the Order of the “Gold Star” posthumously. Hero of Ukraine Stepan Tarabalka will always live in our hearts! Glory to the Heroes! We continue the fight against the occupiers!” – wrote the air command “West”.
Was Stepan Tarabalka the “Ghost of Kyiv?”
On February 27, 2022, a message about the “Ghost of Kyiv” appeared on the Telegram channel of the Security Service of Ukraine.
“He is called the ‘Ghost of Kyiv,’ although he protects our safety like a real Angel. In sky battles, the Ukrainian pilot has already shot down 10 aircraft of the invaders. Keep it up. Together we will win!” – the post says.
After that, from day to day there were new reports of the combat successes of the “Phantom of Kyiv.”
On March 24, 2022, messages began to appear in social networks that the deceased Stepan Tarabalka was supposedly the “Ghost of Kyiv.”
However, Violetta Kirtoka, a journalist for the Ukrainian edition of Censor.net, denied these rumors.
“There are strange reports about the death of the Ghost of Kyiv. So. The ghost of Kyiv asked me to convey: everything is fine with him. More details will follow in the article in the coming days. And the Illusive Man says, “Yes, our pilots are dying on missions. They are awarded high honors posthumously. And that’s right. Because they are all Heroes. But even in the ranks, there are as many pilots as the enemy never dreamed of. And they will destroy all the Russian scum who are bombing Ukraine.” And the Ghost of Kyiv is among them. Wait for a conversation with the Legend. It’s in the works,” she wrote on Facebook.
US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, rear center, delivers a speech as he hosts the meeting of the Ukraine Security Consultative Group at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, on April 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
This day is special for two reasons. One – it is a 36th anniversary of probably the worst human-made disaster in history. I talk about Chornobyl of course. Second reason – is the formation of the anti-Russian coalition. 40+ countries attended a summit today in Rammstein, Germany. The summit was all about support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. Pledges were made. Ukraine will get so needed help. I read some European FB group pages today, mostly German. The number of people calling to seize weapon supply to Ukraine and calling for peace with Russia is staggering. Reasons are various – “Russia will win anyway”, “the war will reach our doorstep”, “this is internal Russia problem (meaning Ukraine belongs to Russia)”, fear of WWIII and nuclear attack, and simply arguments such as peace will not be won with weapons. I do not want to sound like a war monger, but dear Germany (and EU), war is already at your doorstep. Because you were feeding the monster for 15 years, grooming his ego, falling to his ploys, paying him money, giving him weapons. And no, this is not Russia’s internal problem. Because Putin and his propagandists voiced their plans and hot wishes multiple times over the course of the last 15 years. If Ukraine falls, Moldova, Finland will be next. Then there will be a land bridge to Serbia. Baltic countries. And then Putin will decide that GDR was not such a bad thing after all. And I am sorry to say, but this is already a WWIII. Axis is already there – Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Tadzhikistan, Iran, Syria, Libya (with political support from Serbia, Hungary, North Korea and some other African countries). Allied powers just formed today – Ukraine, USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, Japan and multiple other countries. There is a stigma about World War that it has to be larger, longer and more devastating than the other two. Why? Technology lets us make things happen much faster than before. Weapons are beyond sophisticated. This conflict can be shorter, faster and with less casualties than the other two wars if everybody works together. It can still be nipped in the butt. As long as China stays neutral. And I am really sorry, but talks about peace and weapons not being a path to peace are prerogative of a fat, nurtured society which never faced or forgot about violence. Forgot so much that in fear of violence that society breeded monsters such as the Russian president. If I am being attacked to kill, I will not be pleading about peace with my attacker. Because it is way past beyond pleading. I think at this point pretty much every country leader who wanted to, tried to talk to Putin (including UN and religious leaders) without a smidge of success. He is simply deranged. As for nuclear threat, yes, unfortunately it exists. Again, with the way Russia treats its most elite and modern forces I can only assume it treats its strategic arsenal the same way. There are some reports from American observers of severe unkept conditions in multiple Russian nuclear silos. Most of their Satan rockets are probably out of the commission (because they were serviced by Ukraine), or if they are even launched – they are big, fat, slow and detectable. On the verge of the 1990s Russia had lots of issues with weapon-grade Uranium. It is very hard to make, takes years. Russia sold a large stock of it to the US. Russia had to un-enrich most the stock to use as fuel for its nuclear plants. Nobody knows exactly how much of weapons grade uranium they removed from the stockpile to use as fuel. Also, plutonium warheads are very hard to maintain, and have to be recharged every 10 years. This is extremely expensive especially if the arsenal is large. There is a very strong case to suggest that Russian arsenal is nowhere near as big as they claim it to be. Putin definitely will not be able to end the whole world. Russia however can launch a tactical nuclear strike – a smaller bomb to make a statement or subdue a country. If they will do it though, it will be the end of Russia as we know it. There is another interesting statistic – out of all Russian missile strikes on Ukraine – the ones which were not destroyed by air defense – only 39% hit the target, and even less than that – exploded. And those are mostly modern, “precise” Russian missiles. I doubt missiles which were sitting in silos or on vehicles for years and which are made with older technology will do any better. UK already mentioned that Ukraine attacking targets inside Russia shouldn’t lead to any questions – Ukraine has all rights to do so to knock out anything military related. Russia in answer already stated that they consider NATO targets lawful to attack if Ukraine hits something in Russian territory. However, Russia did not specify if those “NATO targets” will be located in Ukrainian or NATO territory. Ammunition storage was hit today in Russian Bryansk again. And Russia still maintains that it was… just negligence. Well, there you go, that’s the answer about what will Russia do. According to Russian propaganda yesterday from 2416 Ukrainian tanks 2410 were destroyed, and from 152 Ukrainian planes 140 were destroyed. So, according to them, Ukraine right now has 6 tanks and 12 planes left. While obviously this is laughable, there is an idea that Russian propaganda prepares their population for future talks about losses. Meaning that as of today they can pin their losses on NATO since NATO supplies Ukraine with tanks and other attack weapons. While NATO is hated in Russia, it will not be as shameful to experience heavy losses under NATO strikes. And it could justify the mobilization. All throughout Ukraine any monuments, street names or other object names related to Russia are being removed or changed. The biggest change was in Kyiv where the large statue erected in celebration of the “friendship” between Russia and Ukraine (from Soviet times) was removed. After de-communization comes de-russification. There is a big shift in strategy against Russia led by UK and the US. Nobody is talking about hurting Russia with sanctions anymore. Right now it is about Russian defeat on the battlefield. Finally! I talked mostly about stuff other than what is going on the ground. Partly because there is nothing much going on the ground. Russian “big push” in Donbas is failing to take momentum for 5? 7? days already. Izyum area is still threatened by Ukrainian troops, and Russians still perform their weird star-like attacks (in all directions). There was a slight movement in Donbas area but with heavy Russian losses. Ukrainian troops have moderate success in Kherson region, and Russians are planning what it looks like might be a suicide attack on Kryvi Rig. Unfortunately there are no changes in Mariupol. There are some weird attacks on various objects inside Transnistria (separatist region of Moldova bordering Ukraine). Transnistrian unrecognized authorities blame Ukrainian clandestine units. I seriously doubt that. All recent attacks in Russia shows that Ukrainian units get their job done. They don’t shoot couple shots at the building and run away. It seems like Russia is trying to create a reason for Transnistria to join the offensive against Ukraine. Which will be suicidal for them. Ukrainian missiles hit Russian command post and couple other objects on the Snake island. Yes, that island from the first day of the war. Cruiser “Moscow” already went to [y’all know – where the Ukrainian defenders told it]. Now, the island just needs to be taken back. P.S. The photo shows the very first step of the de-mounting of the Russia-Ukraine friendship monument.
~ written by Denys Bulikov
Supposedly, while trying to lift the monument by the heads, the head of the Russian counterpart fell off – quite fittingly. Heads are rolling in Russia
“There was an explosion or some shots. I was stunned. The back window shattered. And my husband shouted: get out of the car!”
Nine days after the war began in Ukraine, Victoria and her husband Peter decided to leave Chernihiv to keep their children safe. Twelve-year-old Veronika is Victoria’s daughter from her first marriage. The youngest daughter, Varvara, is only a year old.
They grabbed their basic necessities and left their house. When they got to the town’s outskirts, near the village of Yagodnoe, the road was blocked by rocks. Peter stopped, got out and started pulling them away.
A few seconds later their car came under fire.
“The splinter cut my head, I was bleeding. My older daughter was frightened,” Victoria recalled.
“Veronica started screaming, her hands were shaking, so I tried to calm her down. She got out of the car, I followed her. Afterwards she fell down. When I got closer, her head was not there anymore.
АВТОР ФОТО,
A Russian missile hit the car and a fire broke out.
“I was trying to stay calm, holding my younger daughter in my arms. I had to find a safe place.”
She never saw Peter again, but his silence told Victoria that he was dead, too.
She ran out of the burning car. The next 24 hours were a desperate attempt to survive.
Victoria and her little Varvara hid in a parked car, but then the shooting started again. She ran toward a small building where soldiers were clearly stationed. Hiding there, she thought about how to keep herself and her daughter safe.
The next day Russian soldiers found them and took them to Yagodnoye.
The mother and child spent the next 24 days in the basement of the local school. People were dying in front of Victoria’s eyes, without access to the necessary medical care.
There were 40 people in the room, according to her words. There were no lights, so they used candles and lighters. There wasn’t enough air, it was hard to breathe. They almost didn’t allow people to go to the bathroom, so they had to use buckets.
“The lack of movement made people sick, they were sitting on chairs, sleeping on chairs. We could see their veins, they were starting to bleed, so we made bandages,” Victoria recalls.
Under such conditions, Victoria had to face the terrible loss of her husband and eldest daughter in her mind. She says she had to hold on – as much as she could – focusing on saving the life of her youngest child.
Victoria asked the Russians to bring the bodies of Peter and Veronika to the school so she could bury them.
She also asked her ex-husband, Veronica’s father, to go to the vehicle wreckage and take pictures of the bodies’ remains. But you could barely recognize people in what was left of them.
АВТОР ФОТО,
Almost nothing was left of the burnt-out car: pieces of Veronica’s burnt-out clothes, a small bracelet with a heart-shaped pendant, and two license plates bleached from the fire.
Victoria remembers the day when the body parts of her husband and daughter were brought.
“It was March 12. They called me on the phone and said, ‘Let’s go and see where they will lie. They were buried in the woods, in two graves. And two crosses with signs.”
“We stayed there and began to fill the boxes with ground, but the shelling started, so we ran away, we didn’t have time to bury them. It was very scary.”
“If I was given the opportunity to shoot Putin, I would do it,” she answers. – My hand wouldn’t shake.”
АВТОР ФОТО,
Now Victoria and Varvara are staying in Lviv.
The day before our meeting, she visited a psychologist for the first time. “When I’m with people, when I’m doing something and communicating, I forget about what happened. But when I’m alone, it overwhelms me,” she says and cries.
She shows me a keychain – a cute little cow with a heart on her chest. It was a gift from Veronica. Attached to it is a small gold ring with engraved letters.
“It’s from church, she bought it for me. It’s an amulet, I feel it saved me. It was in my pocket. It’s been there all this time, protecting me.”
Ukrainian economist & university Professor in America, Roman Sheremeta’s commentary on Ukraine support stats:
Two months. It has been two months since the world had changed forever…
I think it is pretty clear by now that several European countries besides not expecting the fight Ukraine was able to put up (pretty much everybody did not expect that), were actually waiting and had plans for a different outcome.
Those are only rumors and my opinions. Not facts.
However…
Rumor has it that Germany was expecting the short war (3-5 days), most if not all Ukraine to be taken over, 3-4 millions of Ukrainian refugees to spread throughout the EU, couple sanctions here and there against Russia, forced peace deal between the leftover Ukraine (if any) and Russia, and after that – business as usual. Natural gas, oil, weapon components supplied to Russia – as we recently found out – German and French companies used a loophole in sanctions to supply Russia with some weaponry components, mostly electronics. Those weapons are used against Ukraine right now.
I can add Austria to that list.
If it wasn’t before, it is very clear and visible right now, that everything France and Germany did in 2014-15 when Ukraine signed Minsk accords – were attempts to give Russia what it wanted, and shut Ukraine up. To return to business as usual.
It is pretty clear that Ukraine fighting and asking for weapons, atrocities committed by Russians, all this publicity and bloody hoopla is very uncomfortable for German politicians. That’s why we have multiple German officials at the beginning of the war making ridiculous statements about Ukraine, that’s why we have “cultural leaders” in Germany signing letters to chancellor Scholtz asking him not to supply weapons to Ukraine, that’s why German supply of attack weaponry to Ukraine stays on paper (to my knowledge) even though production companies are ready. That’s why Austrian minister said that Ukraine will not be ready for the EU membership, and it would be unfair to proceed with Ukraine so fast (unfair to for example Serbia – the biggest Russia’s supporter in Europe).
That’s why I hate talks about Ukrainian EU candidacy in summer – I will believe it when I see it. Too many politicians in Germany, Austria, France, Hungary are just in love with Russian blood money.
Can anybody blame UK for leaving this circus?
Recently, also Switzerland stated that they will not supply ammunition for German supplied weaponry for Ukraine (apparently Swiss makes that ammo) due to their “neutrality position”.
I am pretty sure your neutrality, dear Switzerland, flew out of the window when you decided to go after Russian money a month ago.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think for now Ukrainian way into Europe is the only way to go. For now.
I just don’t want anybody to have any illusions. Germany is still dealing with its GDR (East Germany) communistic past – connections to the USSR and Russia are very strong. Soviet mentality, “mother Russia”, Stasi and all that.
And apparently even the best European politicians are not immune to temptation by money.
This Sunday was the Orthodox Easter.
Russian internet was full of religious cheer, love, and praise.
At the same time Russian soldiers were writing “Christ has risen” on the artillery rounds which they were about to send towards Ukrainian positions.
Cynical? Nah, Russians can fit it in their heads just fine.
Mariupol was attacked especially hard on Easter. With heavy bombs, missiles and artillery shelling. Russian troops were spreading Easter cheer in agreement with Putin’s statement about Mariupol (to remind you – Putin said couple days ago that attacks on Azovstal should stop).
Black is white, war is peace, hate is love, satan is god, Easter is a time… to attack.
This is the Russian way (not the Mandalorian way).
Ukraine had hopes (and many world religion leaders) about a possible cease fire on Easter, and maybe even some negotiations about green corridors.
One can only hope.
Outside Mariupol there are two places already where satellite images show long trenches dug. Mass graves which can accommodate anywhere between 3000 and 10000 people.
One of the mass graves Russian military dug around Mariupol – estimates vary on how many bodies they can accommodate – from thousands to ten thousand.
Zelenskiy mentioned that if Mariupol civilians and military personnel are killed, and/or Russia will conduct a fake referendum in Kherson, and/or Russia will forcibly mobilize Ukrainian citizens for war – all peace talks will seize. There will literally be nothing to talk about.
I would argue that this moment already came, but I do understand president’s hope.
My home city Odesa was struck by cruise missiles on Easter eve. This hit was different. If before Russians tried to hit military infrastructure, this time they just randomly shot at civilian buildings. Two or three missiles were taken out by air defense, but the rest hit the city.
From the several places in the city which were hit one stands out especially – 16-stories apartment building about 15 minutes from where I grew up. 8 people were killed in the strike with 18 wounded. One killed was a 3-month old girl (together with her mother).
Another missile hit Tairov cemetery with about 1000 square meters of graves destroyed.
Even dead Ukrainians scare Russians apparently.
Russian occupants en masse take grains from Kherson province and move them to Crimea. They also attempting to force farmers to sow wheat and sunflowers with the condition that 70% of harvest goes to Russia.
Have you ever heard of Holodomor? This had happened in 1932-33 when any kind of harvest was forcibly removed from Ukrainian and Kazakh farmers, even the grains which were needed for sowing. This artificially made starvation led to death of 3-5 millions of ethnic Ukrainians and 1.5 millions of Kazakhs. Empty lands, especially in the Eastern Ukraine were largely populated by Russians moved from other areas of the USSR (this is part of the reason why Russian language is so prevalent in the Eastern Ukraine).
So, there you go. Modern times, old methods.
Genocide.
How old are the methods?
In Bucha Russian troops used artillery rounds filled with flechette darts – nail-like things – to maximize civilian damage. Those rounds were used in WWI.
There are not too many changes in Donbas region. Russians keep attacking, and getting repelled. They moved their positions a bit in the south-east. Ukrainian troops moved their positions a bit in Kharkiv region.
So far Russia does not seem to be able to mount a serious breakthrough.
In Kherson region Ukrainian troops scored a big hit – the Russian command post was destroyed with multiple officers and troops.
And today (tonight really) one of the main Russian oil pipe in Bryansk was hit. Nobody is talking, but oil storage tanks and possibly the oil pipe itself are burning. The name of the oil pipe is ironic – “Druzhba” meaning “Friendship”. It supplies oil to Germany, Czech Republic and other EU countries from where it is delivered all throughout Europe.
Based on the above stats & info, is there a legitimate reason to question Germany, France’s ambivalence in the complexities of this war?
I mean, Europe keeps talking about refusing Russian oil. There are big talks about embargo. But talks for now. Supposedly oil embargo is in the next sanction package against Russia.
In the meantime it will be easier if the oil just stops flowing.
Ukrainians are joking that Russian cruise missiles are known to be “precise” – so it was a “precision hit”. However, since Russia is serious about switching to GLONASS and blocking GPS (another hilarious topic), this is what they got for using their “amazing” technology. The hit was precise, just about 300 miles off (distance to Kharkiv).
Slava Ukrayini!–
~ written by Denys Bulikov, illustrations added by Yuri
Yaroslav Makhach Briginets. Photo source: facebook.com/lili.brik.9406
Stepan Tarabalka with wife. Photo Source: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100017489643380
Texanian Mission: For King, Family, & Country. 