It always amazes Ross how people from other parts of the globe decide to go and fight for another country – just because they believe it is the right thing to do.
Most of them are young guys around his age, sacrificing their time, health and lives for our cause.
At another meeting, Ross saw Sam sitting with others, actively discussing the details of their plan.
There was something about this guy that made him look different from everyone else.
Weeks of living in trenches do not give you the opportunity for luxuries like a shower.
They looked rough: exhausted and skinny.
Bruised bodies were lying all over the floor of the room that Ross entered.
Moaning and heavy breaths filled the room.
Most of these Russian soldiers were in some way wounded, so the Ukrainian medics were preparing to give them medical treatment before they were taken for a future prisoner exchange.
Observing what they are going through every day, it shows you what they are paying as a nation for the opportunity for the rest of the country to live.
The ‘bloom of the nation,’ they call it here in #Ukraine.
And the bloom – the best among them – are all there sacrificing themselves.
There are new reports of Ukrainians pushing eastward from #Kherson, an area that hasn’t seen much fighting in recent days.
It’s a surprise, and it’s unclear whether it was a small-scale raid or the start of something much more significant.
BIDEN MULLS NEW MASSIVE AID REQUEST:
While the House of Representatives is in chaos, the president is considering a new $100 billion request that would fund the aid to #Ukraine, Taiwan and #Israel, Reuters reports.
This reportedly includes $60b for #Ukraine and $10b for Israel.
This would merely be a request, as Congress needs to consider and pass funding legislation.
… AND BIG SPEECH TONIGHT:
The president is expected to deliver a primetime speech Thursday evening linking the issues together, in just the second formal Oval Office speech since he became president, per the NYT.
All eyes are on President Biden, who will deliver a speech this evening laying out why aid to #Ukraine, #Israel and #Taiwan – places far away from American shores – should be considered worth it.
How should he frame it?
Americans view the avoidance of escalation, and the prevention of further Ukrainian suffering, as more important than defending Ukraine's territorial integrity, or the concept of democracy, The Eurasia Group Foundation finds in a new poll.
While most #Americans think the #Biden administration has handled the war well, here is where Ukrainian and American opinions are most likely to diverge:
a majority of Americans – 58 percent – think the U.S. should push for negotiations to settle the war in #Ukraine.
Americans are also muddled on the strategic purpose of U.S. foreign policy.
A plurality of Democrats believe it should be to promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law; while a plurality of Republicans believe it is to protect ourselves from foreign threats.
Russia’s main goal in the region, she told me, was to ensure that violence over there (as well as that pesky notion that people should be able to choose their own governments and destinies) doesn’t spill over into its own backyard.
This explains its interest in #Syria, for example.
Despite setbacks in #Ukraine, Russia still believes that it is a prominent and powerful leader in world affairs.
“#Russia tries to be central to all the conflicts in the region,” Notte said.
“I doubt that Russia was involved in planning it or providing military or intelligence or logistic support for it,” Notte said, adding that she has seen no evidence to support claims otherwise.
But she made 3 points worth looking at with regard to how Russia is impacted by Hamas’ attacks and the Israel-Hamas war.
Finally, she said that while there’s no evidence that #Russia aided #Hamas, she believes that, by supporting Iran, Russia helped foment the environment for Hamas to attack #Israel.
Today’s Dog of War is Richie, this cute little pup passed along by our colleague Alessandra, who spotted him at the Center for Urban History in Lviv.
@timkmak These are uninformed Americans, or vatniks. The more information people have, the more they support Ukraine and its right to determine its own future.
@timkmak A majority of Americans pay almost no attention and a portion watch news which is Russia friendly. They're also largely ignorant of how their own government works...for the same reasons.
@timkmak re 58% of USians think negotiations are the way to go in Ukraine.
The same USians who couldn't find Ukraine on a map? Who have no idea of the common histories of the two countries? And no idea of the history of atrocities Russians have done in Ukraine? (I'm ethnically part Russian.)
People in the US tend to have even less understanding of anything happening elsewhere than they do of their own country. It's just silly to poll them on such questions!
@timkmak well, if the US doesn't care about territorial integrity of Palestine (not to mention the decades long violence against them), it is only natural the same is valid for Ukraine
@timkmak This is a global war of autocracy vs democracy. In some places it is hot and others cold. It is waged using weapons, the internet and economics. If we are not willing to oppose these forces, we will be consumed by them. They will not peacefully co-exist.
@timkmak Dear Ross, Tim, Ukrainians, and soldiers fighting with Ukraine, we see your pain, we share your agony in loss. Ukraine will continue to bloom with victory in peace.🌻
There is a poem written by the Norwegian lyricist and war-correspondent Nordahl Grieg during World War II, "De Beste", which talk about this fear.
I haven't found a translation or re-writing into English of the poem, but here is a rough attempt at a workmanlike translation at the prose level: http://dimnakorr.com/de_beste/de_beste.txt
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