Ukraine Russia War #7

[under the ivy]

I’m in the last year of my 20s and for the past few years I’ve lived through a pandemic and now seemingly a war in Europe. Call me naive, but I never thought I would experience any of those things. I hope I don’t sound self-indulgent but I’m sure many of us reading this thread feel the same way. I’m tired.

 

[Nora Fenn]

I did chuckle today when my 92 yr old mother-in-law reported "Can you believe M&S and loads of other shops won't sell to them now- this is getting serious".

And to think, she was evacuated in WW2 but yep M&S pulling out of Russia, that'll show him

This is not just a boycott, this is an M&S boycott

 

[Gym&Tonic]

The President if Iran just tweeted this. The President of fucking Iran!

 

[knickerbocker glory]

Its breaking my heart to think of all the animals that will have been left behind too

 

[Rayne]

People saying surrender is crazy to me. Imagine Putin attacking the UK and people wanting to surrender to him- what kind of life would you have? You’d be living in a dictatorship with him lording over you. I’d honestly rather be dead than live in a situation like that, the Ukrainians are absolutely doing the right thing fighting for their country

 

[ordinaryjelly]

I'm just really struggling with this. And I'm a kid who grew up in Belfast. I know what a bomb was or an indiscriminate shooting was, I'm not some naive white Princess with no idea about the *other* world. I have visited Ukraine and have been to many of those town squares that we now see lit up by gun fire, those city buildings we now see destroyed, hosted many fun nights drinking Horilka with Ukrainians who had never had a good football team but embraced the EUROs with open arms, kind hearts and smiles, not Nazis. Seeing all those so needlessly destroyed weighs heavily on my heart. I cannot imagine the fear and terror of those same people having to hide under ground for endless hours knowing that their home and life was being destroyed above them by an enemy with no real cause.

I moved my family to Asia almost 20 years ago for my husband's job. We visited Bali as soon as the terror threat was lifted after the 2002 bombing because I believe wholly in speaking with our feet. We went into areas of Indonesia that were recently under attack so that we could spend money and help them rebuild. If it weren't for covid we would be living in India now, instead we are back in England.

We came back to a town that in 2018 was the victim of a Russian nerve agent attack. The after effects are still felt here today.

Russia has attacked here and given they saw no fault at all with releasing a nerve agent they developed into a sleepy English town known only for its Cathedral, the Magna Carta and proximity to Stonehenge. No one here knew a 'Russian traitor' was their neighbour, no one here knew that one day the KHB old guard would come knocking.

Do you really, truly know, absolutely that you don't have a former Russian spy living in your neighborhood?

And today. We have all watched the last week unfold. Watched a Ukrainian people unite and defend their homeland. We all know Putin assumed he was going to roll right through the country and take over Kyiv with little battle. Instead the Ukrainians heard a call to arms and have answered, with home made grenades and rifles they have never fired before. As one united people and good golly did they surprise us all. As Zelenskyy said in his recent video "They wanted us to be silent. But the whole world was behind us"

I have a photo of myself sat on these white steps:

But it isn't about me. Those buildings were bars, businesses, homes. And they are gone. Imagine what it would be like for your home to look like this?

And then this video :



And we have to wonder just what is coming next?

I believe our world from February 23rd 2022 is gone forever. This day was likely always coming.

But I'm done. Elon Musk is a prize prick, but I'm good for him to take a chance on sending me to Mars. I'll take my chances on life therec rather than live on the cess pit we have created here.

 

[Yel]

Continue here

Everyone is welcome but can I ask that you read the current few pages before contributing so you're not sharing something that's already been discussed or sharing old news.

Please do keep the sources of anything posted - helps so people can figure out if it's legit or not.

If you want to say thanks for a post, I agree or send someone love please use the reactions rather than quoting just to say a few words as lots have limited time to read the thread so we try to avoid messages that aren't adding to the conversation.

If you want to just talk about Pres Z he's got a thread here - https://tattle.life/threads/volodymyr-zelenskyy-president-of-ukraine.27822

Don't be offended if your post about helping is deleted and added here, best to have it in one place where people can make an informed choice:

Spoiler: Ways to help

The Red Cross in Ukraine | British Red Cross

Learn how the Red Cross is helping people in Ukraine with humanitarian aid including mobile healthcare, psychological support, food, and fuel.

www.redcross.org.uk

Home

DEC charities are using the £158 million donated by the UK public to provide vital aid to hundreds of thousands of people, helping them on the long road to recovery.

www.dec.org.uk

Wladimir Klitschko's links - https://zez.am/act.now.by.klitschko

Ukraine help: What can people in the UK do?

Aid charities are working in Ukraine while grassroots groups are ready to support refugees.

www.bbc.co.uk

Charities that help the war effort

• Save Life: This NGO crowdfunds non-lethal military equipment, such as thermal vision scopes & supplies it to the Donbas front lines. It also provides training for Ukrainian soldiers, as well as researching troops’ needs and social reintegration of veterans.
• Donbas SOS: This organization helps those who live in the Donbas war zone, those who relocated to other parts of Ukraine, and freed prisoners of war. It offers legal support, accommodation assistance, and psychological aid among other things.
• Crimea SOS: This organization has been helping internally displaced people from Crimea since Russia occupied the peninsula in 2014. It documents Russian authorities' repressions against Crimeans and advocates for the end of the occupation.
• Hospitallers : This is a medical battalion that unites volunteer paramedics and doctors to save the lives of soldiers on the frontline. They crowdfund their vehicle repairs, fuel, and medical equipment.

Charities that help children

• Tabletochki: This foundation has been supporting children with cancer for 10 years. They procure medicines, equipment, and arrange overseas treatment, among other things.
• ChildrenWeWillMakeIt: This movement grew out of a campaign that raised $2 million to get the world's most expensive medicine for a Ukrainian boy with spinal muscular atrophy. It now fundraises for the treatment of other Ukrainian children with SMA.
• Ruka ob Ruku: This is a running club for children with disabilities. The initiative gives children an opportunity to train and take part in races together with their parents and volunteers.

Charities for the elderly

• Happy Old: This charity provides older people across Ukraine with groceries and medicine, holds educational, entertainment, and sports events, as well as helps with employment. They even created a modeling agency for the elderly.
• Let's Help: This charity cares for older people living alone and helps state retirement homes. They also advocate for better treatment of older people by the state, including providing people aged 60+ with easy access to education.
• Starenki: It’s a charitable initiative devoted to issues of old age in Ukraine. They help lonely seniors by providing them with groceries and hygiene products.

Charities that help women

• Women Perspectives: This organization has been helping women who have faced domestic violence, discrimination in the labor market, and other issues. The NGO works with local and state authorities to promote pro-equality gender policies in Ukraine.
• Marsh Zhinok (Women’s March): Every year, on March 8, this initiative holds a rally promoting gender equality and the protection of women from gender-based violence. Currently, the organization is petitioning for Ukraine to adopt the Istanbul Convention.

Charities for blood donation

• Blood Agents: It is an NGO that promotes regular, conscious and gratuitous blood donations. They have encouraged people to donate blood over 5,000 times over the past six years.
• Donor UA: It is an automated system for recruiting and managing blood donors, designed to promote the donor movement in Ukraine. You can help by signing up and donating blood or by supporting the project with money donation.

Charities for animals

• Sirius: Is the largest shelter for stray animals in Ukraine established in 2000. Its capacity is over 3,000 animals. The institution crowdfunds for animal feed, veterinary drugs, construction and repair of enclosures, and other needs.
• Happy Paw: Is a charity dedicated to solving the problems of homeless animals in Ukraine. The charity helps owners find lost animals, sterilizes domestic animals of people in need & holds lectures on humane treatment of homeless animals for schoolchildren.
• UAnimals: Is a movement for protecting animals from exploitation & abuse. The organization managed to achieve a ban on animal circuses & persuaded many designers participating in Ukrainian Fashion Week to abandon natural fur.

Charities for the environment

• Ukraine Without Waste: It is a Ukrainian non-profit promoting the practice of sorting household waste. They educate companies on how to go green at their offices, and hold lectures for the wider public.
• Laska: It’s a chain of two charity stores in Kyiv that promote conscious shopping. They accept donated clothes, resell 15% of them, and send the rest to orphanages, homes for the elderly and centers for people with disabilities.

Charities for the homeless

• Help the homeless: This initiative supports homeless people & the elderly in need, by providing them with free meals, medicine, hygiene products, clothes & shoes. Launched by a group of volunteers in 2016, the organization has been relying on crowdfunding.
• Suka Zhizn: This organization grew big from a 2017 Instagram account launched to tell stories of homeless people. Now volunteers provide various support to the homeless: employment, sorting out documents, searching for relatives & legal counseling.

Charities for investigative journalism

• Slidstvo: Is an independent agency launched in 2012 that produces award-winning documentaries exposing corruption. They have investigated mismanagement of prisons, fraud, money laundering at PrivatBank & the assassination of journalist Sheremet.
• UKRPravda News: Founded in 2000 by Gongadze, a prominent journalist who was killed the same year, this publication is among the most influential in Ukraine. The reporters break political scoops and unmask officials who abuse their power.
• Zaborona Media: This is an independent media outlet founded by journalists. They investigate topics such as violations of Ukrainian workers’ rights in the Middle East, arms trafficking, and corruption in the construction sector.

Charities that preserve Ukrainian cultural heritage

• Parkhomivka Museum: The museum, located in a small village in eastern Kharkiv Oblast, is an 18th-century villa that offers a permanent collection of exhibits by artists as iconic as Picasso, Malevich & Manet. You can support it by coming & buying a ticket.
• Save Kyiv Modernism: Is a movement that unites architects, designers and activists who advocate for the protection of the remarkable Soviet modernist structures across Ukraine.
• FrankivskToCareAbout: Is a movement for the preservation of architectural heritage in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk. Founded in 2016, the initiative renovates old wooden doors of the city's ancient buildings.

 

[SunshineRae]

What a guy…..

 

[thegirlscout]

The President if Iran just tweeted this. The President of fucking Iran!

Former President (I think?) but - like the tweet below says “When an Iranian professional torturer tells you you've gone too far that's saying something”!!


Crikey, is he ok? Has his account been hacked? He does know that Zelensky is a Jew and, well, he hates Jews…

 

[strawb]

so i wrote my masters on the topic of putin (i won't be too specific haha but it's within international relations) and it's published on an academic website. every day i've been getting notifications about someone reading it/downloading it/searching for it etc. today i got a weekly report which said traffic on my page went up by 500%. i had to re-read it over the last couple of days to check if i wrote anything questionable or anything positive about vlad there were some reads from russia too!

 

[Autisteuse]

Why do you believe that 2022 is any different to any other year? Western values aren't, and never have been shared by other nations. Do you think Putin gives a shit about climate change, gender neutral pronouns, Black lives matter, or if AirBNB withdraw services?

I actually blame progressive liberalism and fifth wave feminism (not feminism in general: I am proud to be a feminist) for a lot of our current ills. Shrill postmodern echo chambers in which feelings trump and overturn logic - because logic is perceived as part of white, Western dominance - have led to utter toxicity where people are validated for having the 'right' feelings and crushed and doxxed for going against the status quo. Identity politics have resulted in segregation of a kind not seen since the 1960s. All this nonsense - and it is nonsense, and it is a hill I will die on - over pronouns, -ophobias and -isms, denying biology etc - has polarised people on left and right. And all the time we have had a force of sheer evil in our midst. One who is prepared to commit genocide, to whom morals and the value of human life mean nothing. And the West has appeased him over and over again. Now his troops are shelling a NUCLEAR REACTOR.
I'm sorry if I sound a bit shouty - it just makes me so furious that while we are being forced to tie ourselves in knots over they/them, the greatest threat since Hitler has been allowed to run amok.

 

[Autisteuse]

I maybe wrong but I believe the Ukrainian government has been funding some unpleasent far right groups in the separatist areas as it was seen as the best choice to fight the pro-Russian and Russian armed groups. That's probably where the Nazi reference comes from.

But it's been massively exaggerated to claim the whole country are like the far right groups. It's often a lot more complex than good vs bad.

Azov Brigade - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Zelenskiy, a Jewish man, won the election with 73% of the vote. The far right/pro-Nazi candidate got 1.6%.
Doubt Putain wants that pointed out to ordinary Russians.

 

[Sunlifeover50]

I can’t believe #istandwithputin is trending on Twitter. Seriously Twitter is just the pits

 

[thegirlscout]

I’ve just realised the harsh reality of this situation.
We can’t step in and help because then Putin will basically start a nuclear war.
We can do nothing. Ukraine will fall, there will be a year or two of quiet then Putin will move onto the next country.
But what exactly can we do. Basically nuclear war that will destroy whole countries?
We are screwed if we intervene. Ukraine is screwed if we don’t. Basically unless Putin goes, this is the pattern until he’s got what he wants. He won’t go for NATO countries because whilst he’s a maniac he’s not stupid. He’s got us over a barrel and he knows it.

What a mess.
But what are we supposed to do?
I don’t want be signed up to a nuclear war. Does anyone?

If U.K. went to war then we would be screwed. Not just because of military issues but can you really see the majority of our able bodied citizens actually defending their country? Ukraine has this intense love of their country and want to fight back against Russia. Here we can’t decide what is a woman. People get arrested for using the wrong pronoun. It’s pathetic.

 

[indigoipswich]

Just watching Sky news and this really stuck with me, from one of their military analysts:

“Last Thursday the world changed. This is like 9/11, like November 1989 when the wall fell. We have entered a new era in the world”.

 

[monga]

 

[VC10]

Unpopular opinion maybe but I think the best solution would be for Ukraine to surrender now, they’ve taken such a beating, I don’t think them winning is a possibility at all as he’ll just keep attacking until there’s nothing left. The whole world is hanging on by a thread I feel, I understand people saying no one seems to feel the same panic as them, I’m the same, I’m so scared of death anyway I used to have panic attacks thinking about it when I was younger but when people think it isn’t affecting them I just think how?! I know we’re not in the middle of the battle ground and we’re not sheltering in bunkers or had our houses or villages blown up but isn’t it just a matter of time before it is us and the rest of the world. I don’t like to be pessimistic, I think having young children I just feel useless and want to protect them but can’t kind of thing

No, if it was us here in Great Britain , we would fight to protect ours and our own. We all would. We would fight on our front driveways with a bread knife in our hands, if we had to protect our kids, wouldn't we. We would go down fighting. The ukranians are used to a harder life being where they are, their harsher climate , economy , history with the old USSR ; they will - and must- fight for what they believe in , democracy, their personal freedoms & not succumb to a dictatorship. They will get all the help they need - short of fighting for them . Vast amounts of stuff is going in there now to assist them, the whole World is helping with aid etc.
Sanctions will topple him and Russia. Its biting heavily now. Its unfortunate that the Russian populace will suffer, but they are used to that & brainwashed anyway. Any hardships and it's always " the West's fault" , etc.........

 

[nbt]

The psychological impact on lots of people will be huge, especially when they kill Zelensky. We won't have seen anything like it, think Princess Di x 10 billion.

Let’s not write him off, he doesn’t deserve that

 

[reCAPTCHA]

virtue signalling, load of influencers at it too.

I did chuckle today when my 92 yr old mother-in-law reported "Can you believe M&S and loads of other shops won't sell to them now- this is getting serious".

And to think, she was evacuated in WW2 but yep M&S pulling out of Russia, that'll show him

 

[Yel]

Has anyone seen Tony Blair? Usually you can't shut him up from chiming in with his pearls of wisdom.

Could it be because he welcomed Putin into the UK and actively encouraged the Russians dirty money to be laundered? In fairness the Tories did nothing to try and stop what new labour started as it suited them also.