#war of agression

[tomorrowusa]

Yale Prof. Timothy Snyder is a leading US scholar of Eastern and Central European History. His knowledge of European history was the starting point for his examination of the threat to US democracy in his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.

Because of Dr. Snyder’s expertise and availability, he’s often quoted and featured in discussions in the media about the current conflict. He may be the US historian with the highest profile in 2022.

At Substack, Timothy Snyder makes the case that we have much to be grateful for from Ukraine.

Americans (and many others) owe Ukrainians a huge debt of gratitude for their resistance to Russian aggression. For some mixture of reasons, we have difficulty acknowledging this. To do so, we have to find the words. Seven that might help are: security, freedom, democracy, courage, pluralism, perseverance, and generosity.

A major case in point regarding security.

The major scenario for global conflict in the twenty-first century was thought to be a Chinese-American confrontation over Taiwan. As a result of Ukrainian resistance, Beijing sees the difficulties it would face in an offensive in Taiwan. The flashpoint of what most analysts regarded as the most likely (or even inevitable) scenario for major war has essentially been removed.

This debt is all but impossible for Americans to register. In daily press coverage, we are drawn to the headlines that make us feel threatened, or suggest that the war is somehow about us. This can prevent us from seeing the overall picture.

China has seen the catastrophe that Russia’s invasion has been for Putin. Xi is less likely to risk something similar in Taiwan. And aggressive countries in general who have armed themselves with Russian military hardware may now suspect that their equipment is largely crap.

But it’s something near and dear to Americans that we should be particularly grateful for. 

For me personally, the greatest debt concerns freedom. This is a word that we Americans use quite a lot, but we sometimes lose track of what it really means. For the past thirty years or so, we have fallen into a very bad habit of believing that freedom is something that is delivered to us by larger forces, for example by capitalism. This is simply not true, and believing it has made us less free. "The whole history of the progress of human liberty," Frederick Douglass said, "shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle." It will always be the case that freedom depends upon some kind of risky effort made against the larger forces. Freedom, in other words, will always depend upon an ethical commitment to a different and better world, and will always suffer when we believe that the world itself will do the work for us.

By choosing to resist invasion in the name of freedom, Ukrainians have reminded us of this. And in doing so, they have offered us many interesting thoughts about what freedom might be. Volodymyr Zelens'kyi, for example, makes the interesting point that freedom and security tend to work together.

Ukraine has shown us what it takes to persevere as a country.

Ukrainians have demonstrated extraordinary perseverance. The decision to resist at the beginning, crucial thought it was, has to be followed by that same decision, over and over, hour after hour, day after say, shelling after shelling, bombing after bombing, missile attack after missile attack, drone strike after drone strike. Ukraine is a country where most of the population has had to leave their homes, where whole cities have been destroyed, where millions of people right now are denied access to electricity and water. Winter is coming, and the Ukrainians persevere.

Everything that the rest of us gain from Ukrainian resistance -- in terms of security, freedom, democracy, courage, pluralism -- depend upon this capacity to persevere. 

Some nitwits, MAGA zombies on the right and “tankies” on the left, whine that the US is giving Ukraine too much. I would argue that we haven’t given Ukraine enough for what the Ukrainians have done for us.

This is an excellent move. Destroy Russian planes launching missiles which kill Ukrainian civilians.

US finalizing plans to send Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine  

The least we can do is to help Ukraine drive out the invaders and war criminals.

[kamogryadeshi]

This is what Vovchansk looks like now, in the Kharkiv region, which is under constant Russian fire

[thyinum]

Good fucking morning from Ukraine after the massive shelling by russia with almost everything they've got. I personally heard pretty loud explosions over my head. Thanks to our air defence I am alive.

But still there are lots of injured people across all the country as well as some dead.

"Gentle" reminder that russia is a terrorist state

Upd: the numbers of injured and killed are growing

[anastasiareyreed]

the russians shelled Ukrainian hospital during surgery. what is it, if not genocide and terrorism? Europe and the United States must recognize russia as a terrorist state!

don't be silent about russia's crimes, please continue to support Ukraine! don't let your politicians betray Ukraine, Ukraine needs help to defeat russia. real help that the USA and Europe are obliged to provide us according to the agreements.

[xoheisse]

an "ordinary russian" man : "I want to catch a 16-year-old khokhlushka (slur for a ukrainian woman) whose father died near Bakhmut, take off her underwear and tights, leave her only with a t-shirt with the inscription “Everything will be Ukraine”and roar to deflower her, kissing her tears and looking at her into the eyes where the pupils dilate to the size of Mother Russia."

these are the people you like to infantilise and justify so much btw

[suratan-zir]

The russians bombed a nursing home in Sumy with a glide bomb. Why? Because they can. They have a shittone of heavy glide bombs which they drop from their warplanes and flatten everything they can reach around the border.

Every day.

[pretordh]

[pettania]

On February 20, 2014, Russian soldiers with weapons but without identification marks invaded Ukrainian Crimea. Soon, Russia occupied the peninsula, began armed aggression in the east of Ukraine, and in 2022 — a full-scale war.

Ukraine has been fighting for freedom, justice, and peace for ten years. We fight to liberate Crimea and every Ukrainian village, town, and city. But most importantly, we fight for people who are subjected to terror and intimidation in the temporarily occupied territories yet resist Russia's suppression and wait for Ukraine.

We are at our home, we are with our people, with our dream of a peaceful future and duty to protect what's ours. No one will take our freedom. Because we know what we are fighting for.

[magnetaz6]

* Two years ago on this date, the russian federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

* To this day, mass racial genocide occurs throughout the country.

* Never forget this. Don't forgive anyone who is guilty.

* Never stop talking. Any silence, ignorance and apoliticality is only support for all these actions and will help the main enemy.

Everything will be Ukraine.

[oak-n]

kakhovka

[dymdrimluga]

Today there was another Russian massive attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Even yesterday there were no power outages at all during the day, today there will be no electricity until midnight in the place where I am currently located.

The schedule for tomorrow looks like this. Green - time when electricity will be available, orange - blackout. I highlighted my schedule in red

I can use the ipad to draw with procreate, but I can't do layout in InDesign or do anything in Blender. Or I have very limited time for it.

This is what the consequences of such an attack look like for the population, just imagine that you are freelancing or working remotely in the same conditions

[kamogryadeshi]

‼️Approximately 110 missiles were launched by Russia, most of them were shot down, - Zelenskyi

Maternity hospital, educational institutions, shopping center, high-rise buildings and private houses, commercial warehouse, parking lot. Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and our other cities.

Today, Russia was fighting with almost everything it has in its arsenal: "daggers" ("kyndzhaly"), S-300, cruise missiles, UAVs. Strategic bombers launched X-101/X-505. Approximately 110 missiles were fired, most of which were shot down.

Unfortunately, as a result of the shelling, there are dead and wounded.

[billornot]

"As a result of russian wars against Ukraine, 177 medical facilities were completely destroyed, more than 1,400 were damaged."  The russians want to destroy Ukraine as a country and Ukrainians as a nation. They kill Ukrainian children, and those who are not killed are kidnapped and "reeducated" as russians. This is real genocide. Today, during a massive missile attack on Ukraine, dozens of people died, the russians did it to them. We always need more weapons and more air defense, always. Think about it every minute, because we live like this every day.

[anastasiareyreed]

russians once again prove that they are terrorists and criminals

«I wanted to give the camera to the owners, but couldn't find them. hope you can help» — journalists received this message from a Ukrainian soldier who found a stolen camera abandoned by russians running away from Ukrainian forces.

in addition to old photos of the Ukrainian family who owned this camera and several photos of the russians themselves, the journalists found a terrible video showing the russians capturing civilians, blindfolding them, tying them all together and chaining them up. adults, children and animals.

important clarification: this video was not shot on the camera mentioned in the message. that camera stolen by the russians just belongs to the residents of the village in the video!

full video with investigation ‼️

the russians kept the hostages in the basements for about a month without food and water, tortured them. this is what Ukraine will look like if our partners stop helping us.

we have already seen similar footage in which the russians led captured Ukrainians and then shot them.

it is scary to imagine what other russian crimes we are not aware of. please do not let russian propaganda push Ukrainians out of the information field. all these horrors can be stopped only by defeating russia. there can be no talk of any "negotiations" and peace agreements with russia. all that russia wants is to destroy Ukrainians as a nation. stand with us in this fight. stand with Ukraine!

[xoheisse]

russia has committed at least 137,000 war crimes in Ukraine

"As of today, there are at least 137,000 reasons for us to continue this work and to bring it to an end. 137 thousand is the number of war crimes committed by russia at the moment - that is what is known. Crimes against peace and humanity, against our state, against our people." - Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

[suratan-zir]

This is Raisa Ivanivna, a retired Ukrainian language teacher from Avdiivka. Her beloved cat Mashka sits on her back.

Currently, the Russians are trying to surround Avdiivka, erasing the city from the face of the earth in the process, as they have already done with many other eastern Ukrainian cities.

There are still civilians in Avdiivka, mostly elderly people, who refuse to evacuate and leave the ruins of their homes. Russian propagandists on state TV urge not to feel sorry for those who stayed in the city and to raze Avdiivka to the ground, because "the lives of Russian soldiers are more valuable". And compare the residents who remained in Avdiivka with the Germans of Berlin, whom "no one felt sorry for in 1945 either."

For those who still believe Russian propaganda: this is the Donbas, Avdiivka is a city in the east of Ukraine, with mostly Russian-speaking population. These are the "people of the Donbas" whom Putin supposedly "protects and liberates". This is russian liberation.