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I have no words...
cant help but feel like the world as we know it has irreparably been changed. and here we were thinking the pandemic had changed us irreparably. i wistfully remember the good old days of just pandemic.
— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) February 25, 2022
Read the whole thread.
Yesterday’s post was very focussed. This is going to be a ton of different things, so I’m putting it all under a cut. Just a sort of rambling snapshot of this moment in time… I have tried to do subheadings, mostly for my own sake.
Before anything else, a timely reminder:
There are few things to me that demonstrate more the need to give people the space to study military history than listening to people who think a few Twitter threads or podcasts give them a full picture of the utter horror that is war.
— John Bull (@garius) February 26, 2022
And history is forever repeating itself. :(
The image on the cover is, of course, from the Bayeux Tapestry. It shows a woman and a child, fleeing a house as it's burned by Norman soldiers - the innocent victims of a war they didn't start. pic.twitter.com/kvzO1MM7Dz
— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) February 24, 2022
Our Lady of Kyiv - arguably the greatest icon painting in existence - was commissioned from an unknown Byzantine artist around 1132 by Prince Mstislav of Kyiv. Mstislav was the son of King Volodymyr Monomakh of Kyiv Rus. pic.twitter.com/iPFXwpMTZn
— Incunabula (@incunabula) February 24, 2022
(You can read more here.)
A collection of snapshots from Ukraine:
I don’t know if this particular video is what it says it is, but I’m pretty sure the rest is all verified, more or less. Treat with caution (I say, as I post a million tweets...)
A young boy plays the piano in a Kharkiv hotel lobby as unconfirmed reports come in that Russians troops are advancing on the city. pic.twitter.com/bWFvgM1N7X
— Whitney Leaming (@wleaming) February 24, 2022
This evening, Ukraine will open a hotline for mothers, fathers, wives of the Russian occupiers who came to Ukraine with weapons but were captured or killed. The line will be called "Come back alive from Ukraine!" - Adviser to Internal Ministry reported (https://t.co/Bc9J31nMlf).
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) February 26, 2022
Young Russian soldier cries as the local residents of Sumy tell him that he is not welcome in their country.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 26, 2022
🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/rIwHqtlzRB
Women making firebombs to defend their city
Civilians walk back Russian tank
Main Ukrainian TV channel: Take off the street signs around Kyiv if you can. Russian occupants are disoriented and don’t know their way around Kyiv, they’re driving around in circles 😉
— Валерія Voshchevska 🇺🇦 (@Val_Voshchevska) February 26, 2022
Audio from Snake Island, Black Sea:
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 24, 2022
Russians: This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you’ll be bombed.
Ukrainians: Russian warship, go fuck yourself.
They were all killed https://t.co/uNqh5b9L8C
(They might not be dead??)
Ways to help:
Unicef Ukraine Appeal
If you want to support Ukraine, consider donating to:https://t.co/RKCwdm7RsR - a charity providing psychological support to children with war traumahttps://t.co/wVM7v5P9ki - a suicide prevention line for veteranshttps://t.co/5CTxuk1WVr - a charity providing assistance to IDPs
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) February 23, 2022
Please let me know others & I will add them.
The world is very very strange.
If both the Pope and Afghanistan's Taliban govt support Ukraine, then there's definitely something wrong with Russia.
— English Lugansk (@loogunda) February 25, 2022
It's a weird world where the verified account of the Associated Press is shamed into deleting their refugee NFT by Jorts the cat.
— Laura Shortridge-Scott 💙 (@DiscordianKitty) February 26, 2022
I'm not sure most American voters realize the heroic Ukrainian president everyone is praising is the exact same guy Donald Trump was impeached for trying to extort.
— Max Berger 🇺🇦 (@maxberger) February 26, 2022
This is an encouraging thread:
After one of my @CNN appearances, one of the anchors asked me off-air why I had confidence in Ukraine's army to push back agains the illegal Russian military onslaught.
— Mark Hertling (@MarkHertling) February 25, 2022
I used a bit of "battlefield math" to explain my rationale. 1/16
Ukrainians mocked that Russian tanks were weak and tattered inside. pic.twitter.com/vQJU1gUmJW
— Serikzhan Bilash (@SerikzhanBilash) February 26, 2022
This is not encouraging. :(
Can we please take a drop of the outrage we feel at Putin colonising the Ukrainian people and apply it to the fact that British weapons are being used to blow up hospitals & school children in Yemen?
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) February 25, 2022
We failed to stop Russia's war crimes, but we're SUPPORTING Saudi Arabia's.
It's unbelievable how accurate this old map is. pic.twitter.com/TxEBeR7yIq
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) February 27, 2022
And a thread of reporters saying the quiet part out loud (not that it isn't understandable, but):
I'm going to start a thread of these incidents of insidious racism in the media coverage of the Ukrainian crisis, because I've just been seeing so damn many. https://t.co/xKMo2d568s
— S. (@saratu) February 26, 2022
Our government being true to form (why is the future so depressing?):
A Home Office Minister telling Ukrainians fleeing war to apply for seasonal visas designed for fruit-pickers.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) February 26, 2022
A shameful moral vacuum at the heart of government.
Ukrainians need and deserve a simple sanctuary route to the UK. pic.twitter.com/7lXE9LhGlW
A 69-year-old widow has been denied a visa to join her daughter, who has indefinite leave to remain, in the UK. The Home Office suggested she apply for a visitor visa or remain in France, where she doesn't speak the language and has no relatives.https://t.co/XrqICvjb4Z
— Nicola Kelly (@NicolaKelly) February 27, 2022
Russians are not happy…
Not the people on the street:
Russians join Ukrainians in Trafalgar Square to condemn invasion
Anti-war solo pickets like this are popping up in cities across Russia. It’s not much but they’re arrested almost immediately, often upon leaving their homes when the cops know to expect them. Here’s Sofya Rusova, co-chair of Russia’s Trade Union of Journalists. pic.twitter.com/5NVqdGyhFy
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) February 24, 2022
We do want peace (((((( nobody asked us about this war(((
— kafkamono (@kafkamono) February 24, 2022
We don't want war
All the people i know were shocked. Nobody knew anything.
People didn't know how to function today
And neither are the celebrities happy (posting black squares is the symbol they are using).
It’s too early to say what the Russian people make of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but he’s already lost a few celebrities. Most of these guys rely heavily on the state for their living.
— max seddon (@maxseddon) February 24, 2022
A short thread.
Going to pull out this one from the thread. Alla Pugacheva is like… the Russian Pavarotti. You don’t GET bigger than her. :O
Maxim Galkin, singer and husband of Alla Pugacheva, Russia’s biggest celebrity:
— max seddon (@maxseddon) February 24, 2022
“I’ve been talking to friends and relatives from Ukraine since early morning! I can’t find the words to say what I feel! How can this be possible! There can be no justification for war! No to war!” pic.twitter.com/Qk7qUcNR9i
Wrt Dimash, then he is in Russia at the moment (and yes, posted a black square, which is not surprising, he is very anti-war), but what remains to be seen is what happens next. He has been recording a new song with Igor Krutoy (indeed, Krutoy’s last instagram post was a little video from a recording session), due to premiere on the 5th or 6th of March (I forget). However, Krutoy is Russian-Ukrainian, and I can’t imagine how he is feeling at the moment. As far as I'm aware he has not yet made any statement (I’m sure the Dears would know), but he might just be concentrating on keeping his family safe…
A year ago I had not heard of any of these people, I dearly wish my main interest was still merely hearing a new song, not worrying about a war.
Elsewhere
Just because all the news is full of Ukraine doesn’t mean that there aren’t other battles going on…
Thousands are fleeing again in northern #Myanmar this week as military air strikes hit villages there. Several dead and wounded. A reminder also that Myanmar’s military is backed, and armed, by Russia. Photos by @FreeBurmaRangrs. https://t.co/AcmMClXHS0 pic.twitter.com/HUM1ckst4p
— Poppy McPherson (@poppymcp) February 25, 2022
Greg Abbot has officially directed Family and Protective Services to begin investigating all trans children in Texas and prosecuting their parents as child abusers.
— Erin, Trail Mom (@ErinInTheMorn) February 23, 2022
He has also instructed all teachers, doctors, and caregivers to begin reporting any trans students they see. pic.twitter.com/AO4FdYNuym
Are you paralyzed about what to do RIGHT NOW to support trans kids in Texas??
— Heron Greenesmith, Esq. (@herong) February 23, 2022
LIVE THREAD OF WHERE TO DONATE THAT AREN'T MAINSTREAM ORGS THAT ARE GONNA GET HUGE DONATION BUMPS RIGHT NOW.
(Please please reply or dm me with additions and recommendations)
That said, it’s not like there isn’t a common enemy:
No, the war in Ukraine wasn’t because of pronouns
Punditry’s most embarrassing obsession comes to war time and it’s just as dumb as you’d expect it to be
Money quote:
‘The actual war in Ukraine now exposes the pettiness and fecklessness of the west’s culture warriors. In the face of actual bombs thrown by actual fascists, the fact that the New York Times has three writers devoted to cancel culture and zero devoted to the global rise of fascism pulls back the curtain on the ridiculous decision-making of American media makers.’
Finally, to end on something beautiful and Ukrainian, here is Dimash singing ‘Marigolds’ (Чорнобривці - Chornobryvtsi) at his Kyiv concert, almost exactly 2 years ago (11 March 2020). It’s a Ukrainian folksong and he literally learned it the night before. (The beautiful woman that the camera keeps cutting to is his mother.)
It’s so beautiful and it makes me so sad. Where are all the people now, who were sitting in that concert hall? (A Chinese Dear posted the song with her own message of love and support for Ukrainian Dears.)
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https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/02/zelensky-ukraine-president-jewish-hero/622945/
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I'm in one of the countries that Rohingya refugees tend to flee to when leaving Myanmar, and I know some people who live there and have supporting the resistance to the coup (and, much to my relief, are still alive) so I tend to hear about that a lot. And it would be nice if people who have done whatever is reasonable for them to do as individuals regarding Ukraine also do whatever is reasonable for them as individuals about that. (Obviously people's limits vary, and it might be a donation to an NGO that helps in all of these situations, or some awareness-raising when they have the mental energy, or whatever is feasible.)
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You're welcome!
And it would be nice if people who have done whatever is reasonable for them to do as individuals regarding Ukraine also do whatever is reasonable for them as individuals about that.
This. The map is so depressingly accurate. :(
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*nods* I think there is also a component part of 'it's complicated to explain, so we'll just not'.
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My heart breaks for the people fleeing Ukraine with their pets in boxes and bags, for the people staying in Ukraine who will face everything the enraged dictator wants to throw at them... it breaks for world peace and the hope of getting going again after the worst of a pandemic. It angers due to all the cannon fodder young men sent to die for their remote, rich leader in this backwards war that belongs in the last century.
My heart also broke seeing a photo of a distraught, fearful woman clutching a large soft toy standing in Moscow's closing Ikea store. I too own an Ikea soft toy, mine reminds me of the pleasure I got from my first visit to Ikea, and this woman is clutching hers in grief.
Just the simplest things that have been destroyed, thanks to one embittered old man.
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Yeah, I think so? It already seems so long ago.
Just the simplest things that have been destroyed, thanks to one embittered old man.
All of what you wrote... So much pain and suffering, all because of one man. It seems so incredible. No one should have so much power.