Perspectives and Possibilities in Putin's Brutal War
So far, the heroes outnumber the villains
For perspective, Kyev (capital of Ukraine) is the 7th largest city in Europe. It's just a little larger than Chicago so only NYC and LA are larger in the US. Right around 3 million residents are under an intense siege by the Russian army tonight, in addition to the assaults on the rest of Ukraine. But eliminating the popularly elected government in Kyev is the principal goal of Putin, who makes the ridiculous claim that the government is loaded with neo-Nazis and drug addicts.
How well he does in Ukraine will determine what other countries he’s going to prepare to overthrow. Russia’s army is nearly 1 million strong and he has about 200K of them attacking Ukraine. That 200K is the size of the entire Ukraine army.
Elsewhere in Europe, Turkey has around 350K troops. All other European nations have armies smaller than Ukraine’s.
Here’s 8 photos of Kyev from Friday.
Here’s Sean Penn filming a documentary in Kiev.
Meanwhile, in nearby Tbilisi, Georgia, a Ukraine supportive crowd has gathered. Similar displays of support are occuring in the capitals of other European nations as well.
More than 100,000 Ukrainians are now displaced 2 days into this illegal assault on their country.
Kazakhstan, one of Russia's closest allies, surprised everyone Friday by denying a request for its troops to join the Russians waging war against Ukraine. They also refused to recognize the Ukraine territories under Russian separatist control that Putin recognized earlier this week. Other leaders previously believed to be developing closer ties with Russia, were also forceful in their condemnations. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria among those notables.
So far only Belarus and a growing number of US Republicans have spoken up in support of Putin’s war crimes. But surprising divisions are even occurring there as the rightwing Newsmax slammed Fox’s Tucker Carlson’s pro-Putin comments.
Real courage is in evidence elsewhere. Nearly 2000 antiwar Russian demonstrators have been detained in more than 58 Russian cities, yet more keep showing up to denounce the war. And despite pleas from government officials offering to help Ukraine’s president and his government escape the oncoming Russian troops, they keep refusing.
Nobody’s running to Cancun due to a mere blizzard. Facing certain imprisonment or death from one of the most vicious gangsters on the planet, President Zelensky - a former comic actor - is radiating a courage that’s extremely rare in politics anywhere in the world today. And Ukrainians are responding, as they keep standing up to carry the fight to the Russian troops.
Volodymyr Zelensky (translated): “I'd like to address the Russian president again. Fighting is going on in the entire territory of Ukraine. Let's sit down for talks to put a stop to people dying.”
Betting odds are against them staving off the troops till Sunday, but so far, they’ve outperformed all the outside military analyst experts. May they continue to do so. And may Putin finally be tried and convicted for his crimes against humanity so Russians can find a path to freedom too.
As I stated before, it’s important for you and me and everyone else to raise our voices more and more to make Putin and every Putin-wannabe understand that wars of aggression just won’t be tolerated ever again. SPEAK UP!