Day 638
Placing elements in context
Kyiv isn’t Anadyr. The winters here are mild. Residents of the capital are not worried about more missile attacks or Maidan 3. Shaun obviously is. but he is profoundly confused, as are most of the russophilic expat jornos wandering around drunk on Thanksgiving. Many of them were here ten years ago, when they failed miserably and collectively to report on Russia’s invasion of eastern Ukraine. Instead, they made up bullshit about a grassroots insurrection and “separatist” rebellion.
The same newspaper quotes Timothy sounding upbeat about Ukraine’s prospects.
Stalemate is the salty red herring cooked up by Z in response to Zaluzhny’s nine-page essay on how to transition from positional to maneuver warfare1.
Over at The Financial Times, Alec attempts to make sense of the tragic mess, ending with science fantasy writer/exhibitionist cum journalist Oleksandr, the author of an oral history about his travels in eastern Ukraine, titled “I Will Mix Your Blood with Coal.2” Russia has since occupied Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which today resemble Homs and Aleppo.
I’m not sure about the part about a “fundamental rift” growing between people who fought and those in the rear, and between Ukrainians who remained in the country and those who left. Most Ukrainians I know have a clear conscience. Everyone does the best they can.
Я змішаю твою кров із вугіллям" Nash Format (2000)