Some have to die, so that others can live, or at least live free. Doesn’t that seem to be a rule? Olena Halushka circulated a photo of Dmytro Chykysh. He was from Kherson and, as Halushka says, “was killed in action just a few days before his hometown was liberated.” He was 22. See him here.
• Here is a headline from the Guardian: “Crowds cheer as Ukrainian troops enter Kherson city centre.” The article is here. And this is a similar article from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. One old man, overcome with emotion, said to Ukrainian soldiers, “Don’t leave us again, I’m begging you.”
The liberation of Kherson thrilled freedom-loving people around the world, no doubt. And remember what we were told, by many an ignorant Westerner, before the war: Citizens in eastern Ukraine want to be with Russia, not Ukraine. Therefore, Putin is aiming to free them from oppression. The war has proven the opposite: Putin is aiming to impose the oppression.
• Here is a video that has been seen by a great many: a liberating Ukrainian soldier, greeting his grandmother, who had been waiting.
• Another video was circulated by Yaroslav Trofimov, of the Wall Street Journal. It shows people in Kherson singing a song that had been banned for nine months. There is no electricity, as Trofimov says, because Russian forces destroyed power lines before leaving.
• Anton Gerashchenko circulated another video of a woman who had hid a Ukrainian flag under a tile in her garden. After liberation, she dug it up, with joy.
Obviously, there are many around the world who resent this kind of thing. But there are also many who are thrilled by it, and grateful.
• In a tweet, the Journal’s Trofimov writes,
Kherson would have been a ruin, and tens of thousands would have died in the campaign, if Himars strikes on bridges hadn’t hamstrung Russian logistics and forced the Russians to withdraw without urban combat. The U.S. literally saving civilian lives with weapons deliveries.
I believe that Americans can take satisfaction in this.
Years ago, I asked Charles Krauthammer a big, big question: “Will Israel survive?” He said that the survival of Israel depended on two things: the will of the people to survive and the support of the United States. I believe that the same applies to Ukraine.
• This year, there have been many comparisons of Russian forces to ISIS. These comparisons are valid, even obvious. I don’t suggest you watch the video — I certainly haven’t, and won’t — but I will link to a Reuters report headed, “Video shows sledgehammer execution of Russian mercenary.”
• Francis Scarr, of the BBC, monitors Russian state media (practically the only media available in Russia). He circulated a video of a TV host named Andrei Norkin — who explained a terrible predicament. Scarr summarizes Norkin’s words as follows: “If I back the decision to withdraw from Kherson, I’m going to jail for questioning Russia’s territorial integrity. And if I oppose it, I’m going to jail for discrediting the armed forces.”
• In London, the Borough of Camden has unveiled “Boris Nemtsov Place.” It is near the Russian trade delegation. Nemtsov, as you know, was the opposition leader to Putin, murdered within sight of the Kremlin in 2015.
• I strongly recommend an article by Britain’s new prime minister, Rishi Sunak. It is headed “Five ways to prise open Vladimir Putin’s grip on the world economy.” In prefatory remarks, Sunak says,
Last week, we saw the Ukrainian flag raised once again over Kherson only weeks after Putin declared that the city would be part of Russia forever. It is an historic milestone in Ukraine’s fight to take back what’s theirs. They are standing up for fundamental principles that matter to us all — the principles of sovereignty and self-determination, which are the very foundations of a stable international order.
• “Hungary infuriates EU with block on €18B Ukraine aid.” (Article here.) Hungary is a challenge, let’s say, within the EU, as both Hungary and Turkey are challenges within NATO. The next months will be interesting, in these two respects.
• The Hungarian chief Viktor Orbán met John Mearsheimer, and tweeted out a photo, saying, “The #liberals have got it all wrong – that’s the bottom-line of our great conversation with Prof Mearsheimer today.” Every leader has his intellectuals: Left, Right, democrat, dictator. Every leader has his intellectuals: always has, always will.
• Here is a remarkable photo: Kyiv people playing chess in Shevchenko Park, during a blackout.
• Once more, Moscow is sending rockets into Kyiv’s residential buildings, killing innocent civilians. (Here is an article.) Russia is a terror-state, plain and simple. The Russian people are going to have to demand a better government, a better country, so that they can take their rightful place in the civilized world.