It is the kind of thing no one wants to read — but something everyone should be aware of, to be in touch with reality: a report from the Associated Press headed “How Russian soldiers ran a ‘cleansing’ operation in Bucha.”
• Here is another report, also from the AP: “Kyiv prepares for a winter with no heat, water or power.” Can you imagine? This is reality for Ukrainians.
• Another, from the Financial Times: “Kherson residents describe reign of terror under Russian rule: Alleged hanging of woman in southern Ukraine signifies Moscow’s brutality in occupied territory.”
• This is from CBS News:
An American who volunteered to fight against Russia in Ukraine described the carnage he saw on the front lines — saying the battle for Ukrainians is against “pure evil.”
“Anybody in the West that asks Ukraine to just do peace talks, they need to go through these villages. They need to see what’s been done to these people” . . .
• An interesting report from Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing the military mobilization of people who have committed serious crimes as the Kremlin continues to amass troops for its war in Ukraine amid several recent setbacks.
• On becoming prime minister in Britain, Rishi Sunak did something important: He placed a call to the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. The discussion between Sunak and Zelensky was the first that Sunak held as prime minister — the first that he held with a foreign leader. Sunak affirmed Britain’s support of the Ukrainians.
Again, important. (For an article on this matter, go here.)
• Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the president of Germany, has given a notable speech. Maybe even a watershed speech. I will quote from an FT report:
“When we look at today’s Russia, there is no place for old dreams,” he said, speaking from his official residence, the Bellevue Palace.
The invasion “marked the definitive, bitter failure of years of political efforts, including my efforts,” he added. . . .
“A supposed peace that rewards acts like this, a peace that seals Putin’s land grabs, is no peace,” he continued, urging his fellow Germans — many of whom are deeply pacifist as a result of their country’s own bloody history — to face up to an “epochal shift” under way in Europe.
Settling with Putin “would mean a rule of terror for many people in Ukraine and would leave them at the mercy of their Russian occupiers’ arbitrary violence,” he said.
“Worse yet, a sham peace like this would only increase Putin’s hunger. Moldova and Georgia, as well as our NATO partners in the Baltic, live in fear . . . An unjust peace is no peace — it carries the seed of new wars within it.” . . .
“For a long time we were able to rely on others . . . but now others must also be able to rely on us,” he said. “This society needs strong armed forces. And the armed forces need a society that supports them.”
Steinmeier’s speech might be cited in history books, as marking a great change (or “epochal shift,” as the president himself said).
• In the center of Rome, protesters waved Italian and Russian flags and held a banner saying, “No arms to Ukraine. Enough with sanctions. Yes to friendship with Russia.” (See it here.)
• A headline in the Wall Street Journal tells us, “Republican Opposition to Helping Ukraine Grows, WSJ Poll Finds.” (Their report.)
• “U.S. senators, in Kyiv visit, vow to continue bipartisan support after elections.” That’s a headline from Reuters (over this article). The senators are Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, and Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware. Portman is a Reagan-Bush Republican. He is the co-chairman of the Senate Ukraine Caucus. But is he in any position to be assuring the Ukrainians of continued U.S. support? He is retiring at the end of this term. And he is likely to be replaced in the Senate by J.D. Vance, who said to Steve Bannon, “I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.”
• Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman from Georgia, and a star on the Republican campaign circuit, made this vow: “Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine.” (See a news report here.)
Which Republicans will hold sway? Ones such as Greene and Vance? Or ones such as Portman? If you are betting on the latter — I would not bet too much.
• In a column, Bret Stephens says that Putin’s forces are doing in Ukraine what they did in Syria — which they got away with. A column by Jonah Goldberg is headed “Putin’s Dangerous Blend of Propaganda and Hypocrisy.” These columns are written with clear eyes, which are vitally needed in these nasty times.