People all around the world are marveling at the courage and resourcefulness of the Ukrainian people. When it comes to the latter, here’s a pretty good example.
https://twitter.com/TrentTelenko/status/1500141642472312837?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1500141642472312837%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fimmasmartypants.blogspot.com%2F2022%2F03%2Fwhat-putin-should-have-learned-about.html
Rasputisa is the Russian word for muddy roads that hinder travel in the fall and spring. So if this story is true, Ukrainians have made it almost impossible for heavy tanks to enter Kyiv by opening a reservoir north of the city to halt their progress.
Nothing speaks to the courage of the Ukrainian people more than this video:
https://twitter.com/lapatina_/status/1500118411912916996?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1500118411912916996%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fimmasmartypants.blogspot.com%2F2022%2F03%2Fwhat-putin-should-have-learned-about.html
Rep. Ted Lieu retweeted that video with the comment, “Watch this 15 second video and you will understand why Russia will never win the war in Ukraine.”
According to reports, it is this kind of courage and resourcefulness that has hindered Vladimir Putin’s plans to win this war against Ukraine in a matter of days. While still causing untold suffering and death, his troops are disorganized, hungry, and out of fuel.
But Putin shouldn’t have been surprised by this reaction from the Ukrainian people. Here’s why: in 2013, the country was poised to enter into a political association and free trade agreement with the European Union. But at the last minute, Putin’s puppet President Viktor Yanukovych, refused to sign the agreement, instead choosing closer ties to Russia.
That is when the Euromaiden protests began. It all started with young people gathering with chants of “Ukraine is part of Europe.” When police responded by beating the protesters to clear the square, people of all ages and from all over Ukraine joined the protest with shouts of “All together we are strong.” Things escalated from there.
Evgeny Afineevsky captured the 93-day protest in the documentary titled “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” (now available for streaming on both Netflix and YouTube). He talked about the experience here:
While difficult to watch at times, one of my favorite moments in the documentary happened when the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) passed laws outlawing the wearing of motorcycle helmets and hard hats. Here is how the people responded:
In the end, the Ukrainian people prevailed, despite massive violence inflicted on them, and Yanukovych snuck off to Russia in the middle of the night.
That is what Putin is facing in this war against Ukraine. But like tyrants throughout history, he continues to think that he can intimidate these people into submission. He couldn’t be more wrong.
I’ve been pretty consistent about my belief that the US has been handling this about as well as possible from our perspective. Putin stated that a no-fly zone would be an act of war, which implies that at least officially, he does not consider what the US has been doing up to this point an act of war. So we’re doing what we can without making the situation worse or handing Putin an easy victory.
But what I’ve been reading this morning about landmines on evacuation routes and increasing brutality, I start to question if the US shouldn’t get militarily involved. I don’t doubt that those reports are true, though I suppose Ukraine would want me to have precisely that reaction to those reports.
It may be fair to ask how far can Putin go with his genocide and destruction of the country before we and the world cry “enough” and take on the challenge to arms.
Someone on CNN was wondering out loud if Putin would use a nuclear weapon on Ukraine. What then?