My friend who stayed in Kyiv during spring 2022 helped herself and friends by going around to their apartments, clearing out fridges - and collecting their surviving plants and small pets. The refugee hamsters lived out their lives with her until natural death; she still has 'refugee plants' in her bedroom and hopes to return them or their descendants to their original owners one day.
I am glad I read this, even though your essay has much sadness and loss. You help me see history and current events through the lives of real people, fellow human beings who in your essays become my brothers and sisters, parents and children, friends and neighbors.
And it is good to read the comments from other people who also care.
Thank you, Bill! It means a lot to hear that my essays convey exactly what I want them to, connect people, and help to see current events through the eyes and stories of real people. Thank you for your feedback, kind words, and support!
Well written as usual! I think the reason we see so little Russian opposition is the fear of how hard and violently Putin’s trench-men come down so hard on it. However, it is puzzling why so many Russians who live outside Russia are not more vocal. Unless they fear for relatives or Putin’s long reach in killing vocal opposition.
Thank you, Frank! The problem with Russian opposition is not the scarcity of it, but the repetition of the same colonial and imperial takes only from a different angle. They masterfully fool the West, but we, the victims of Russian colonialism, see it very clearly: they want Russia to rule and dominate over the region, they talk to us in a condescending way, they refuse to acknowledge any mistakes, and whenever they are pointed with responsibility, they start to play victims, and if it doesn’t work, they get angry and start to behave in abusing way.
As a Belarusian, a person from a country that has a much worse dictatorship regime than Russia, I know that large protests all over the country are possible. Considering the population of Belarus and Russia and the number of people who protested there over time — in Russia, almost no one protested at all. It’s not fear that prevents them from doing it, but apathy. Same for the Russians abroad.
In order for Russians to have a functioning democracy, they must disassemble Russia as it is now. It is impossible to transform the current Russia without going through a painful but necessary transformation of every aspect of their society and government. The only way to start this process is a complete Ukrainian victory, and if the Russian opposition were real, they would support it 100%. However, they avoid mentioning Ukraine as much as possible and ask the West to give money for their promotional campaigns instead.
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation and taking the time to write it. Consuming the more popular cable news like CNN and MSNBC here in the states we don’t learn or see any of that. A real eye opener. Although most Americans would love a total Ukrainian victory. But the Republican House of Representatives has blocked additional military aid on Trump’s direction. I don’t expect you to get involved or opine on American politics for the concern any MAGAs that now support you might drop out. I used to support technology for a faculty at my college that taught Russian, though she was American, and led annual student visits to Moscow. They were all pretty idealistic and romantic on it all, that was in the 90s and up to 2010, I would love to speak to her now and see if her thinking turned around.
My friend who stayed in Kyiv during spring 2022 helped herself and friends by going around to their apartments, clearing out fridges - and collecting their surviving plants and small pets. The refugee hamsters lived out their lives with her until natural death; she still has 'refugee plants' in her bedroom and hopes to return them or their descendants to their original owners one day.
That’s very kind of her to do all that! Thank you for sharing this story. I hope the owners of the plants return home one day ❤️🩹
I am glad I read this, even though your essay has much sadness and loss. You help me see history and current events through the lives of real people, fellow human beings who in your essays become my brothers and sisters, parents and children, friends and neighbors.
And it is good to read the comments from other people who also care.
Thank you, Bill! It means a lot to hear that my essays convey exactly what I want them to, connect people, and help to see current events through the eyes and stories of real people. Thank you for your feedback, kind words, and support!
Well written as usual! I think the reason we see so little Russian opposition is the fear of how hard and violently Putin’s trench-men come down so hard on it. However, it is puzzling why so many Russians who live outside Russia are not more vocal. Unless they fear for relatives or Putin’s long reach in killing vocal opposition.
Thank you, Frank! The problem with Russian opposition is not the scarcity of it, but the repetition of the same colonial and imperial takes only from a different angle. They masterfully fool the West, but we, the victims of Russian colonialism, see it very clearly: they want Russia to rule and dominate over the region, they talk to us in a condescending way, they refuse to acknowledge any mistakes, and whenever they are pointed with responsibility, they start to play victims, and if it doesn’t work, they get angry and start to behave in abusing way.
As a Belarusian, a person from a country that has a much worse dictatorship regime than Russia, I know that large protests all over the country are possible. Considering the population of Belarus and Russia and the number of people who protested there over time — in Russia, almost no one protested at all. It’s not fear that prevents them from doing it, but apathy. Same for the Russians abroad.
In order for Russians to have a functioning democracy, they must disassemble Russia as it is now. It is impossible to transform the current Russia without going through a painful but necessary transformation of every aspect of their society and government. The only way to start this process is a complete Ukrainian victory, and if the Russian opposition were real, they would support it 100%. However, they avoid mentioning Ukraine as much as possible and ask the West to give money for their promotional campaigns instead.
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation and taking the time to write it. Consuming the more popular cable news like CNN and MSNBC here in the states we don’t learn or see any of that. A real eye opener. Although most Americans would love a total Ukrainian victory. But the Republican House of Representatives has blocked additional military aid on Trump’s direction. I don’t expect you to get involved or opine on American politics for the concern any MAGAs that now support you might drop out. I used to support technology for a faculty at my college that taught Russian, though she was American, and led annual student visits to Moscow. They were all pretty idealistic and romantic on it all, that was in the 90s and up to 2010, I would love to speak to her now and see if her thinking turned around.
I’m glad that my answer was helpful!