One of the most moving videos I have seen in recent days — or ever — is this. A German woman translates a message from Ukraine’s President Zelensky to his nation. In the middle of it, the translator breaks down in tears. When she can recover herself a little bit, she says, “Entschuldigung” — “Excuse me.”
• Imagine this: At the end of a church service in New York, an organist, on a vast instrument, intones “The Great Gate of Kiev,” or Kyiv. He follows it with a soft, prayerful “Abide with Me” (“Abide with me, fast falls the eventide”).
I’m not sure I’ve ever had a more moving musical experience.
• A friend wrote me to say, “What is it with ‘Kyiv’ instead of ‘Kiev’? Is that some politically correct thing?” I addressed this issue in 2019: “A Name of One’s Own: Ukraine Journal, Part I.” Let me quote a bit:
I have always written “Kiev.” But that is a fighting word — a fighting spelling — for Ukrainians. They do “Kyiv.” It is not a matter of fussiness. It is actually a matter of importance.
For an excellent article on this subject, try Peter Dickinson, here.
In brief, “Kiev” is a transliteration of the Russian name for the capital; “Kyiv” is from the Ukrainian.
I will persist, however, in writing “chicken Kiev” and “The Great Gate of Kiev” (the section that ends Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition).
• Casey Michel is an investigative journalist with particular knowledge about the “post-Soviet space.” He is an expert on global financial corruption — the shadowy world of oligarchs and their maneuverings. Putin’s regime stays afloat on oceans of cash. That cash tends not to be in Russia, however. A lot of it is right here in the U.S. of A. I podcasted with Casey Michel last week. Interesting stuff — here.
• I am not entirely comfortable calling Putin’s assault on Ukraine a “war.” I appreciated what Mitt Romney said: “This is not a war. It’s not a battle between two militaries. This is a brutal invasion of a free democratic people by an authoritarian thug, and there’s no justification for it.”
• I also appreciated this, from Romney:
I join the world in awe of true heroes: the courageous President Zelensky, the brave Ukrainian soldiers, the citizen armies, the mothers cradling frightened children, and the journalists risking their lives to bring us truth. God bless them and God bless us to never forget.
Romney voted to convict President Trump in Trump’s first impeachment trial — the trial concerning Trump’s dealings with Zelensky. At the time, Romney was the only person in U.S. history to vote against a president of his own party in an impeachment trial.
Romney is despised by both Left and Right — not by some of us, however.
“Traitor! Traitor!” chanted Trump ralliers on a plane, directing their chant at Romney. He and they were traveling from Salt Lake City to Washington on January 5, 2021. The next day, speaking to his rally, Trump jibed at Romney: “I wonder if he enjoyed his flight in last night.”
• “Julia, a teacher and Ukrainian volunteer, wept as she waited to be deployed to fight Russian troops around Kyiv on Saturday.” I am quoting the New York Times, here. This woman, Julia, said, “I just want to live in our country, and that’s all.”
Her words get to the heart of it, don’t they? “I just want to live in our country, and that’s all.”
• Putin’s forces are committing war crimes — many of them — in Ukraine. The Hague will have a lot of work to do. I have no illusion that anybody will be brought to justice. I do hope, however, that the war crimes will be documented — beyond obscuring by the propagandists and liars.
• In cities across Russia, people are risking their neck to protest Putin’s war on Ukraine. What brave people these are. I imagine that, at the moment, a lot of Russians are feeling shame: shame at what the government that rules them is doing to their neighbor. This shame, this revulsion, could leave Putin’s dictatorship even shakier than it is.
• In Belarus, too, people are protesting. The risks that these people take, in a police state. The bravery that they exhibit. Incredible.
• Every day, every hour — with every blow that he delivers — Putin is strengthening Ukrainian identity and Ukrainian resolve. May his crimes backfire on him in multiple ways, including his ouster in Moscow.
• Ukrainians are putting the lie to Kremlin propaganda — propaganda that you hear echoed in the West, including in the United States: Ukraine is not a real country. You can’t really detach it from Russia. People in the west of Ukraine are uppity — they want to join the European Union and NATO; people in the east feel themselves Russian and want to join Russia. Any effort at democracy is just a CIA project. That whole drill.
• Sweden is sending 5,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. “So what?” you say. For Sweden — this is a very significant step. The Swedes, along with the Finns and others, are wide awake to the threat from Putin’s Russia. In 2017, I filed a report from Stockholm: “Sweden, Jolted Awake: The defense posture of a ‘peace nation.’”
• The president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, tweeted out photos of Taiwanese cities, lit up with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. “Our country & people #StandWithUkraine against Russian aggression,” she wrote. I doubt that anyone in the world — with the possible exception of the Balts — feels a keener sense of solidarity with the Ukrainian people than do the Taiwanese right now.
• All across Europe, Putin has his fanboys and fangirls, his defenders and apologists. They tend to be scrambling at the moment — because the war is not going well for Putin, at least in propaganda terms. At least in terms of image. A headline from Politico reads, “Putin’s European pals have to eat their words.” The article’s subheading: “The Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine is a big embarrassment to European politicians who got too close to Putin.”
Take Matteo Salvini. He’s the guy who wore a Putin T-shirt in Red Square. His party established a “Friends of Putin” group in the Italian parliament. They signed a “friendship and cooperation” agreement with Putin. (“A historic deal,” Salvini called it.) Salvini is a darling of the “national conservative” crowd, which met in Rome two years ago.
Well, Salvini has just had himself videoed bringing a bouquet of flowers to the Ukrainian embassy. Isn’t that sweet? If the war were going well for his boy Putin, Salvini would be conveying his congratulations to the Russian embassy.
• Even Viktor Orbán, in Hungary, says he won’t block EU sanctions on Putin. When Putin paid a visit to Budapest in 2017, Orbán said, “We all sense — it’s in the air — that the world is in the process of a substantial realignment.” For his part, Putin hailed Hungary as an “important and reliable partner for Russia in Europe.”
The relationship may be on the rocks — for now.
• Back in the ’70s, we had an expression, in American culture: “scared straight.” Young people — budding criminals — would meet with ex-cons, who would tell of the horror of their lives. As a result, the young people would be “scared straight.”
For many years, a lot of Americans and others have played kissy-face with the authoritarians, and semi-authoritarians, and aspiring authoritarians, of Europe. (Latin America, too.) Maybe the assault on Ukraine will scare them straight. Maybe autocracy will lose some of its luster. Maybe maligned old liberal democracy is not so bad after all.
• Here is a report: “‘I’ll Stand on the Side of Russia’: Pro-Putin Sentiment Spreads Online.” Candace Owens is quoted as saying, “Ukrainians are dying because of the Biden family’s criminal connections and insistence on stoking conflict in the region.” She has millions of followers, and so do many like her. They have serious influence on the overall American understanding. I mean, how could they not?
• You may know about Snake Island. Here is a report: “On Ukraine’s Snake Island, a defiant last stand against Russian forces.” The article begins,
As the Russian military pounded targets across Ukraine with an array of bombs and missiles, a small team of Ukrainian border guards on a rocky, desolate island received an ominous message: Give up or be attacked.
“I am a Russian warship,” a voice from the invaders said, according to a recording of the communications. “I ask you to lay down your arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary deaths. Otherwise, you will be bombed.”
The Ukrainians responded boldly.
“Russian warship,” came the reply, “go f*** yourself.”
The Russians opened fire, eventually killing 13 border guards.
• For years, Vladimir Putin has talked about what he has wanted to do to Ukraine. A lot of these guys are very blunt — the Iranian mullahs, the ruling Kim family in North Korea, and so on.
I think of the story about the Holocaust survivor who, shortly after the war, was asked, “What’s the biggest lesson you have learned?” He answered, “When someone says he wants to kill you, believe him.”
• A few years ago, Robert Kagan, that outstanding historian and foreign-affairs analyst, wrote a book with an arresting title: The Jungle Grows Back. It does. To eternal vigilance, there is no alternative — no good alternative. Eternal vigilance is wearying, heaven knows. And costly. But letting your guard down — militarily, civilizationally? Costlier.
Stop an expansionist dictator as soon as you can. Because this type will not stop. He can only be stopped.