A friend of mine told me yesterday that he didn’t realise how much Ukraine meant to him until now. I posted yesterday about the time we spent there, and we’re all getting super pre-occupied about the invasion. As I said in that post, I can’t get our waitress out of my head. I can sort of remember what she looked like now. She had an undercut. I think maybe her hair might have been blue? But - I will never know if she lives through this, and it’s driving me very slightly mad.
So naturally, my husband spent all day yesterday obsessively researching everything he could about it with the help of his journalist friends, as a way to help me process it.
This post is me putting it all in order, as a way to try and process my own emotional response as much as anything else (I freely admit there is an element of self-indulgence here). Please don’t take me as the spokesperson for Ukraine right now, nor as a solid reliable news source. But, I haven’t seen this stuff except in bits and pieces on Tumblr, so here we go.
(This is also not about whythe invasion has happened. This post is solely about whathas happened, and how the invasion is going.)
So, Putin and the rest of the world believed that this invasion would take 1-4 days. The plan was to push through fast, take Kyiv, and force Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, to surrender. Given Russia’s military might, it really looked likely.
Here is the conclusion of all that’s happened so far:
Ukraine is absolutely nailing this??? Actually???
They managed to defend every single city overnight, including Kyiv. They started rolling out and using these WW2-style anti-tank thingies that look a bit like angry gabbions, look, here’s a picture of one being delivered:
A bunch of spare iron girders turned into a hefty octopus of Russian misery, basically.
But it’s not just tanks they’re taking down, oh no. Ukraine successfully shot down a transport plane 20km from Kyiv. That is, I shit you not, the single biggest hit to the Russian military since the Second Chechen War. Volunteers from Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Azerbaijan and Israel are all entering Ukraine to help fight and bolster the anti-Russian forces, which is probably illustrative of how Eurovision voting is going to run for the next decade. Most countries have banned Russian planes from their air space. To help stop the Russian advance, Ukraine has made and installed new road signs, like this one:
I can only say a handful of sentences in Ukrainian, Tumblrs, but as I understand it, from top to bottom, it says:
“Fuck off”
“Fuck off again”
“Fuck off Russia”
Meanwhile, it turns out the Russian military might we feared is… possibly not quite as advertised?
They’re underfunded and badly trained. Ukraine captured 200 soldiers in one go, and most of them were confused 19 year olds with no training. The equipment is shite. The tanks keep running out of fuel. Russian soldiers keep abandoning their tanks and handing them over to the Ukrainian army. Putin’s plan was to take Kyiv fast and move on, and he didn’t have a plan B - hence these kids, playing soldier. Here is an image of a Russian tank receiving roadside assistance from Russia’s finest, an old Lada.
No one expected Zelenskyy to survive the night; but he did. America offered him asylum in the White House.
But he said no.
Zelenskyy remains in Kyiv, with his people.
And Putin, in his desperation to be adored, has turned Zelenskyy into a global icon and hero.
Here is something you may not know about Volodymyr Zelenskyy - he used to be a standup comedian. Was he any good? No idea - but what he IS good at is producing funny short videos he can put on Twitter and that, which are absolutely fantastic for Ukrainian morale. And morale is vital in an invasion like this, and Ukraine are smashing it out of the park there.
They are utilising the internet to its fullest extent. In addition to Zelenskyy’s videos, they’ve made sure that the final words of the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island are known and now echoed around the world: “Russian warship, go fuck yourselves.” A video has gone viral of Ukrainians mocking a group of Russian soldiers whose tank had broken down and who didn’t know the way to Kyiv anyway, presumably because of all the new road signs. They have created a website that lists every single Russian death they can identify, partly so Russian mothers can have closure (thus also painting themselves as the defenders of decency and humanity), and partly for the enormous morale boost of the world knowing, categorically, that they’ve already killed 3700 Russian soldiers (over 100 of which were from that transport plane.) Not one word has leaked of Ukrainian casualties. I’m sure they’re devastating, but for morale purposes, they’re being kept quiet until the dust settles. Ukrainians have started setting up fake Tindr profiles to catfish Russian soldiers for intel, and they’re all 19 and lost, so it’s working. Plus, they’re using Grindr to actually track where the soldiers are, because it turns out Putin was not entirely correct about there being no gays in Russia.
So, Russia wants to cut their internet access. Can the Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, shame a billionaire into providing aid?
This is crucial, remember. Atrocities happen best in the dark, and the world is watching - because of the internet. Morale is vital to maintain. Can they convince Elon Musk to help?
Yep.
Ukraine now has the fastest internet service in the world. The fastest, most stable internet service in human history, in fact. Russia cannot now disable it. The world watches.
Which is just as well, because then Anonymous decided to get involved, and have leaked the website database of the Russian Ministry of Defence. Lol. Also this happens:
And then the Russian propaganda channels started broadcasting the truth of what is happening in Ukraine. Double lol.
So what is the political response?
Well, in addition to closing airspace to Russian planes, loads of countries are sending weapons to Ukraine. Those that can’t are offering asylum. They’re also offering asylum to any Russian soldiers who surrender or defect, which is startlingly good tactics, and there are rumours of around 5000 Russian soldiers who have done just that. Germany, of course, has long had a block on lethal weapons transfer; but Germany recognise this shit for what it is. They’ve lifted the block, thus allowing the Netherlands to send weapons. Efforts are now underway to fast-track Ukraine into the EU. I presume they will consider the lack of pint glasses with crowns on to be a worthwhile price to pay.
So what about Russia’s supporters?
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenka helped Russia with this invasion. Now, this has happened:
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was actually elected president, but some wild nonsense kept her out of power. She’s now running a government in exile. I have literally no idea what this means or will mean! But my god. She has a spine of steel, and this is not a good time to be happening for Putin.
And it’s really, really not, because then intel on a meeting of Putin and assembled Oligarchs LEAKS (hello Anonymous, probably). The highlights:
This war is costing Russia $15bn a day
He expected it to take ONE TO FOUR DAYS TO WIN
It’s been two days and he is losing very badly, currently
They will run out of rockets by day 4, maybe sooner
After that they will be down to rifles and ammo
It will take 3-4 months to make more significant weapons, except they need raw materials, and the countries that can provide them… have cut supply lines
If the war lasts 10 days, Russia will have completely run out of money and weapons
It’s only day 2, and Russian soldiers are knocking the doors of random Ukrainian homes begging for food and water because they’ve already run out
So, out of desperation, Putin turns to his greatest, closest and most trusted ally for help: Kazakhstan.
And Kazakhstan
SAYS NO
And then Ukraine shoots down a second Russian plane.
Anyway, I’m going to finish off with a final point. Morale is vital in this situation, so here is the message from the Ukrainian government at the minute, to everyone watching around the world:
Be VERY SUSPICIOUS of any negative news about Ukraine. Russia uses misinformation and propaganda. They will want to damage Ukrainian morale.
Use your social media to spread news of Ukrainian victories.
Don’t give oxygen to negative stories. Especially since they might not be true.
That’s genuinely something we can do to help. Every victory of Ukraine, blast it far and wide. So on that note, I’ll leave you with this:
Congrats to Natalia Antonova’s cousin’s son.
The street signs are photoshopped in that specific picture, but Ukrainians have been taking down street signs to confuse Russian soldiers.
I’m not sorry for interrupting your peaceful scrolling and I’m not gonna TW this. Ukraine is under attack. Russia is committing an act of military aggression rn.
Press your governments to sanction Russia to hell. Go protest their embassies. Support Ukraine in any way you can. Especially Russian citizens. If your ass isn’t doing anything right now, if your ass isn’t out in the streets this is your fault.
We shall prevail
I woke up at the sound of explosion. My daughter’s stell sleeping and I don’t know how to explain to her what’s going on.
If you’re not from Ukraine - contact your representatives. We need harsher sanctions for p*tin and his minions. Seize their riches. Cut them off swift. Refuse their oil. Also, here’s list of organizations you can donate.
In 2014, Russia annexed a part of Ukraine (Crimea) and since then has been funding and arming Pro-Russian separatist and terrorist groups that have seized Donbas, an eastern region in Ukraine. Russia has been funding a civil war in Ukraine, essentially. Recently, the separatist groups have been sending civilian women, children and elderly out of Ukraine and into Russia, but leaving fighting-age men inside. These separatist are directly controlled by Kremlin (the government of Russia) and they are how Russia has been leading a proxy war on Ukraine since 2014.
But now, Russia has sent their own troops in, which is an invasion. They are doing it under the pretence of ‘peacekeeping’, but this is an obvious lie.
Russia accuses Ukraine of aggressing on Donbas and on Russia, prompting the war on Russia and conducting genocide on its own people. None of this is true. Russia is the one arming Pro-Russian terrorists in Ukraine, Russia has been surrounding and provoking Ukraine with military, and is the one that has been spreading misleading historically-inaccurate disinformation. It’s what Russia did in Georgia in 2008 and similar to what Germany did in Poland in 1939.
Making this post cuz I don’t see anything on tumblr about this, and to spread links and information.
If I find any more donation fund links, I will add them to this post.
Sorry to be an ugly fun-killer but in light of the recent Invasion I urge you all to be mindful of the things you reblog and the memes that you repost. Please remember that behind every “world war 3 lmao” post there is a reality where real people are going to be displaced from their homes and are going to lose their lives.
Before you laugh at that tweet that talks about the draft or whatever ask yourself: are you laughing because it’s funny? or are you laughing because you’re safe and comfortable in the West and it’s not a direct problem for you?
A friend of mine told me yesterday that he didn’t realise how much Ukraine meant to him until now. I posted yesterday about the time we spent there, and we’re all getting super pre-occupied about the invasion. As I said in that post, I can’t get our waitress out of my head. I can sort of remember what she looked like now. She had an undercut. I think maybe her hair might have been blue? But - I will never know if she lives through this, and it’s driving me very slightly mad.
So naturally, my husband spent all day yesterday obsessively researching everything he could about it with the help of his journalist friends, as a way to help me process it.
This post is me putting it all in order, as a way to try and process my own emotional response as much as anything else (I freely admit there is an element of self-indulgence here). Please don’t take me as the spokesperson for Ukraine right now, nor as a solid reliable news source. But, I haven’t seen this stuff except in bits and pieces on Tumblr, so here we go.
(This is also not about whythe invasion has happened. This post is solely about whathas happened, and how the invasion is going.)
So, Putin and the rest of the world believed that this invasion would take 1-4 days. The plan was to push through fast, take Kyiv, and force Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, to surrender. Given Russia’s military might, it really looked likely.
Here is the conclusion of all that’s happened so far:
Ukraine is absolutely nailing this??? Actually???
They managed to defend every single city overnight, including Kyiv. They started rolling out and using these WW2-style anti-tank thingies that look a bit like angry gabbions, look, here’s a picture of one being delivered:
A bunch of spare iron girders turned into a hefty octopus of Russian misery, basically.
But it’s not just tanks they’re taking down, oh no. Ukraine successfully shot down a transport plane 20km from Kyiv. That is, I shit you not, the single biggest hit to the Russian military since the Second Chechen War. Volunteers from Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Azerbaijan and Israel are all entering Ukraine to help fight and bolster the anti-Russian forces, which is probably illustrative of how Eurovision voting is going to run for the next decade. Most countries have banned Russian planes from their air space. To help stop the Russian advance, Ukraine has made and installed new road signs, like this one:
I can only say a handful of sentences in Ukrainian, Tumblrs, but as I understand it, from top to bottom, it says:
“Fuck off”
“Fuck off again”
“Fuck off Russia”
Meanwhile, it turns out the Russian military might we feared is… possibly not quite as advertised?
They’re underfunded and badly trained. Ukraine captured 200 soldiers in one go, and most of them were confused 19 year olds with no training. The equipment is shite. The tanks keep running out of fuel. Russian soldiers keep abandoning their tanks and handing them over to the Ukrainian army. Putin’s plan was to take Kyiv fast and move on, and he didn’t have a plan B - hence these kids, playing soldier. Here is an image of a Russian tank receiving roadside assistance from Russia’s finest, an old Lada.
No one expected Zelenskyy to survive the night; but he did. America offered him asylum in the White House.
But he said no.
Zelenskyy remains in Kyiv, with his people.
And Putin, in his desperation to be adored, has turned Zelenskyy into a global icon and hero.
Here is something you may not know about Volodymyr Zelenskyy - he used to be a standup comedian. Was he any good? No idea - but what he IS good at is producing funny short videos he can put on Twitter and that, which are absolutely fantastic for Ukrainian morale. And morale is vital in an invasion like this, and Ukraine are smashing it out of the park there.
They are utilising the internet to its fullest extent. In addition to Zelenskyy’s videos, they’ve made sure that the final words of the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island are known and now echoed around the world: “Russian warship, go fuck yourselves.” A video has gone viral of Ukrainians mocking a group of Russian soldiers whose tank had broken down and who didn’t know the way to Kyiv anyway, presumably because of all the new road signs. They have created a website that lists every single Russian death they can identify, partly so Russian mothers can have closure (thus also painting themselves as the defenders of decency and humanity), and partly for the enormous morale boost of the world knowing, categorically, that they’ve already killed 3700 Russian soldiers (over 100 of which were from that transport plane.) Not one word has leaked of Ukrainian casualties. I’m sure they’re devastating, but for morale purposes, they’re being kept quiet until the dust settles. Ukrainians have started setting up fake Tindr profiles to catfish Russian soldiers for intel, and they’re all 19 and lost, so it’s working. Plus, they’re using Grindr to actually track where the soldiers are, because it turns out Putin was not entirely correct about there being no gays in Russia.
So, Russia wants to cut their internet access. Can the Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, shame a billionaire into providing aid?
This is crucial, remember. Atrocities happen best in the dark, and the world is watching - because of the internet. Morale is vital to maintain. Can they convince Elon Musk to help?
Yep.
Ukraine now has the fastest internet service in the world. The fastest, most stable internet service in human history, in fact. Russia cannot now disable it. The world watches.
Which is just as well, because then Anonymous decided to get involved, and have leaked the website database of the Russian Ministry of Defence. Lol. Also this happens:
And then the Russian propaganda channels started broadcasting the truth of what is happening in Ukraine. Double lol.
So what is the political response?
Well, in addition to closing airspace to Russian planes, loads of countries are sending weapons to Ukraine. Those that can’t are offering asylum. They’re also offering asylum to any Russian soldiers who surrender or defect, which is startlingly good tactics, and there are rumours of around 5000 Russian soldiers who have done just that. Germany, of course, has long had a block on lethal weapons transfer; but Germany recognise this shit for what it is. They’ve lifted the block, thus allowing the Netherlands to send weapons. Efforts are now underway to fast-track Ukraine into the EU. I presume they will consider the lack of pint glasses with crowns on to be a worthwhile price to pay.
So what about Russia’s supporters?
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenka helped Russia with this invasion. Now, this has happened:
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was actually elected president, but some wild nonsense kept her out of power. She’s now running a government in exile. I have literally no idea what this means or will mean! But my god. She has a spine of steel, and this is not a good time to be happening for Putin.
And it’s really, really not, because then intel on a meeting of Putin and assembled Oligarchs LEAKS (hello Anonymous, probably). The highlights:
This war is costing Russia $15bn a day
He expected it to take ONE TO FOUR DAYS TO WIN
It’s been two days and he is losing very badly, currently
They will run out of rockets by day 4, maybe sooner
After that they will be down to rifles and ammo
It will take 3-4 months to make more significant weapons, except they need raw materials, and the countries that can provide them… have cut supply lines
If the war lasts 10 days, Russia will have completely run out of money and weapons
It’s only day 2, and Russian soldiers are knocking the doors of random Ukrainian homes begging for food and water because they’ve already run out
So, out of desperation, Putin turns to his greatest, closest and most trusted ally for help: Kazakhstan.
And Kazakhstan
SAYS NO
And then Ukraine shoots down a second Russian plane.
Anyway, I’m going to finish off with a final point. Morale is vital in this situation, so here is the message from the Ukrainian government at the minute, to everyone watching around the world:
Be VERY SUSPICIOUS of any negative news about Ukraine. Russia uses misinformation and propaganda. They will want to damage Ukrainian morale.
Use your social media to spread news of Ukrainian victories.
Don’t give oxygen to negative stories. Especially since they might not be true.
That’s genuinely something we can do to help. Every victory of Ukraine, blast it far and wide. So on that note, I’ll leave you with this:
Ukrainians fleeing with their pets. They don’t leave them behind. I can’t imagine the pain and heartbreak picking up your pets and leaving your home. Heartbreaking for all.
Praying for peace between Ukraine and Russia and all over the world.
You can also donate directly to Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, for logistical or medical support. More info here: https://mil.gov.ua/en/donate.html
Please do not ignore individual calls for aid and crowdfunding too! Whether they come in form of patreon links, emergency commissions, etc. I’d say setting up a patreon account to support creators and people in need would be the surest way to help, since things like PayPal, Ko-Fi, CashApp etc do not work in Ukraine (although some people still use them through friends or relatives in different countries). Not all circumstances are dire enough to need organizational help, but even 10$ can really help an individual person who had to evacuate from their town, relocate from a damaged building, etc.
Last but not least: CHECK YOUR INFO SOURCES!! Russia has been on disinformation pipeline since last week, and sowing panic in Ukraine and around the world is one of the worst things to do right now. Like, for real, stop with the WW3 bullshit. The conflict as it is, while obviously hard for Ukraine, is fairly localized and with your help it can very much stay that way.
QUICK UPDATE: patreon deleted the page for savelife.in.ua.
The link on their site stopped working, and any other savelife pages you can find on patreon are fake. Please refrain from donating through that particular avenue until further notice. Donation through FONDY and SWIFT are still functional and safe
Ukraine- Ukraine Kiew - Kyiv Donbas, das Donezbecken - Donbas Donetsk - Donetsk Luhansk - Luhansk dieKrim, die Halbinsel Krim - Crimea, Crimean peninsula Tschernobyl- Chernobyl Russland- Russia
Belarus/ Weißrussland-Belarus Der President - president der Soldat/ die Soldatin - soldier der Separatist/ die Separatistin - separatist der Rebell/ die Rebellin - rebel; rebellious der Bürger/ die Bürgerin- civilian der Flüchtling- refugee die Vereinten Nationen - United Nations, UN die Europäische Union, die EU - European Union, EU dieNato- NATO das Militärbündnis - military alliance der Verbündete, der Alliierte - ally der Westen- west der Feind - enemy die Souveränität- sovereignty die Integrität - integrity die Selbstbestimmung - self-determination das Recht auf Selbstverteidigung - right to defend das Arsenal - arsenal; equipment die Truppen - troops, force die Propaganda - propaganda die Kriegsspiele - war games die Ausrede - excuse die Bedrohung - threat die Atomwaffe - nuclear weapon die Erhaltung des Friedens - peacekeeping der Genozid - genocide der Nazismus - nazism der Sondereinsatz - special operation die Demilitarisierung - demilitarization die Forderung - demand die Sicherheitsgarantie- security guarantee die Rede- speech der Krieg - war die Invasion - invasion, incursion der Kampf, die Schlacht - battle der Ausnahmezustand - state of emergency der Kriegszustand- state of war die Mobilisierung- mobilization die Ausgangssperre- curfew der Widerstand - resistance (act of resisting, or the capacity to resist) das Abfeuern, die Befeuerung - firing, fire der Schlag, Aufprall - strike die Explosion- explosion die Waffe - weapon das Geschoss, die Rakete - missile die Rakete- rocket die Bombe- bomb der Molotov Cocktail- Molotov cocktail der Tank - tank derHelikopter, der Hubschrauber- helicopter das Flugzeug - aircraft die Cyberattacke - cyberattack der Luftschutzbunker- shelter, air-raid shelter die Sirene- siren der Alarm- alarm, alert die Sanktion- sanction die Gegenmaßnahme - countermeasure, counteraction die Anti-Kriegsbewegung - anti-war movement der Protest - protest die Unterstützung - support die Hilfe- aid, help verhandeln- to negotiate die Unabhängigkeit erklären - to declare independence sich ausstatten, vorbereiten - to get equipped or prepared drohen- to threaten vortäuschen- to frame, to set up, to stage, to fake provozieren - to provoke brechen, verstoßen - to break; to violate Krieg erklären - to declare war attack- to attack eindringen, einmarschieren - to invade (to enter by force) besetzen - to occupy, to take possession of (a country) übernehmen - to seize, to take over, to capture übernehmen- to take over, to take into one’s possession als Geisel nehmen - to take as hostage kämpfen- to fight im Krieg sein - to be at war, to fight in a war feuern - to fire, to shoot schießen - to shoot zerstören - to destroy verteidigen - to defend sich widersetzen, standhalten - to resist verurteilen- to condemn eingreifen - to intervene, to interfere, to get involved in evakuieren - to evacuate fliehen - to flee, to escape sich zurückziehen- to retreat, to withdraw aufgeben, kapitulieren - to surrender, to capitulate protestieren- to protest festnehmen - to arrest verletzt werden - to get injured sterben- to die
I don’t know how many of you know that I am Ukrainian and live in Ukraine. So I will not be posting my normal content for some time, I just can’t for now. I don’t know when I can back to it. But I will, I hope. So don’t unfollow and stay with me if you can.
The war is hard. I’m afraid it will last longer than we thought. It’s so painful to watch my people dying, cities are being destroyed… R*ssia just wants to erase us as a nation, as a country. Our lives will never be the same. We do our best to win.
If someone wants to help here is a list of official funds and organizations to donate and find out more >> to help Ukraine
If someone wants to support me in this horrible time, you can buy digital printable card on my etsy (I deactivated my other shop and physical items, because I can’t ship them unfortunately) or “buy me a coffee”
Also please donate to one of the organizations here to help my country to stand and defend our culture, values and our lives, I hope the link works
Huge thanks to everyone who commissioned me this month! This time I donated 50% of the earnings to EASA. They make sure funding goes directly to help Ukrainian zoos.
This morning I went to my flat to help my friends who evacuated there from Kyiv to pack their things and move further West, closer to the border, because my neighbourhood was the target of a rocket strike on Lviv yesterday.
My friend’s daughter had a massive panic attack when the shelling occurred.
While I was in a cab, the driver told me the story of his friend, a Ukrainian soldier, who only recently was able to leave Popasna after a military rotation and get medical help. He has grenade shrapnel in his leg. His unit was in battle since 26th of February without any relief up until now.
Later I visited a book shop to see if they have Lord of the Rings in Ukrainian there (they do) because my mum was asking why everyone is calling the russian army ‘orcs’. She wants to read the books for further context. The bookstore worker was talking on the phone with her friend, filling her in on recent events and telling her how her relatives were able to escaped from occupied Kherson.
Then I met up with my landlord to pay my rent. He has a relative in the army who is also fighting in Eastern Ukraine. They are worried for him daily.
This has been my morning so far. None of us are safe. Everyone, despite it all is working hard, donating money, clothing, volunteering to help the community. Because each day we persevere means the difference between freedom and subjugation, future for our young or death and misery.
Please, do not forget about Ukraine. Help us win! Donate, volunteer, talk to your representatives, take note what side your politicians take and whose interests they protect. This isn’t a local conflict. It’s a battle for human rights, food security, international peace and democracy.
