Invasion Day +27 Reports suggest Russian front line forces are now suffering widespread demoralisation, frostbite, hunger, and death. Five Russian Generals trying desperately to stop the rot have now been killed (two more yesterday) amongst the Russian losses amounting to 20,000 killed and wounded. They should have listened to Hoggy and stopped the war). Reports also coming in state Byelorussia has sent 2,000 bodies back to Russia from their military hospitals alone, many more bodies being left to rot on the battlefield or buried in mass unmarked graves to hide the extent of the loss. Intelligence suggests Russia has just three day's worth of front line supplies left after which they will have to revert to a soviet-style national war footing, the worst situation Russia has seen since the Second World War. All for one man's madness. In many areas, Ukrainian forces are retaking ground as Russians retreat to regroup. Putin continues his barbaric slaughter and genocide through cowardly artillery, aircraft and missile strikes from safety way behind their lines. Israel's denials and appalling human rights record on the international stage continue to shame their forebears and their people as the war of rhetoric spreads. Never before have they gone this far in supporting the genocides they claim to historically abhor.
Long queues form in Russian cities as the sanctions start to hurt the people. They know what they have to do to stop all this: stop Putin and claim back their futures. And return their presents. As the Ukrainians undoubtedly will.
And today, amongst more powerful letters that keep on coming in, we are suitably reminded that this war, all war, has created a permanent movement of people who seek only peaceful existence: from Yemen to Afghanistan, from Africa to Myanmar and from many, many more global locations of strife. We could describe these brave souls now as a permanence in a world in perma-crisis. One of our correspondents, originally a refugee from Yemen, gives us a powerful reminder of the effects of war on all humanity, not just Ukraine. We beg you to read her words. And take action wherever you can. We must embrace all refugees for they are humanity's hope for the future. History tells us so. We must not forget.
(A huge thank you to all our visitors and writers to the site: your support for peace and to Ukraine is outstanding. If you are new to the blog and have not read all the posts please do have a good look: there is some inspired writing being submitted and we in the office are all humbled by such courage and commitment being shown from around the world. Hoggy.)
Today's Letters:
( We have many letters coming in now so need to post them all as far as we can each day. They are definitely not diminished by their multitude. Hoggy)
From Anna, Kyiv.
Dear Hoggy,
'The Tulips of Kyiv'
You have asked for some live photos of the tulips in the main square of our city so here they are. They are incredible aren't they? They form the shape of the trident, our national emblem.
I will write again shortly.
Anna
From Maram Abdulkarder, Yemen and Birmingham.
Dear Hoggy,
Please do not fail Ukraine. Please do not fail Yemen.
Déjà vu: a feeling of having already experienced the present situation; except it is not a feeling, rather a reality that I and 28 million Yemeni civilians have experienced. The war on Ukraine has triggered a memory that I have wished so deeply to forget. The loss, the damage, the panic, the trauma, and the feeling of being unable to put an end to it are all emotions felt by innocent civilians that did not ask to be involved in evil political agendas.
I feel for every one and each of the innocent Ukrainian people as I was once in their shoes.
I also understand that although the world is aware of what is happening, no one will truly understand how it feels to be a part of war unless they have experienced it themselves.
Seven years counting since I had to flee my country as a result of the continuous war. Seven years since I last said goodbye to my country and loved ones. I hope the world does not fail Ukraine the same way it failed Yemen. I hope that human life, in this case, is far greater than power and interests. Stay strong.
This is a photo of Yemen in 2020. Deja vu?
Regards,
Maram Abdulkarder
Yemeni.
Birmingham 2022
Dear Maram,
No, we must not forget. And we acknowledge the failings that we here have made to Yemen. We have history here and we must learn from our failings. Hopefully in Ukraine we can at least try. Try to bring peace by stopping Putin before it is too late for the world.
Thank you for this timely reminder and thank you for sharing your anger and your angst. Both are your right. Staying strong is what we all must do: strong for peace, strong for the peacemakers, strong for each other. And thank you for bringing your contribution to the world, it is powerful.
With all wishes,
Hoggy
From Yegor of Kharkiv, now in Poland
Dear Hoggy,
'Leaving Kharkiv'
Hello. My name is Yegor. I am fifteen years old. All my life I have lived in Khakiv but now Russia is destroying my town. On 24th February we woke up from the sounds of explosions and realised the war had begun. Already, at 6 o’clock in the morning we collected phone cells and food and water and went down to the basement of our house in which we spent the week, briefly going into the apartment to wash and cook some food. The basement is very dusty and cold. My neighbours and I took turns to sleep on cardboard boxes and covered ourselves with our jackets.
Our house is located in the centre of Kharkiv where shelling was constantly going on. Explosions and gunfire were constant outside. My (brother?) went out to buy groceries and the shelling started and my mum and I cried and prayed until he returned.
We experienced the first serious shock when a ballistic missile flew into the (concierge?) . Our house trembled but survived. It was very scary. We were about to leave the next morning but in the night a rocket hit the house next to ours. The sound was such that we thought it had hit ours.
Windows and doors were broken in our house and we realised there was nothing left to live on. The cars had suffered a lot. It was cold outside and it was impossible to stay. Our friends rescued us and took us away. We didn’t manage to take anything with us.
Thank you for hearing our story.
Yegor
Kharkiv, Ukraine
Dear Yegor,
I acknowledge and salute you. You sent this by audio message and it is a moving story to hear: your English is magnificent and a testimony to you and your amazing teacher, Oksana, who has kept teaching you and others despite the trauma of shelling, but there is some interference on the line and so I have transcribed it here and hope it is all correct.
We cannot start to understand what it must be like to be shelled and bombed, another horrific example of warfare going back through time. It is as though we humans are totally incapable of learning from our mistakes.
One day you will return and with the world's help Ukraine will be rebuilt. Brick by brick. Street by street, community by community. Good will always triumph over evil.
Meanwhile please keep going, we all hope you are as safe as you can be and we look forward to hearing from you again when you finally come to rest somewhere.
With very best wishes to you all for your journey.
Hoggy
From Rea of Kharkiv, now in Poland
Dear Hoggy,
This is Rea again, now I am safe I can tell you my real name is Kate, and I can use it now we are in a safe place. I would like to write again to express gratitude to you and tell about my present situation. I am sorry if I make some mistakes because my English is not perfect but anyway... as you know I left my home because of the war in Ukraine. Today everything is fine despite all the difficulties. Everyone from Ukraine who is not actually under the shelling now tells me that everything is fine with them.
On the seventh day of the war my family and I left to go ‘on the vacation train’. The most difficult thing was to get to the station and get on a train because there were a lot of people, panic, hysteria, and my niece who is just one year old was with us and we were really afraid for her.
The train was overcrowded; people even slept on the floor. It made us completely exhausted. When we got to Lvov, volunteers tried to help us but it was extremely difficult to find where we could be staying. Four hundred carriages of refugees from east Ukraine arrived that day. For several hours we couldn’t find a place to sleep. We had nowhere to go. All hotels, hall’s, hostels, apartments, everything, was absolutely occupied. Fortunately, my colleague was able to find a friend, the one who let us into her home. We were able to find where to spend the night and the next day we went to Poland.
We spent eighteen hours at the border and spent six hours getting to the city where we are now. In Poland we have received support from the population and from the state. It is impossible to express how grateful we are to them. But there are a lot of refugees here and it is almost impossible to help everyone find everyone accommodation and a job.
For ten days we lived in a tiny room, we slept on the floor. We didn’t have any pillows but now everything is fine. A couple of days ago we were able to find an apartment and pay for it for the first month. I haven’t been able to find a job for two weeks which is why I would like to get a job in another country and help my family in Poland until we can return home. I am really thankful because of your help and I hope everything will be fine.
A huge thank you Hoggy, to all your writers too, it means so much to us all.
From Kate (Rea)
Kharkiv in Ukraine but now safe in Poland,
Dear Kate,
Thank you for your great news, your brilliant English, and the update, we are watching out for you and the next stage of your journey, if we can help here we will. It is a moving story, the story of so many, and it is powerful for the voice you have for them all. 'The vacation train' will stay in my mind for its irony. As will 'everything is fine'. You are heroic people.
I hope you will think about coming to the UK? Even with its brain-defeating refugee bureaucracy it is still a place of peace and safety for now. You would be welcomed. 110,000 UK citizens so far have signed up the scheme, and that is hopefully just a start.
We are a nation populated by the global diaspora, we need everyone here.
Hopefully we will meet one day?
With best wishes to you all and to your niece in particular, what a start to her life. Please keep in touch.
Hoggy
More letters have come in overnight and we will post these tomorrow. Thank you all! Hoggy
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