Invasion Day +44 The Bells of Hell ring out for Putin but hell hath no fury like a world scorned. We mix metaphors, misquote and mangle them in total disbelief that evil can reach such diabolical depths. The railway station slaughter, 'The Slaughter of Kramatorsk,' a war crime, yet another Russian war crime, aimed at the mass murder of 4000 women, children and the elderly seeking to flee to safety, sees Putin scraping out the very lining of his own depravity.
There can be no peace whilst this slaughter continues, no peace until Putin is removed from his own paranoiac megalomania. He must be stopped and peace must be returned to the once powerful state of Russia, now a pariah, lost, bewildered, scorned, as it faces a self-inflicted banishment from the world.
'Banished? ... the damned use that word in hell, howling attends it.'
Shakespeare's words ring the bell for Putin and for Russia, their howl-filled hell is the despair of their future. The 'Real Russians', those of the white and the blue who fight on for freedom, are the best hope for the war's end; a triumph over evil from within and banishment placed on hold against a recognisance for bail for the Russian state.
Meanwhile, it is with a sense of affirmation that we can confirm the reports of our live correspondents in this blog two weeks ago that desertions by Russian troops might be more widespread than news reports suggested. Reports coming in have identified several Russian units that have refused to fight in Ukraine, many hundreds of arrests for desertion and mutiny have taken place, and many of the losses sustained by their army written down as the 'missing.' Even Russia now admits its losses have been 'significant.'
Sadly, whilst the oil and the gas still flow, the war will bleed on, a wound so deep no tourniquet will staunch it until ashen and grey with the loss, the body politic may finally call a desperate halt. There are no winners. We all are losers. Ukraine will have bled for our freedom and will stand above the world like a colossus. But at a terrible cost, a cost that will stain our collective history for ever.
We, who are 'Hoggy', yimps all perhaps, and all of you and us who write and support this work as the writers of this blog, will fight on raising our voice as loud as we can for peace, for freedom, for truth and for justice. Please do not despair: good will triumph over evil. In the end. We salute you, we salute Ukraine.
Today's Letters,
From Enia, a Ukrainian, now waiting patiently in Poland
I am Enia, this is my story. I am hoping to come to stay in Rillington in North Yorkshire very soon. Currently I and my mother are at a refugee shelter in Poland waiting for a British visa.
'Well what to tell?
Even now, being in a safe place, I am chilled with fear. It was Thursday, the 24th February. It was 5 a.m. I thought I was having a bad dream. I heard an explosion, then another one, and another one.
I woke up. It was early morning. My boyfriend woke up. I felt frightened. I didn't understand what was happening. I asked my boyfriend, 'Is it a war? Have the Russians attacked us?' He said 'Yes.'
I have lived in Kharviv all my life. It is a big city. We stayed there for seven days. Every day, all day, for seven days, they bombed my peaceful city and they are doing it now. They keep doing it.
At first I slept outside my bed fully dressed so I could run out in any situation. We taped the windows. We did not use lights so our house would not be noticed. We took our nephew from the hostel on the third day and we all lived together for a week.
It became frightening.
On the third night, bombs fell, I kept thinking whether they would fall on our house or not, I couldn't calm down.
I prayed.
Russian soldiers attacked my city all days and nights. It was horrible. Every hour I texted all relatives. and friends. Are they alive? We hid in the basement during the day and in the night we slept in the corridor on the floor behind two walls.
On the eighth day, early in the morning, we took my parent and left the city. I have never been so scared to drive in my life.
We saw a lot of burnt cars and destroyed houses. We drove like this but the bombs did not stop falling. After each bomb there was black smoke.
I never prayed so much as on that day. I prayed for God to help me and my family.
Now we are safe and looking forward to a new life.
Thank you for the precious work you are doing.
Enia
From Kharkiv, Ukraine, now in Poland.
(Sent as an audio diary. All the names of our correspondents still with family in Ukraine have been changed for their current protection but all their words are reproduced faithfully here. Hoggy.)
Dear Enia,
Thank you so much for sending us your audio diary: we shall keep these safe and they will form part of Ukraine's permanent living record of this terrible time.
You have been incredibly brave and your fear is palpable. We all hope that you will arrive safely here after this awful ordeal and that soon, very soon, you will be able to return and rebuild your home and your country. But we will welcome you with everything we can despite the slow and grinding bureaucracy of our present government which is hampering all our wishes.
We all hope your boyfriend and all your family and friends still in Ukraine will be safe and you will all be reunited.
We look forward to meeting you when you arrive and please do keep your faith and your belief in freedom alive. You are a wonderful example of the fortitude of Ukrainians that has inspired and united the free world.
With all our wishes Enia,
Hoggy
From Steve Cherne, Wisconisn, USA
Dear Hoggy,
I am inspired by the blog to write this poem, echoing as it does your earlier post that asked, 'In the 21st Century how can one man plunge the world into such chaos?'
Please keep the blog going for as long as you can, we read it avidly each day and gain much hope and support from all the correspondents.
'Just One Man'
One man, Just One Man
Followed by fools
Hollow men
Cowardly men
Soulless men
Shallow men
March in step
Ignoring their hearts
Ignoring their minds
Ignoring sanity
Following fools enable, Just One Man
To inflict his savagery
To murder innocents
To satiate his lust
Of power
Of conquest
And We, The World,
Are led to the brink of extinction,
By Just One Man.
Best wishes Hoggy, and with hope for the future,
Steve
Steve Cherne
Wisconsin USA
Dear Steve,
Thank you Steve, a very powerful poem from your great pen. I held it back until today to emphasise your very line in the poem...that we are on 'the brink of extinction', a fact increasingly recognised by the world's leaders as it seeks to stop this one man.
But many people across the world still need to recognise that we are at war, a war being fought for us, for our freedom and for our security and for our very lives by the brave heroes of Ukraine. It is a military war, a cyberwar, a war of words, an economic war, a war of the world, a war for peace, a war that if it is not ended soon might well end us all.
We will continue to support the fight for peace here however we can.
It is by you and all our correspondents each day that we carry on the fight as best we can. We are not just 'armchair warriors' we together are activists using our own weapons, the weapons of the written word, the power of advocacy and the shoulder of support to those in despair. They are powerful weapons, used well, and we must use them to the ultimate extent of our ability.
Thank you Steve and we send all in Wisconsin, and all those who care across the wide USA, the very best of wishes in this struggle.
Hoggy
Thank you everyone for keeping this blog alive and for spreading the word with your friends and contacts, together we can build a wave of support, however small, for all those affected so badly by this terrible war. We are hearing about two young girls Lina and Laura in Ukraine who are in need of help and as soon as we have more details we will post the need here. Please keep writing, here, wherever, but we are writers and this is our call. Hoggy.
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