Invasion Day +20 Is the world still sleeping? Are we carrying on as if a war is happening somewhere else? That other people's lives are being lost but they are not ours? Ukrainian lives are our lives: they are the thin blue and yellow line holding back the new Czar, Putin the First... and Last. And, as our correspondent today suggests, what if Putin has dementia? What if any dictator has dementia? Where does that leave us? Who will be brave enough to put the white coats on and certify Putin? The Generals perhaps? Perhaps? If only to try and save themselves from joining Putin in the dock of the International Criminal Court at The Hague where he, and they, and many of their armed forces who are actually pulling the triggers, are now surely destined to go. They appear to have committed just about all the crimes against humanity listed in the ICC statute book. Come on Generals, save yourselves. Today the desperate Putin is reported as ordering cadets still in training to the front line; more grieving mothers and fathers. The reason? Because reports suggest he has now lost 40% of his operational fighting strength and a significant number of the other 60% are badly demoralised, fighting on only because they have a gun pointed at their back. Further reports suggest the people of Kherson are not allowing the occupation to take hold and bravely speaking their minds to the occupiers. Tremendous admiration too for the news editor who interrupted the Russian state news outlet with an anti-war slogan, we need to support her and all the journalists who refuse to be cowed by oppression. And 100,000 Brits have now signed up to take in Ukrainians. A great response now the UK government has, at last, seen the light. Now the world's IT players are uniting against Putin, not since 1939 has one man united so many against barbarism. Even music has united; the 'Soldiers of Music' at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York on Monday was a huge statement of support for Ukraine and incredibly moving. More sanctions, more desperation from Putin. He may flatten all the buildings of Ukraine, but clearly he will never flatten the people. And he will never flatten democracy. Whether we like it or not, the world IS at war. A war against Putin.
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Today's letters:
Dear Hoggy,
Hello, My name is Rea, I am from Kharkiv. I am 16 years old and staying with my mother and grandmother in far western Ukraine in one small room with five other people. My father stayed behind in Kharkiv to defend the city and do some volunteering work for elderly people. We don't have any income now and we are vulnerable and need support to buy food. If you can help that would be really great news. But now I want to tell you about the events that took place in Ukraine on 24 February. Here it is I guess.
It started suddenly, pretty much like any other war, I suppose, in the middle of the night. I woke up to my distressed mother telling me to get ready and pack my stuff. I was confused at first, maybe because I barely woke up, but telling someone to get ready seemed like a weird thing to demand at 5 a.m. And I could hear some bangs coming from the outside too, which was weird, but I couldn't quite tell what they were at that point. I was trying to ask what was going on, what was all the hustle, but she didn't respond to me at all, that is until my dad walked in and told me 'War has started, get ready, we don't know what's going to happen next. ' My heart literally sank as I could barely feel any of my limbs. I just followed what my mum told me to do and got ready. I then took my phone to check what was going on, and I already had messages that some of my friends from abroad had sent me. Telling me to stay strong, supporting and caring for me. Which was nice of them but I don't think it really helped me feel any better at the time.
My family spent the whole morning sitting in the kitchen and waiting for any TV channels to tell us what was going on. But all that was on was just old news from a couple of days ago they put on repeat. The only sources of information were the Telegram channels, which are honestly a massive help, even to this day, providing all the news about what and where something exploded or got bombed. The whole thing just felt surreal, and if a person has never experienced anything like this before, the feelings are simply unexplainable.
The explosions were loud, and felt close, even if they were miles away which is the scariest part. You can never actually know how close you are to the bombings unless you've been in one yourself, as I've said, the explosions felt close even if they were miles away.
And obviously at first it was really horrifying and scary, until it all just got annoying. Waking up from explosions over and over again when you're trying to sleep for the first time in two days, and going to the basement because you don't really want to get killed by a missile becomes irritating pretty fast, and don't make me start on having to sit underground with a bunch of other people!
Honestly, the whole situation is just disgusting. Putin seems to have spiralled far into his dementia, as I see no other reason as to why he would do what he did in the first place. And unless your interpretation of 'benefit' is a piece of land ten times smaller than your own country that you now have to rebuild because you yourself destroyed it, then yeah, obviously Putin gains a lot from this conflict doesn't he? If he even manages to win it in the first place. All we can really do is just hope he's not insane enough to start a nuclear war. And take a note for the future; put an age restriction on presidency – don't let old people with mental issues rule a country.
Thanks to you all,
Rea,
Dear Rea,
Thank you so much for this first hand account of war. It is very moving. You are very brave and we all send you, and especially your dad, all the wishes we can to be safe and reunited as soon as possible. And your command of English is perfect. And I note the pleas. Agreed.
There have been some incredible news reports here in the last day or two: the resistance all over your country is beyond belief. The sacrifice the Ukrainian people are making is for us all. I want to acknowledge everyone, but how about all those emergency workers who seem indefatigable, rescuing people, going into burning buildings, carrying people to some sort of safety? They are amazing and your dad will be with them. If you manage to speak with him please can you say how much we admire him and all of those staying behind to do what they can? They are all heroes.
In terms of support, I will send you something today, but we will need to put in place a system for this: I have very limited resources, long term, so we will need to put something better in place quickly. I am going to suggest to the team today that we try and match each individual situation we come across with a specific sponsor over here. I have some generous if not very wealthy friends, but hopefully even a small amount will help. And we need to know if you want to come to the UK: The UK has 100,000 registrations offering accommodation already, but there is a need to match Ukrainian names to registrations. Its all very new (yesterday) so we are trying to find out exactly how all this is going to happen.
Please keep in touch and let us know how you are all getting on? We will publish your news as we receive it.
With all our wishes and thoughts from here,
Hoggy
Note to my friends: if you are able to help with a small donation to help Rea, her family or any of our other correspondents please can you let me know? Every pound will help.
Mail me at hoggytheyimp@gmail.com and I will respond. Thank you very much indeed. Hoggy.
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