Stuck in Customs
Monday, February 28, 2022
Meditative Landscapes
With staggering attention to detail, self-taught photographer George Kamelakis captures the natural world of Crete, the largest and most populous of the Greek islands.
Yet moving away from photographic tropes of white architecture and blue water, Kamelakis’s serene imagery is a meditation on the landscapes and species that surround us, if only we care to look.
Why Vladimir Putin has already lost this war
"Each Russian tank destroyed and each Russian soldier killed increases the Ukrainians’ courage to resist. And each Ukrainian killed deepens the Ukrainians’ hatred of the invaders. Hatred is the ugliest of emotions. But for oppressed nations, hatred is a hidden treasure. Buried deep in the heart, it can sustain resistance for generations.
To reestablish the Russian empire, Putin needs a relatively bloodless victory that will lead to a relatively hateless occupation. By spilling more and more Ukrainian blood, Putin is making sure his dream will never be realised. It won’t be Mikhail Gorbachev’s name written on the death certificate of the Russian empire: it will be Putin’s. Gorbachev left Russians and Ukrainians feeling like siblings;
Putin has turned them into enemies, and has ensured that the Ukrainian nation will henceforth define itself in opposition to Russia.
Nations are ultimately built on stories.
Each passing day adds more stories that Ukrainians will tell not only in the dark days ahead, but in the decades and generations to come. The president who refused to flee the capital, telling the US that he needs ammunition, not a ride; the soldiers from Snake Island who told a Russian warship to “go fuck yourself”; the civilians who tried to stop Russian tanks by sitting in their path.
This is the stuff nations are built from. In the long run, these stories count for more than tanks."
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Woody Guthrie Up Close
Nothing to see here?
Four days into Russia's invasion and Kremlin-run TV is providing viewers with a parallel reality - holding the line that rebel forces from the east are advancing in Ukraine with the support of Russian forces carrying out "precision strikes" on Ukrainian military infrastructure.
Media outlets are required by the media watchdog to follow the official narrative, so most channels are sticking to TV series and entertainment shows.
Croatia to ban Russian airlines from entering its air space, PM says
Already at today’s consultations, the government made the political decision that we will ban (Russian) airlines from flying into our air space,” he told the press.
The measures will go into force “possibly tomorrow already” and “implementation decisions” will be adopted at the cabinet’s session tomorrow, Plenkovic said.
Russian airlines have been banned from entering the air space of the UK, Ireland, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Malta, Austria, North Macedonia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland are also joining in the ban.
Some EU member states like France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Belgium have decided to send anti-tank weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.
Plenkovic said the Croatian government would decide on that tomorrow and that the Defence Ministry had drawn up a proposal.
“We will also adopt certain decisions on support to Ukraine, which is a victim of aggression, which will concern defence cooperation, first and foremost protective equipment and other equipment so that we can respond to their request,” he added.
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Zagreb is ready to accept refugees from Ukraine
Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic said on Friday that the city was "absolutely ready" to accept refugees from Ukraine and that it was possible to provide them with accommodation at the hostel Loda in Skradin, which is part of the Vladimir Nazor branch of the Zagreb Holding multi-utility conglomerate.
Tomasevic said that, in consultation with the Zagreb Holding management, he approved the request of the head of the Sibenik-Knin County civil protection team, who today requested accommodation for potential refugees from Ukraine in Skradin.
The mayor said the City of Zagreb would make a few more locations available for the accommodation of refugees, depending on the needs.
Croatia was the victim of a brutal military aggression of the Slobodan Milošević regime 30 years ago, it knows best what that means and understands Ukraine.
Glory to Ukraine !
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been giving a press briefing this morning, and said his country will triumph over Russian forces.
He said that government forces still control Kyiv and “key points around the city”.
He said that Ukrainian forces would win, and criticised disinformation.
In the final section of his speech, he said: “Please stop those who are lying, or trying to lie to you, or lying to us. We need to stop this war. We can live in peace together, globally as humans.
“Our military, our national guard, our national police, our territory defence, special service, nationals of Ukraine, please carry on. We will win. Glory to Ukraine.”
The president of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, is the latest European leader to ask Russian people to stop the war.
He said: “I appeal to you mothers of soldiers who are sent to die in Ukraine. I appeal to you soldiers who are fighting a war for who knows why.
“What is the meaning of this war?
Only because someone is sitting at a table, drew a piece of land on the map, that he wants to take away?
“A piece of land that never belonged to him. Does not belong to him. And will never belong to him.
“It’s terrifying to see what is going on. It’s terrifying to see women and children die. Churches are being destroyed. What are you fighting for? You are destroying what is sacred to all the Slavs.
The cradle of Orthodoxy. Kiev Rus.
“Stop. Think about what you’re doing. About what your leaders are doing. It’s not too late, even though much evil has been committed, it’s not too late to stop all of this.”
Friday, February 25, 2022
Putin's Historic Miscalculation May Make Him a War Criminal
War crimes include willful killing and extensive destruction of property “not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.” The term has been inconsistently interpreted and unevenly applied to leaders or countries—including to the U.S. and its officials—who have initiated aggression for reasons considered unjustified. In Ukraine, Putin’s “war of choice” has clearly violated international law through his invasion of a sovereign country and attempt to oust its government. After an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting, on Wednesday, the Secretary-General, António Guterres, warned that the Russian invasion could be the “worst war” of the century “with consequences not only devastating for Ukraine, not only tragic for the Russian Federation” but for the entire world.
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Ukraine urges citizens to resist as Russian forces enter Kyiv
Explosions and gunfire have been heard in a northern district of Kyiv, as invading Russian forces closed in, AFP reports from the ground.
How to make a Molotov cocktail
The Ukrainian interior ministry is posting instructions how to make a Molotov cocktail pic.twitter.com/UppDyrfGMV
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) February 25, 2022
Thursday, February 24, 2022
Is this the end of the world as we know it
We must be prepared for a long struggle. It will take years, probably decades, for all the consequences of 24 February to be played out. In the short term, the prospects for Ukraine are desperately bleak. But I think at this moment of the wonderful title of a book about the Hungarian revolution of 1956: Victory of a Defeat. Almost everyone in the west has now woken up to the fact that Ukraine is a European country being attacked and dismembered by a dictator. Kyiv today is a city full of journalists from all over the world. This experience will shape their views of Ukraine for ever. We had forgotten, in the years of our post-cold war illusions, that this is how nations write themselves on to the mental map of Europe: in blood, sweat and tears.Timothy Garton Ash is a historian, political writer and Guardian columnist
People on the streets of Moscow express anger and a sense of hopelessness after Putin’s move.
Flowers left at the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow. Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/Tass
A dark, sombre mood filled the Moscow air on Thursday morning as Russians were coming to terms with the fact that their president had launched a broad military offensive targeting Ukraine.
“I am embarrassed for my country. To be honest with you, I am speechless. War is always scary. We don’t want this,” said Nikita Golubev, a 30-year old teacher.
“Why are we doing this?” he added, expressing a sentiment of anger and hopelessness that was shared by many commuting to work down central Arbat Street.
At the Ukrainian culture centre just down the road, the mood was even grimmer.
This Is Not A Meme
Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, confirming the West's worst fears.
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Wednesday, February 23, 2022
The Birds Outsmarted Us
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