I think it’s absolute bullshit that its a patriotic effort. Most of the conflict is in eastern Ukraine, a recent afterthought of an appendage to what was historically considered Ukrainian territory, one populated by a russian leaning minority who were discriminated against by various kiev governments and which was subject to peace agreement in principle…one which recognised what i just said.
It’s feasible that I’m a bit wrong but the average Ukrainian is very reluctant to die to protect a city which their own government has been bombing for years, for example. Tell me there isn’t a contradiction
I think thats why he went in in the first place, high enough proportion of people identifying as Russian in a very corrupt country.
I work with 5 Ukrainian kids in school, 1 of them from Kherson, 4 from Odessa. 4 of the 5 adore the Ukrainian bomb disposal dog/mascot ‘Patron’, the Kherson lad not so much at all, palms the phone away when they show him, (I allow them their phones sometimes)maybe he just doesn’t like dogs, maybe he loves Putin…its hard to know. They all speak Russian as their first language, but Ive heard that can be a social mobility thing. Theyre all fucking gutted it has come to this though.
They have a plethora of nuke plants capable of producing weapons grade fissile material (they were deliberately designed for this capability in Soviet times) and world class nuclear technicians.
Definitely possible. Met parent(s) there for second time in November. Very guarded, you’d never ask how things were going/where they stood, but wouldn’t be told either understandably.
Great people though, very hard working; doing bits all over town for free/small amounts. Fabulous kids, charming and very diligent.
You’d wonder are they ever going home now though, or with the state of Kherson, say, are they better off throwing their lot in here unless they were going particularly well before the invasion. Fuck knows.
Good to hear from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. Sounds like they’ll be our gain regardless of their own tragedy. Fair play to you for looking out for them.
I googled this out of curiosity. I’m pretty sure the podcast you’re referring to is eight months old, the autumn refers to autumn 2022 and has already been proven wrong.
Europe successfully got through the winter without need for Russian oil and gas.
That fella Lex Fridman is a bizzare fella. I remember when the war first started he tweeted he’d sit down with Zelensky and Putin and chat to them. The hack of him thinking Putin would entertain his nonsense.
I tried listening to a couple of his episodes as he seems to get really interesting guests but its all long pauses and silences added with a question like “how do we unite all people in peace and love”.
