There is a Russian pianist named Alexei Lubimov. (I have reviewed him in New York.) He was playing at an anti-war concert in Moscow when police burst in to stop the concert. Lubimov managed to keep going until he had finished the piece he was playing: Schubert’s Impromptu in E flat, Op. 90, No. 2. The audience gave him, and Schubert, a rousing, heartfelt ovation. Watch the video here.
May civilization prevail over barbarism, someday.
Alexei Lubimov is 77 years old. He is using his time well. Strength to his hands, in every way.
• As I noted on Tuesday, Vladimir Kara-Murza has been arrested and imprisoned. Friends of Putin are pleased with this; others of us are not. Kara-Murza is a Russian democracy leader and human-rights activist. He worked alongside Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition leader, who was not able to continue as opposition leader because they, whoops, murdered him.
The Washington Post is sounding the alarm about Kara-Murza’s arrest. Here is an editorial. Kara-Murza, in fact, contributes columns to the Post — as Jamal Khashoggi once did. (Whoops.)
I am full of admiration for the Post. Meg Greenfield, who for many years was editorial-page editor, once told Charles Krauthammer something. (He related it to me.) For a long stretch — ’70s, ’80s — she wanted something on Sakharov in her pages at least once a week. An editorial or op-ed piece. At least something mentioning him. That way, the paper might help keep Sakharov alive.
• This will show you pictures of Mariupol, Ukraine. Before Putin: life, color, beauty. After Putin: rubble, ashes, death. But as we all know, Putin had to save Russian-speakers in Mariupol from their Ukrainian oppressors, so well done, Vlad.
Once Ukraine is free — if Ukraine is free — there will have to be one whale of a rebuilding effort. I hope I am witness to that story. I hope I can see it for myself, on the ground.
• A report from Edith M. Lederer, the longtime U.N. correspondent for the Associated Press:
Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia’s invasion, and the United Nations has verified the deaths of 142 youngsters, though the number is almost certainly much higher, the U.N. children’s agency said Monday.
Here is some more:
Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s emergency programs director who just returned from Ukraine, said having 4.8 million of Ukraine’s 7.5 million children displaced in such a short time is “quite incredible.” He said it is something he hadn’t before seen happen so quickly in 31 years of humanitarian work.
Fontaine said, “They have been forced to leave everything behind — their homes, their schools, and, often, their family members.”
One more thing, from Edie Lederer’s story:
Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, claimed Russia has taken more than 121,000 children out of Ukraine . . .
War crimes. More of them. This will not move Putin’s supporters here in the U.S. and elsewhere. But it should move the rest of us.
• Hanna Liubakova, the Belarusian journalist, who has been keeping a close eye on Ukraine, circulated a video and said:
The way this man laughs is just amazing. He talks about Russian servicemen who came to his home and stole his underwear. And he honestly can’t get it.
Such lack of morality only unites Ukrainians. They see that this is not the 2nd army in the world if they steal pants. Not at all.
• Hanna also circulated this, saying,
The owner of a pizzeria in Kharkiv, Pavlo, delivers pizza around the city on his own. According to him, people call from abroad and pay for orders for doctors, emergency workers and ordinary people.
That’s the spirit.
(I recently did a Q&A podcast with Hanna Liubakova. Extraordinary woman, and extraordinarily brave, too. To listen, go here.)
• Garry Kasparov had it exactly right, in my opinion:
The question isn’t if or why Putin would use chemical weapons in Ukraine, but why wouldn’t he. The US & other NATO nations only draw red lines for themselves, always saying what they won’t do, while Putin continues to escalate his war crimes.
A striking phrase: “red lines for themselves” (but for no one else). Exactly.
• Finland and Sweden appear set to join NATO. Putin is a foe of NATO enlargement (as are many, including in NATO countries). But there is no greater NATO enlarger in the world today than he. This is an alliance of necessity. Many don’t recognize it, of course — but Finns, Swedes, Balts, and others certainly do.
• A headline from yesterday: “Le Pen Backs NATO-Russia Reconciliation and Reduced French Role in Alliance.” (Article here.) Wouldn’t it be something if Putin won at the ballot boxes of democracies what he has failed to win on the battlefield?
• Why has the Russian military struggled against the Ukrainian military? Why has Goliath had such a hard time against David? Max Boot explains it fascinatingly, in a column: It all has to do with military culture. And maybe culture culture? Such an interesting topic . . .
• “This Is the War’s Decisive Moment.” That is the heading of a piece by Eliot A. Cohen. The subheading: “The United States and its allies can tip the balance between a costly success and a calamity.” To me, what Cohen has to say rings true.
• Marc F. Plattner wrote a very interesting piece, also true-ringing: “Nationalism and the Struggle in Ukraine.” Its subheading: “The 20th century left a bitter taste in the mouth about nationalism. But the Ukrainian-style nationalism on display today is not only compatible with, but strongly supportive of, liberal democracy.”
I will also quote from the closing paragraph:
The Russo-Ukrainian war will be a clarifying test for national conservatives. It will force them to decide which version of nationalism they want to embrace — the democratic nationalism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy or the malignant and aggressive nationalism of Vladimir Putin.
• I was moved by something Bill Kristol wrote:
One gets swept up in life and work and activities, and the war goes on far away, and one starts to take for granted the amazing courage and achievements of the Ukrainian people. So I want to pause to say again:
Слава Україні! Героям слава!
Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!
Many people are uncomfortable, and understandably, with good and evil. Things must be gray. There is nuance in life, you know? Yes. But Putin’s Russia is perpetrating an assault on Ukraine: destruction, terror, displacement, maiming, murder, rape. Ukrainians are struggling to hold on to their nationhood, their independence, their freedom, their very life. This is as clear-cut as it gets.