Here is a story — a true tale — to get the blood of freedom-lovers stirring, wherever they may live: “Stealthy Kherson resistance fighters undermined Russian occupying forces.” Amazing what people will do, to repel invasion and keep free. (For the article in question, go here.)
The Ukrainians are setting an example in defending home and liberty. Millions admire them for it. And, of course, millions resent and hate them for it. That is how the human animal is built, we know by now.
• Something else to get the blood of freedom-lovers stirring: the sight of the first train pulling into Kherson. The first train from Kyiv to arrive in Kherson since that city was liberated. Hanna Liubakova, the Belarusian journalist, has circulated a video.
• Hanna also circulated a photo — a photo that says a lot. It was taken by Eddy van Wessel. This is one of those images that encapsulate a war or other struggle. Hanna’s caption: “Bakhmut, November 17, 2022. An elderly couple comforts each other in a hospital after a Russian missile destroys their home.”
Go here.
• Last summer, I interviewed Lou Cannon, the veteran American political journalist. I would like to paste a paragraph from the resulting piece:
In Reno, the Cannons had a friend who was Finnish. In November 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland. Lou was six. And owing to the family friend, he was very interested in the war, which would be known as the “Winter War.” He is reminded of that war by today’s war. “I follow the twists and turns of the invasion of Ukraine obsessively,” he says. “Normal people are going to work, and then their houses are destroyed or their children are killed. That gets you pretty damn concerned, if you’re a small-d democrat.”
I understand Lou very well, and I know that others do too.
• The kind of report that people naturally want to turn away from but that is so very important: “‘I thought I was going to die’: Abuses widespread in Ukraine.” (Article here.)
• Something else that people will want to turn away from (but that ought to be confronted regardless). It is a video, circulated by Oleksandra Matviichuk, the executive director of the Center for Civil Liberties, based in Kyiv. In a few weeks, the center will receive the Nobel Peace Prize, with two other laureates.
Ms. Matviichuk is a Ukrainian human-rights lawyer, who has documented war crimes in eight countries. Last month, I did an interview with her, here.
“This is Oleg,” she says, about the recent video. Oleg is a nine-year-old boy from Kherson. “His house is near the premises that Russians used as a secret prison. Locals confirm that they regularly heard screams from this room. This is how Oleg tells about it.”
• Why does Ukraine matter? That is an important question — and it is answered in a speech given by the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, on November 19: “Why Ukraine Matters.”
The last three lines:
Because rules matter.
Sovereignty matters.
And freedom matters.
• “UK PM Sunak makes surprise trip to Kyiv, boosts defense aid.” That matters too — a great deal. It is natural for freedom countries — and Britain is very much a freedom country — to support those who are struggling to fend off subjugation. (Article here.)
• “Marjorie Taylor Greene Compares Invading Russians to U.S. Migrants.” That is a headline from Newsweek (over this article). Greene is the Republican congresswoman from Georgia who is a star of the populist Right. I will quote the article:
“We had 5 million people cross our border illegally since Joe Biden took office,” Greene said on Thursday, while flanked by GOP colleagues. “Let’s compare that to how many Russians have invaded Ukraine. 82,000 Russians have invaded Ukraine.”
“I think the American people and the taxpayers of this country deserve to know why the Biden administration and this Congress is so interested in funding the protection of Ukraine’s border and not the protection of our border.”
A study in moral idiocy.
• “Russian opposition leader Navalny sent to tiny one-man cell.” That is a headline from the Associated Press, over this article.
Vladimir Putin is a bare-chested swaggerer, who makes authoritarian-friendly hearts the world over go pitter-pat. Big tough strong guy. Very, very good at killing innocent Ukrainians for the crime of wanting to live in their own country, in an atmosphere of freedom.
But he seems awfully scared of this one Russian, Alexei Navalny.
• Vladimir Kara-Murza is another oppositionist whom the Kremlin has imprisoned. I have known him for many years. He refused to leave Russia for exile, thinking that if he asked his countrymen to stand up to the dictatorship, he had to do so while standing on Russian soil. He is now paying the price. In my opinion, Vladimir Kara-Murza is one of the noblest people in the world.
For a recent article about him from RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty), go here.
• “Don’t Go Wobbly on Ukraine: Ukrainian victory is in America’s national interest. Calls for negotiations now are damaging and counterproductive.” That is the judgment of Eric S. Edelman and David J. Kramer, writing for American Purpose (here). I believe their judgment is sound.
“The Russian Empire Must Die: A better future requires Putin’s defeat — and the end to imperial aspirations.” That is the judgment of Anne Applebaum, writing for The Atlantic (here).
It is an old, old subject: the relation of imperialism, or the subjugation of other nations and peoples, to Russian self-esteem. The sooner the Russians can rid themselves of the imperialist impulse, the better off they will be, I think — and the better off all will be.
In my interview last month with Oleksandra Matviichuk, she said this: “When I ask my colleagues in Russia — brave human-rights defenders, working in unbelievable circumstances — how I can help them, they answer, ‘Be successful. If you want to help us, be successful. Victory by Ukraine would have a huge impact on the whole region and on the future of democracy itself.’”