Fending Off a Terror State

The latest from Ukraine, or some of it:

Is Russia not a terror state? Can anyone deny, credibly, that it is? And bear in mind that this is a terror state that sits on the U.N. Security Council, along with China.

• It is important to know the names and faces of at least some of the victims. Otherwise, the victims are left as mere abstractions, or statistics. A news report begins,

Victoria Amelina, one of Ukraine’s best-known young writers, has died from injuries sustained in a Russian missile strike on a crowded restaurant in eastern Ukraine. She was 37.

Something from Maria Avdeeva:

• I recommend a piece by Mariam Naiem, which begins,

“I was rewatching the movie ‘Hunger Games,’ and I couldn’t help but think how it reminds me of my life, our lives as Ukrainians,” a friend wrote to me following yet another night of relentless shelling.

On June 6, a catastrophic event unfolded in Ukraine as the dam in Nova Kakhovka was destroyed. But while some media outlets may refer to this as an “incident,” the ramifications of this event extend far beyond that — it represents an ecological disaster that will haunt the region for decades to come, and it is yet another distressing example of war crimes perpetrated by Russia.

• After the dam, the nuclear power station?

If, or when, Russia attacks the station — what will the response of the West be? Aren’t you glad you don’t have to decide? I don’t envy the decision-makers.

• “Memorial To Slain Civilians Unveiled In Ukraine’s Bucha.” That article is here. Here is a picture of the memorial:

• A bit of news:

Ukrainian prosecutors on Friday charged a Russian politician and two suspected Ukrainian collaborators with war crimes over the alleged deportation of dozens of orphans from the formerly-occupied southern city of Kherson, some of them as young as one.

They are the first suspects to be charged by Ukraine, which says more than 19,000 children have been illegally transferred to Russia or Russian-held territory, officials told Reuters.

For the article as a whole, go here.

• James Marson of the Wall Street Journal conducted an interview with Volodymyr Zelensky, here. It provides a sense of what it’s like to be president of Ukraine right now. Many people in the Free World despise Zelensky (even as they sympathize with Putin). I wonder what they would do, if they were president of Ukraine, in these most horrific of circumstances, inflicted on Ukraine by the Kremlin.

• Mike Pence traveled to Ukraine, to express solidarity with that country. This was a very unusual thing to do, for a Republican presidential candidate. My guess is this: If Pence is to go down — if his career is to end this year — he wants to do so as himself. As the Pence he always was, before 2016 and the transformation of his political world.

Just a guess. (For a news story on Pence in Ukraine, go here.)

• From RFE/RL, that invaluable service, the story of one Russian soldier, Alfred Galimov — who must stand for many more: “A Russian Volunteer Soldier Was Forced To Return To The Front. He Hanged Himself Instead.”

• Another story from RFE/RL:

The attackers shaved Yelena Milashina’s head, broke several of her fingers, and covered her head with green dye.

An award-winning Russian investigative journalist from Novaya Gazeta and a lawyer were badly beaten by armed men during a trip to Chechnya, the human rights group Team Against Torture reported on July 4.

For the complete story, go here.

Remember, six correspondents for Novaya Gazeta have been murdered. They are Igor Domnikov, Yuri Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya, Anastasia Baburova, Stanislav Markelov, and Natalia Estemirova.

• The Putin-style regime in Georgia is killing Mikheil Saakashvili, slowly: “Emaciated Saakashvili Reiterates Innocence In Georgia Trial As Zelenskiy Urges His Release.”

• I have never seen anything more starkly framed than in this headline: “Taiwan’s Impossible Choice: Be Ukraine or Hong Kong.” The article is by Yaroslav Trofimov and Joyu Wang of the Wall Street Journal. They begin,

People in Taiwan have been following every twist of the war in Ukraine. But, while their sympathy for the Ukrainian cause is near-universal, the conclusions for the island’s own future widely diverge.

On the campaign trail this week, Mike Pence criticized Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis for their positions on Ukraine. “Make no mistake,” he said, “China is watching.”