excieve · HackerTrans

2 года назадdiscuss

Most of us have something in place since the winter of 2022 when the power outages were systematic due to russian strikes on civilians and infrastructure, amplified by lack of air defence. Most of us needed to work though so some got UPS, EcoFlows, generators, solar systems, even DIY batteries if the budget is low. This year it's more of the same.

excieve

3 года назадdiscuss

Ukrainian Railways are operating even close to the front lines (where physically possible due to destruction). Outside of those the service is pretty much as usual — both sleepers and daytime intercity. Sometimes there are delays if the electric grid gets hit by the missiles, but then they just attach a diesel locomotive to pull the train instead.

International connections work too. My mother recently came to visit it us here. She took an intercity from Przemyśl, Poland on the way here and then a sleeper to Wien, Austria on the way back. Both arrived more or less on time.

excieve

4 года назадdiscuss

I think it might be difficult to understand if you're not living in this context yourself.

In this context the Russian soldiers are telling you that you're a "Nazi" because you're speaking Ukrainian, served in the army (no matter how long ago), or have a Ukrainian flag in your home, a tattoo or a haircut they don't like, or just camouflage-styled clothes and therefore don't deserve to live. A shot in the head usually comes after, sometimes worse than that.

This is a story of _each_ village in my area near Kyiv that came under the occupation for just a month. Probably would have been one for my family too if we hadn't fled to safety in time as we'd be considered, in your words, "Nazi elements" too.

Do I really need to link the photos of mass graves, bodies hastily burned to conceal the evidence and accounts of the survivors? Even this is a small fraction as we're not seeing what's happening in the currently occupied areas (there are only some accounts).

How different does it need to be? Does the pointless flattening of Mariupol fall under your definition? Or do we need to wait and see what happens if Russia wins this and there's no real visibility at all?

excieve

4 года назадdiscuss

They're actually quite explicit in what the goal is, at least in propaganda towards the internal audience[0]. If one does equate a Ukrainian to a "nazi" that must be exterminated, burns this into the minds for years, builds a chauvinistic version of history to frame it into then the rest comes out naturally — don't even need an order.

The behaviour of the Russian army towards the non-combatants so far has been aligned to what you could expect of this concept — mass murder, rape as a weapon, "filtration" camps, forced deportations, burnt ground tactics. These are not singular cases, it's the pattern everywhere the Russian army is or has been active.

It's not even the first attempt in the history — the last one was less than a century ago.

[0]: https://twitter.com/sumlenny/status/1510910740261134338

excieve

4 года назадdiscuss

Empathy is what distinguishes us from being just angry monkeys. But then, there are of course very selfish goals like long-term survival and freedom to live as you like outside of yet another authoritarian prison of nations. Which would be less likely for at least a significant part of Europe should most not care now.

excieve

4 года назадdiscuss

As a Ukrainian, I sincerely thank you for writing this.

It is often disheartening to see how many people of HN don't realise what is happening (and, frankly, has been happening for 8 years) and then read cold opinions devoid of empathy. What is the compromise when the other side's goal is extermination?

comments