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So, about Ukraine...
3 years ago
I live in Sweden. Safe and neutral little Scandinavian nation that no one really cares about. If you have lived here, or anywhere near Russia I suppose, you're just so used to the constant angry rhetoric and saber rattling from Russia. Cry wolf kinda deal. There would always be Russian planes entering our airspace. Russian submarines in our coastal waters. Their "naval landing exercises" such as Zapad, where they would equip an entire invasion force with live ammo and sail towards us, just to turn off last moment and head somewhere else. Fighter jets would scramble over the farm where I grew up all the time to "meet the incident" as it was called. This is just how life was and no one never really cared much.
So when Russia had another "military exercise" on the border of Ukraine, we all just thought "ah, more angry rhetoric" and never bothered more.
To be frank here, at the start, Putin did have a point. Ukraine in NATO means US forces in Ukraine, Putins back yard. I understand that that thought is making him unnerved. I think A LOT of Americans would be freaked out if Russia suddenly stationed troops, air force and possibly nuclear weapons in Mexico, Cuba and Canada. So we just figured that he's flexing his muscles and demanding some deals to be made, which is fair. At worst, it would be a "bloodless" hybrid war. A rebel group start a secession from Ukraine and make their own state, demand independence and then joins Russia. After all, this is what Russia and the US has been doing for like, 60 years at this point. The "new" war. The "cold war." The hybrid war where perhaps a few dozen people had to risk their lives but over all there would be very little bloodshed by comparison.
So when deals with NATO were unsuccessful, Putin suddenly rolled into "sovereign secessionist states" so we just were like "ah, here we go again, hybrid war. I wonder how Ukraine will react to this." But then suddenly, out of fucking nowhere, a full scale military invasion. I couldn't believe it at first. But there it was. Textbook invasion. Blast the military bases, key infrastructure and airports with cruise missiles, then drop paratroopers to cease control of the airports so that reinforcements can be flown in. It's a scenario we have even trained for in the army.
But then things just escalated with rocket speed. Suddenly, Russian missile and artillery strikes stopped targeting military targets and infrastructure, but started to shell villages, residential areas, even hospitals and kindergartens. And we could only stare in horror as it happened.
But the war doesn't go in Putins favour. So suddenly, he activates his strategic command, and I know that means ICBMs, possibly nukes and... thermobarics. If you don't know what the latter is, let me quote:
A Human Rights Watch report of 1 February 2000[15] quotes a study made by the US Defense Intelligence Agency:
The [blast] kill mechanism against living targets is unique—and unpleasant. ... What kills is the pressure wave, and more importantly, the subsequent rarefaction [vacuum], which ruptures the lungs. ... If the fuel deflagrates but does not detonate, victims will be severely burned and will probably also inhale the burning fuel. Since the most common FAE fuels, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, are highly toxic, undetonated FAE should prove as lethal to personnel caught within the cloud as with most chemical agents.
According to a US Central Intelligence Agency study,[15] "the effect of an FAE explosion within confined spaces is immense. Those near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to suffer many internal, thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal organs, and possibly blindness." Another Defense Intelligence Agency document speculates that, because the "shock and pressure waves cause minimal damage to brain tissue ... it is possible that victims of FAEs are not rendered unconscious by the blast, but instead suffer for several seconds or minutes while they suffocate".[16]
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon
Not long after USA responds, STRATCOM is ready and prepared.
And for the first fucking time, 3 fucking days, THREE DAYS into the war, the entire world enters DEFCON 2. Like, I can't even grasp it. I struggle to fathom what the fuck is going on. At the same time, Putin wars us, Finland and Sweden, that if we so much as look in NATOs direction, he will do to us what he's doing to Ukraine. For the last months there has already been drones over our power plants, parliament, etc. Kaliningrad with the entire eastern sea fleet is just 40 min air travel from here. The navy can reach our shores in a matter of hours. We also know that Putin has a lot more troops and a lot of modern equipment that we have not seen deployed in Ukraine yet.
So, where are they?
The threat is very real.
Our armed forces respond. I get called in for exercises, sentry planes are in the sky, submarines in the sea, fighter jets scramble over our heads on a daily basis. Police barricades around key buildings. Soldiers on the streets, tanks guarding the harbours. Bomb shelters are being prepared. The tension is so thick that you can cut it with a knife.
At the same time, Russia has launched strategic bombers. I watch through direct sources as the first thermobaric bomb detonates of Ukraine. I have seen the devastating effects of them myself. I fear them more than nukes. Much like napalm, they are forbidden by the Geneva convention for a fucking reason. And now they are being used. I feel sick. Memory images flash before my eyes, tears run down my face. How. The. Fuck. Could. They.
My friends in Ukraine are hiding in shelters as their houses are getting turned into rubble. I'm worried sick for them. At the same time, my Russian friends are scared as their are being shut off from the western world. Artists now struggle to get paid, people lose their livelihoods.
On top of this, I struggle hard to sift through enormous amounts of misinformation while trying to keep things calm in the servers I mod. Some people are very afraid, emotional and panic, spreading rumors and doing more harm than good. Others are so fucking blinded by "right and wrong" that they cheer every time they see news of killed Russians. They compare kills by Ukraine and Russia as if they were watching a fucking hockey game. It's so fucking distasteful. I can't stand it.
They are people. They are just as scared as you are. They don't want to be where they are. But if they desert the army, lifetime in prison awaits them at best, or they might even be considered traitors. They feel like they are being forced to fight their own brethren with a gun in their back. In war you have to do what you have to do, but what is this, Colosseum in Rome at 100 AD? So many people are punishing the Russian people for the actions of their dictator, who lets anyone who opposes him disappear in jail, or die from poisoning on a flight. Thousands of Russians who protest the war has already been imprisoned.
For every day that goes on, the situation gets even worse. And while all of this is going on, Putin is also holding his "trial" for Navalny, which is now going completely under the radar in almost all news media.
For the love of the Gods, at least treat each other as humans. There are a lot of things to agree and disagree on, but lets not drop the humanity.
Help your Ukrainian and Russian artists if you can, they need it more than anyone else right now. Any Russian who gets caught supporting, financing or trying to help an Ukranian, even if its a family member, is considered a traitor of the state as of yesterday. And pray that this doesn't spread further, into the Baltics and Scandinavia, who are under a very real threat right now. We're stocking up on food, water, clothes and medical supplies.
I shall end with a quote by a good Ukranian friend of mine.
"Don't tell the Gods you're in trouble. Tell the trouble that you are with the Gods."
So when Russia had another "military exercise" on the border of Ukraine, we all just thought "ah, more angry rhetoric" and never bothered more.
To be frank here, at the start, Putin did have a point. Ukraine in NATO means US forces in Ukraine, Putins back yard. I understand that that thought is making him unnerved. I think A LOT of Americans would be freaked out if Russia suddenly stationed troops, air force and possibly nuclear weapons in Mexico, Cuba and Canada. So we just figured that he's flexing his muscles and demanding some deals to be made, which is fair. At worst, it would be a "bloodless" hybrid war. A rebel group start a secession from Ukraine and make their own state, demand independence and then joins Russia. After all, this is what Russia and the US has been doing for like, 60 years at this point. The "new" war. The "cold war." The hybrid war where perhaps a few dozen people had to risk their lives but over all there would be very little bloodshed by comparison.
So when deals with NATO were unsuccessful, Putin suddenly rolled into "sovereign secessionist states" so we just were like "ah, here we go again, hybrid war. I wonder how Ukraine will react to this." But then suddenly, out of fucking nowhere, a full scale military invasion. I couldn't believe it at first. But there it was. Textbook invasion. Blast the military bases, key infrastructure and airports with cruise missiles, then drop paratroopers to cease control of the airports so that reinforcements can be flown in. It's a scenario we have even trained for in the army.
But then things just escalated with rocket speed. Suddenly, Russian missile and artillery strikes stopped targeting military targets and infrastructure, but started to shell villages, residential areas, even hospitals and kindergartens. And we could only stare in horror as it happened.
But the war doesn't go in Putins favour. So suddenly, he activates his strategic command, and I know that means ICBMs, possibly nukes and... thermobarics. If you don't know what the latter is, let me quote:
A Human Rights Watch report of 1 February 2000[15] quotes a study made by the US Defense Intelligence Agency:
The [blast] kill mechanism against living targets is unique—and unpleasant. ... What kills is the pressure wave, and more importantly, the subsequent rarefaction [vacuum], which ruptures the lungs. ... If the fuel deflagrates but does not detonate, victims will be severely burned and will probably also inhale the burning fuel. Since the most common FAE fuels, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, are highly toxic, undetonated FAE should prove as lethal to personnel caught within the cloud as with most chemical agents.
According to a US Central Intelligence Agency study,[15] "the effect of an FAE explosion within confined spaces is immense. Those near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to suffer many internal, thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal organs, and possibly blindness." Another Defense Intelligence Agency document speculates that, because the "shock and pressure waves cause minimal damage to brain tissue ... it is possible that victims of FAEs are not rendered unconscious by the blast, but instead suffer for several seconds or minutes while they suffocate".[16]
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon
Not long after USA responds, STRATCOM is ready and prepared.
And for the first fucking time, 3 fucking days, THREE DAYS into the war, the entire world enters DEFCON 2. Like, I can't even grasp it. I struggle to fathom what the fuck is going on. At the same time, Putin wars us, Finland and Sweden, that if we so much as look in NATOs direction, he will do to us what he's doing to Ukraine. For the last months there has already been drones over our power plants, parliament, etc. Kaliningrad with the entire eastern sea fleet is just 40 min air travel from here. The navy can reach our shores in a matter of hours. We also know that Putin has a lot more troops and a lot of modern equipment that we have not seen deployed in Ukraine yet.
So, where are they?
The threat is very real.
Our armed forces respond. I get called in for exercises, sentry planes are in the sky, submarines in the sea, fighter jets scramble over our heads on a daily basis. Police barricades around key buildings. Soldiers on the streets, tanks guarding the harbours. Bomb shelters are being prepared. The tension is so thick that you can cut it with a knife.
At the same time, Russia has launched strategic bombers. I watch through direct sources as the first thermobaric bomb detonates of Ukraine. I have seen the devastating effects of them myself. I fear them more than nukes. Much like napalm, they are forbidden by the Geneva convention for a fucking reason. And now they are being used. I feel sick. Memory images flash before my eyes, tears run down my face. How. The. Fuck. Could. They.
My friends in Ukraine are hiding in shelters as their houses are getting turned into rubble. I'm worried sick for them. At the same time, my Russian friends are scared as their are being shut off from the western world. Artists now struggle to get paid, people lose their livelihoods.
On top of this, I struggle hard to sift through enormous amounts of misinformation while trying to keep things calm in the servers I mod. Some people are very afraid, emotional and panic, spreading rumors and doing more harm than good. Others are so fucking blinded by "right and wrong" that they cheer every time they see news of killed Russians. They compare kills by Ukraine and Russia as if they were watching a fucking hockey game. It's so fucking distasteful. I can't stand it.
They are people. They are just as scared as you are. They don't want to be where they are. But if they desert the army, lifetime in prison awaits them at best, or they might even be considered traitors. They feel like they are being forced to fight their own brethren with a gun in their back. In war you have to do what you have to do, but what is this, Colosseum in Rome at 100 AD? So many people are punishing the Russian people for the actions of their dictator, who lets anyone who opposes him disappear in jail, or die from poisoning on a flight. Thousands of Russians who protest the war has already been imprisoned.
For every day that goes on, the situation gets even worse. And while all of this is going on, Putin is also holding his "trial" for Navalny, which is now going completely under the radar in almost all news media.
For the love of the Gods, at least treat each other as humans. There are a lot of things to agree and disagree on, but lets not drop the humanity.
Help your Ukrainian and Russian artists if you can, they need it more than anyone else right now. Any Russian who gets caught supporting, financing or trying to help an Ukranian, even if its a family member, is considered a traitor of the state as of yesterday. And pray that this doesn't spread further, into the Baltics and Scandinavia, who are under a very real threat right now. We're stocking up on food, water, clothes and medical supplies.
I shall end with a quote by a good Ukranian friend of mine.
"Don't tell the Gods you're in trouble. Tell the trouble that you are with the Gods."
Finland shares a border, albeit a small one, with NATO-aligned Norway.
The Baltics?"Instant WW3 as all three are in NATO.
Same goes for Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece and Turkey, although who knows what the West would do if Russia went after the Asian section of Turkey.
Iran is a very interesting case, although I don't think Russia would go after them.
China? As entertaining as that would be for Americans at first, that could get messy QUICKLY.
Japan?
Actually, Japan would be a good question.
But if they do take Ukraine, then they likely will next target the next countries bordering it. Like Lithuania and the other small nations around it. Then likely move onto Poland next. However yes they can also target Finland and Sweden. That is concerning about those "drills" you mentioned. Where they send out a fully armed naval force, but back out the last minute. This is concerning.
There is indeed a information war going on now. The propaganda Brigades are a problem. But they are getting shot down. Crazy what is happening. However unfortunately it is only provoking more aggression towards Russian and Ukrainian people, who want no part in this.
I will not be influenced by these politics. I will continue to support my Russian and Ukrainian friends and artists. Such acts of hate will not be tolerated. I work with a lot of artists from those nations. They are amazing and talented people. I am concerned about them all and will try to help them as much I can.
Thank you for sharing the information in your journal. It is shocking to see this happening. Please stay safe where you are in Sweden. 💜
But I pray that this does not escalate any further. I hope you will be alright. Please stay safe Val.
That Putin (we called him as Putler, Hitler, Huilo, Pidaras, Botox, Kremlin Rat and etc.) is such kind of Bitches who must be exterminate totally and without any Mercy. I think that Rat just enjoying when someone feeling not good and feeling bad, when someone cries, dies, have tortures anyhow...
It's Total Sadist. I can tell you that that Mother Fucker is continued War without any War rights even when he's marionets is coming somewhere for so called "Speaking". That's the Cinic Kremlin Rat. He understands only the language of strenths, only the language when your nation give him in teeth - only than that Bitch can only hear what your nation answer him, but at the same time he become angry and trying to smile like the last Coward and Piece Shit - and also he Dreams to Revenge you. So I think we need with all the World to take that Mother Fucker (Pidar as he called here in Ukraine today) out of command of Russia and get inprisoned and isolated that Monkey with Granate.
And if someone's can ask why so totally radical - I answer: Because that Coward Bitch is very Revengeful Piece of Bitch. And if he "grabs in teeth for fully" and we let him to go back to his bunker - that Bitch will take some time to lick wounds and then again concentrate the powers and resources and when finding the totally right moment will bite you with all the teeth again!
That's the Sad Truth.
Yeah, I can only agree. But if we set foot on Russian soil, he is insane enough to let nukes fly.
Can share, Beloved Valcyrie, the fresh info what Russian Putler's Ork doing just right last night, if you want to know, but don't afraid - at current moment the situation is under control, but the Russian Putin's Mother Fuckers last night open fire towards the Zaporizian AES (its located on the coast of Azov Sea not far from Mariupol). THere is 6 block having the Zaporizian AES (For example in Chernobyl there was 4 blocks and only 1 of them detonated) but I don't want to scare you - everything at current moment is under control still. But those Russian Kremlin Mother Fucker must be stoped!!!
And it's 9th day and night of that Horrible War here *hugs tight*