I know that over time, Ukraine will be perceived by many people from other countries as an inconvenience. Even now, with half-assed sanctions imposed on Russia, gas and oil prices are rising. If a full embargo is imposed, prices will skyrocket. And it's easy to be "for all good and against all evil" when it doesn't require you to actually pay a real price for it. If you are one of those amazing people who is willing to pay that price no matter what, I am eternally grateful to you. However, I know there will be many people who aren't ready. And the longer it goes, the more people will be angry with this whole situation.

I know what it's like to be poor, to count every penny. Both me and my husband came from poor families, and only the last couple of years we have a decent income. At some point, we were so out of money that instead of sugar in our tea, we had to use old hard candies "Барбарис" found in the depths of the kitchen cabinet. Because we couldn't afford to buy sugar. We sometimes laugh about it now.

Only when you know the true value of money in a human's life can you really understand that there are still other things that are worth much more. But it is still your choice - to support cutting off all trade with Russia, or to put your own and your family's well-being above the lives of some foreigners from Eastern Europe. Either way, I don't blame you.

I blame European and American leaders almost as much as I blame Russia. Not even because they still didn't close the sky or given us fighter jets. Year after year, they turned a blind eye to the crimes committed by Russia, by Putin's regime. Chechnya, Moldova, Georgia… Nothing was done. It was too convenient to trade with Russia. After all, the troops of modern Russia didn't shell Berlin or London. Russian oligarchs invested billions and billions of dollars in the UN ans US economy, despite powerful anti-Western propaganda in Russia itself. So now it's funny to watch how they arrest those yachts and bank accounts of Putin's henchmen as if they just now found out about it all.

Putin realized that he remains unpunished for his crimes. Then he annexed Crimea and turned part of eastern Ukraine in a warzone with some lame excuses about infringement of the Russian-speaking population. Nobody in their right mind bought it, yet Russia still remained unpunished. Thousand of lives taken and hundreds of thousand of people who lost their home and everything they had. People had to flee from their homeland, leaving behind all their belongings. Others couldn't flee and were forced to live under Russian occupation, in a war zone, without any human rights.

Yet for the world this wasn't enough to cut ties with Russia. Putin punished Ukraine for our pro-Western, pro-European choice, for our desire for freedom and independense. Europe and US were "deeply concerned." Some useless sanctions were introduced, but Putin clearly won more that he lost.

His men happily continued committing war crimes in Syria and Ukraine, his propaganda continued dehumanizing certain population groups. Ukrainians = khokhols worthy of elimination or at least training on how to be a proper russian. LGBTQ = sick people who have to be ashamed of their very existence, officially illegal, in some Russian regions (like Chechnya) they are kidnapped, tortured and killed on a regular basis.

The opposition and the free press completely wiped out. And I'm not talking about Navalny now. Anna Politkovskaya and Boris Nemtsov are the most famous examples, but there are many more.

The West kept fueling his killing and propaganda machine with cash. Putin's war games and ass-licking "journalists" cost HUGE money. The money he makes by selling Russian natural resources to the west. And the west gladly buys it. Why bother actively switching to renewable energy sources, why spend so much money on it when you can just buy everything from the fascist Russian regime without any problems? Besides, Russia is a pretty good export market. Why not export weapons to a country that is actively invading other sovereign states? Sounds like a damn good deal!

The world hand-fed this monster that is Russia we see today. Not their mentality, of course, it has been that way for centuries. But they couldn't afford to act on it if they didn't have the money for that. Everything could have been different not only for Ukraine, but also for Russia. If only Russians were forced to face the consequences of their imperialist actions back in the USSR days, maybe now they would live a happy rich life on their own land without stealing it from others.

My mom: You won't believe it! I'm in such shock! I just found out that all those refugees from Mariupol who are being brought to us (in Donetsk, "DPR") aren't treated as well as we are told in the news...

Me *slightly annoyed*: mom, I've told you a million times that there is no word of truth in the Russian news, you know it!

My mom: yes, yes, I know. But I couldn't imagine that they would lie so blatantly! Turns out that all people from Mariupol go through concentration camps! And to those who do not have money and documents, Russians issue a certificate according to which they have no right to leave Russia for two years. They are sent to forced labor in remote areas, to Siberia! Can you imagine?

Me: it has been in all the news for more than a week, I sent you those news! You knew this already.

My mom: but a taxi driver who drove a lot of refugees from Mariupol told me this today. Oh, I can't believe it's true, so horrible! But we are told a completely different story in the news! (russian propaganda news)

I am in awe of this woman. I can't imagine the courage it takes to stand your ground like that, unarmed before the invaders.

There is nothing human left in Russian propagandists. To say such things to people who are going through hell in Mariupol because of Russia - how shameless one must be. Russian propagandists love to tell stories about all the dead children of Donbas. But they miss the fact that all the people who died from the war since 2014 died because of Russia. Because Putin sent all these men to my peaceful Donbas, to kill, destroy and terrorize. And now they are doing it to the rest of Ukraine, only they will pay for their crimes this time.

And lastly, I want to quote a very good comment from the reddit user named PatrickMargera: "I live all my life in Donetsk and can say that woman is right! rus reporters came to Donetsk in 2 weeks before actual war starts. When they in town every day someone’s dying there. They are filming that and show that on rus propaganda tv channels. They are every time first when something bad happens, they every time knows where something bad happens and waiting for it with camera. When rus reporters is near you, you’ll better run away and hide!"

If any of you fellow simmers is in Ukraine and thinking about going to some safe place but has no place to stay, I invite you to my place in Szczecin, Poland. I have a separate room ready with a big bed just for you. I have hosted and helped two refugees already so I know what and where to do to get all the help possible, I also know the schedules of trains and buses for those fleeing Ukraine. Trains to Poland are free for you.

So if any of you wants to stay at someplace safe, or knows someone who needs a place to stay, I offer the room at my apartment. For free, obviously. I also cook very good dinners :)

Russia is actively turning Chernihiv, a large and ancient Ukrainian city, into the second Mariupol. Now the city is almost completely destroyed, 150,000 people are still trapped in it because Russia deliberately blew up the only bridge used for evacuation. There are many wounded who cannot be given proper care. Humanitarian aid also can't be delivered.

The Russian army of terrorists can't win this war, so they just go full on genocide instead. Their only goal now is to destroy as many Ukrainian cities as possible and kill as many Ukrainians as they can.

There's this magnificent piece on American and Western European pundits westsplaining Ukraine and Eastern Europe in general and treating our countries like we're the playthings of two empires, without any agency, or like kids of divorced parents with no say about who gets custody of them. I mean who would think puny Eastern European countries would actively strive to join NATO, it must all be some eeeevul plot by the CIA, right?

Hi. Героям слава!

Obviously, I can't speak for all Ukrainians, but I'll try to answer your question.

When Zelenskyy won the election, I was disappointed. It was quite clear that Holoborodko (the fictional character played by Zelenskyy in the tv show "Servant of the People") was the one who really won, not Zelenskyy himself. My main issue with Zelenskyy was his populism and his questionable appointments to leadership positions. Many of his initiatives served solely to raise his rating, when the country needed completely different things. Also, lot of people back then really believed that he was secretly pro-Russian. (I didn't think so, but I have to mention it) And when your country has been at war with Russia for many years, this is not the best thing to be accused of. But I think now it is clear for everyone that Zelenskyy was never pro-Russian, so this issue is out of the way.

This was the past. Almost none of this is relevant for Ukraine and Ukrainians right now. Now that the big war has started, Zelenskyy is probably the perfect man for the job. He is charismatic and convincing, he represents our country well on the international arena, and nothing more is required of him at the moment. I personally respect him for staying, I think he is a brave man.

well, fuck. If this "security agreement" will be signed, you may see a lot more of genuine hatred towards the president of Ukraine and Ukrainian government in general. From real Ukrainians this time, not from bots.

We already had security guarantees - Budapest Memorandum. It ended well, doesn't it? /sarcasm

And giving up Crimea and Donbas once again... Peace will never come to this country as long as at least one Russian soldier remains on any part of our land.

Please donate, if you can, to support our army, they are the only ones who can save us:

it’s not that you’ll see a glaringly pro-Russia post and know not to reblog it, it’s that you’ll see a post pointing to the things wrong with the Ukranian government or insinuating that all of Ukraine’s army is nazi forces that subtly advocates for russia’s actions. it’s that you’ll have pre-existing biases— the fallacy that countries against the United States are good, because the U.S. is bad— exploited. these aren’t going to be posts that say “russia is good get those western fucks” or whatever, they’ll be posts that point to historical U.S. involvement in ukraine and exploit the average american or western european’s lack of knowledge about that area’s history to say that Ukraine, therefore, must be as bad or worse than the US. you may notice how similar these claims are to the deliberate propaganda distributed by putin that russia is “liberating” ukranian citizens from their government.

ukraine has an incredibly complex political history that cannot be summed up by these posts. ukraine and russia, too, have an incredibly complex history with one another. you cannot learn all of it in one afternoon and you cannot learn it from only reblogging posts like this one and only listening to recent news about russia’s invasion. you are not obligated to learn about the entirety of russian and ukranian history, but you should be aware of the hole in your own knowledge and act accordingly. this is coming from someone who was also not immune to propaganda and spent an aforementioned afternoon trying to verify claims from propaganda posts. i am not someone with knowledge on ukraine and i was extremely susceptible. you may be too.

this propaganda hinges on twisting facts, neglecting the impact of events listed, justification, or straight up lying. that, because ukraine’s government is just as complex with issues as has any other, those who read this propaganda will not be able to argue either way for it and accept it as fact based on the logic used alone, nevermind that “logic” is just a tool of reasoning and should never be your sole basis. plenty of “logic” collapses when outside of its own bubble.

Be wary of posts that derail the conversation. Remember this: if someone is choosing the exact moment when Russia is dropping bombs on civilians to criticise Ukraine’s internal policies, then that person is trying to make you forget that Russia is dropping bombs on civilians. No matter how valid their criticism might be. If they’re focusing on issues within Ukraine that are likely to resonate with left-leaning people from the West, such as LGBT discrimination, racism, ableism, abuse of minorities etc., they are doing it on purpose, they know you’ve engaged with these issues before and are likely feel peer pressure to loudly condemn them as soon as they are mentioned, lest you be suspected of not being woke enough. Don’t fall for it.  If the post sounds too much like ‘So instead of worrying about Russia invading Ukraine right now, we need to talk about how Ukraine treats ethnic minorities’, then it’s propaganda. Those ethnic minorities are currently displaced, dead, or fighting for their lives because of Russia’s attacks. 

And if someone accuses you of being racist, homophobic, a nazi supporter or whatever else because you don’t engage in criticism of Ukraine’s internal issues right now, then they’re relying on your guilt or outrage to make you defend yourself and on other people to make bad assumptions about you. They don’t care about the people they claim to protect, their goal is to, again, to distract you from Russia turning Ukrainian cities into piles of rubble and bombarding clearly marked shelters. 

New footage from Mariupol, destroyed by Russia.

If you're a man in the DPR, you are cannon fodder in the eyes of the Russian government. Russian invaders value the lives of the Donbas people even lower than the lives of their regular soldiers, they don't even pay compensation for the killed men mobilized from the so-called "DPR" and "LPR."

The Russians don't care whether a "mobilized" man has any military experience or not. They don't care if he has children or sick relatives, or if he himself is sick. Russian proxies don't care if a man supports Ukraine and considers himself Ukrainian. They use men from the occupied territories of Ukraine as live bait to determine the firing points of the Ukrainian army. Mortality in such "units" reaches 80-90%, the lucky ones are able to surrender. These men are followed by detachments in order to prevent desertion, basically if you refuse to fight you will be shot.

Russia quickly becomes more and more desperate, mercenaries from Libya and Syria don't help the situation much. Now the Russians have raised the mobilization age for people from the "L/DPR" to 65 years.

Let me explain simply: Russia occupied part of Donbas region in 2014, brainwashed Ukrainians in Donbas for 8 years, while driving them into poverty and lawlessness, and now it is leading them to slaughter, like cattle, to fight other Ukrainians. Therefore, before commenting on how the mythical Ukrainian nazis are killing the people of Donbas, go to Donetsk and tell it to my father's face. Or visit the Izolyatsia, a place that was once an art center in Ukrainian Donetsk, and under the Russian "liberators" it turned into a concentration camp and a torture dungeon for dissidents. But this is only one such well-known example, there are many more similar prisons. If I wrote such posts while still living in Donetsk, I would have every chance to visit one of these establishments. In Donetsk it's called "посадить на подвал" или "кинуть на подвал" - a phrase that Donetsk residents didn't know until 2014, but now every kid in Donetsk knows its meaning.

I am so sick of people who think they know it all after reading a couple of pro-Russian articles or listening to some brainwashed Russians. You have no idea what Russian world really looks like, and trust me, you don't want to know.