That story of the cold calling captured my imagination. There is indeed a battle underway online too, and Ukraine is winning, in my view. Yes, Russia is losing, and they did this to themselves. Who on Earth will ever want to visit Russia or have anything to do with Russia ever again.
We have heard of many innovative and creative online activities to try help Ukraine. The Jooble story, like the cold calling campaign, is about spreading the truth.
“Twitter to introduce restrictions on Russian government accounts, propaganda. Head of Site Integrity at Twitter Yoel Roth said that Twitter will not “amplify or recommend government accounts belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict.” Russia blocked access to Twitter on March 4.”
Let’s not forget the tractors
Europe and America are not helping Ukraine because they love Ukraine. They are helping Ukraine because they are afraid of Russia. Ukraine is fighting their war.
Putin wants democracy to fail, not only in Ukraine but across the West too, Anne Applebaum writes. “He wants to put so much strain on Western and democratic institutions, especially the European Union and NATO, that they break up. He wants to keep dictators in power wherever he can, in Syria, Venezuela, and Iran. He wants to undermine America, to shrink American influence, to remove the power of the democracy rhetoric that so many people in his part of the world still associate with America. He wants America itself to fail.”
Before the invasion, did you struggle to understand Ukraine? Could you place it on a map or picture its people? Perhaps it existed on the periphery of your imagination, a bleak suburb of Greater Russia, which Vladimir Putin claims doesn’t really exist. You wouldn’t be alone. Until recently I had little comprehension of the country – and I was born there.
It’s easy to see why Ukraine confuses people. To the uninformed outsider, it confounds all ideas of what makes a nation. Most people are casually bilingual. It contains many histories simultaneously: the Russian, Soviet and Austro-Hungarian empires, Poland, Romania and, of course, Ukraine itself. This lattice of historical narratives has made many in the West feel as though the country is not quite real.
Now people are more clued up. The world has found its hero nation. Its Jewish president, a one-time comedian who matured into a younger, more empathetic Churchill. The elderly women taunting Russian soldiers. The hipsters picking up machine guns. The distraught yet articulate mothers with their sparkling children sheltering underground. The beauty blogger on Instagram bombed in a maternity ward.
Ukrainians have reminded us what freedom means – a word that for many in rich democracies had long ago curdled into platitudes. The resilience of the population has impressed the West and surprised the Kremlin. It shouldn’t have. For the past few years I’ve been trying to unlock the secret of Ukrainian identity by talking to Ukrainians. Through my research project, Arena, based originally at the LSE and now at Johns Hopkins University, I’ve worked with Ukrainian journalists and sociologists to find ways of strengthening democracy. My team has interviewed thousands of adults across the country. Our fieldwork shows that the response to Russia’s invasion has deep roots in Ukrainian history.
I estimate the chances of WW III starting to be pretty high. At this rate I can’t see Putin slowing down, and he is at war with the free world. Ukraine is fighting on behalf of all democracies. Yes, the West/America is helping but it is the bare minimum, in my view.
When asked what we can do to help Ukraine, his first thought is to recommend nonfiction. “Find out more about Ukraine. Read about our history: Serhii Plokhy’s The Gates of Europe; Anne Applebaum’s Red Famine; Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands. It’s really important to understand the difference between Russia and Ukraine. If you really want to know about Ukraine’s history and why this is happening, read those books.”
I know I have picked on the Ukrainian Oligarchs before. I think they are all a bunch of parasites, and I wonder how much they are doing to help the country from where they took everything. The key word is “take”, because that is what they do. Take, take, take. What they don’t do is create. No jobs, no role models, no wealth distribution. And I am sure that when the war is over, they will be the first to cause problems. Perhaps I am wrong though. I hope I am. But enough about them.
Let’s turn our attention to the famous billionaires. You know, the ones that are always in the headlines. The ones with their space race and all. Why aren’t they helping more. Bill Gates, for example, has a lot to say about human suffering when it comes to malaria, but not when it comes to genocide. Perhaps I am just angry and confused. I am no saint either, and I could do more to help people. I do help a lot of people but I could do more. We could all do more. When it comes to Ukraine though my gut feeling is that the billionaires could do a whole lot more. Not that they owe Ukraine anything, but if you think this is a war about Ukraine and Russia then I would say you are wrong. This is about good and evil, and if we don’t help to stop this evil then we are all going to be damned.
The world is being tested here. Humanity is in the spotlight, and I think we are failing. And yes, I am over simplifying and yes I am naive. So here is my thinking. If Ukraine had the money, then can’t they simply buy the weapons they are begging for? How does this even work.
I also think that it is becoming open season for dictators. Yes, this evil is spreading. If the world doesn’t make more of a stand soon, and help Ukraine end this nightmare, it could easily escalate and before we know it we are going to be heading into WW III.
I have been swimming a bit at my brother’s house here in JHB. It is not winter yet, so the water is not freezing, but it has been cold. I am told that a cold swim does wonders for trauma. It certainly wakes me up.
I have been feeling quite unproductive this past month. I know I am always hard on myself so I should probably not worry about treading water for a while. Marta tells me that all her friends back in Ukraine have the same feeling. And my friends still in Kyiv are saying similar things too. It is hard to focus. The past month has been an up and down roller coaster of emotions.
I am always so busy. Now, when I look back, I am not even sure what consumed my time. I am pretty sure a lot of it was just nonsense. My film friend Craig told me it sounds like I am depressed. I have never suffered from depression before, and I am not sure I am depressed. I am always so excited about life, and about all the wonder out there, and the magic we have inside. But now, when I look at the images that are being published from the towns outside of Kyiv, and what those Russian savages have done, I am just lost for words. Actually, I am just feeling lost. Wondering all the time about what is important in life. And thinking, how can this horror be happening in this day and age?!
Things sound quiet in Kyiv now. Our friend Zhanna told me that the Saturday and Sunday nights were not filled with gunshots and bomb blasts, like in the past month. For the past 5 weeks I would pray that my friends in Kyiv were all safe and ok. I miss them, and hope to see them again soon. Everyday we check to see if our apartment building is still there. It is, and everyone is ok. What an insane reality.
The one things that is keeping me sane is writing and our story telling work on the Ukraine documentary film, which we started in 2018. My film director friend Craig, and Janine and Jol, the editing wizards, are capturing and going through a ton of Zoom sessions with people currently in Ukraine, and some who have now left the country, and what we are seeing is powerful and moving.
Alec Hogg from BizNews had a conversation with me on Friday. I listened to it over the weekend. I can’t believe that any of this can be happening. If America and the West doesn’t help Ukraine more then this evil will spread, and then God help us all. The entire world may be treading water soon if this nightmare is not stopped, permanently.
About 10 years ago, at a film festival in Canada, I met an indie film maker from Moscow. A decent clean cut guy, a few years younger than me. We saw his film at the festival and we were impressed. I had not had much contact with this artist until recently. He pinged me when the war broke out. We got in touch over WhatsApp and he shared with me some important Russian perspectives.
I asked Mikhail the film maker if it was true that most people in Russia supported the invasion of Ukraine. I knew where Mikhail stood – he is an opened-minded good Jewish boy. He hates what is going on. And he said to me, “Ronnie, you are asking the wrong question.”
Mikhail said that Russia is a dictatorship and that just about all of society lives in permanent fear. He was suggesting that in such a system if Putin says the sky is pink, then that is what people believe. So if Putin changes the brainwashing and says “We love Ukraine” then everyone loves Ukraine. So the majority of Russians hate Ukraine because Putin hates Ukraine.
My take on things is that before the 2014 revolution in Ukraine and before Russia annexed Crimea, Russians and Ukrainians were getting along. They would holiday in each other’s countries, do business together, marry, play sports, listen to each other’s music, and so on. Most Ukrainians and most Russians have family in each other’s country. I would say that everyone was friendly. But after Putin started the war in 2014 the Ukrainians stopped trusting anything Russian. All airline flights to Russia were stopped. Russian Internet sites were blocked, TV stations were made unreachable, tourism stopped, etc. The Ukrainians were not interested in anything to do with Russia from then on, and they looked to the West more than ever. And up until the nightmare war that started just over a month ago, since 2014, Ukraine was doing good. Economic growth was healthy and the future was looking bright.
Back to the Moscow man. My film maker friend said that a more relevant question to ask Russians is, “Do you support the freedom and peace that Russia brings to Ukraine?” I guess none of us can comprehend the level of propaganda that is taking place there. They are seriously brainwashed by the evil Mr. Putin. I went on to ask Mikhail about Putin and the nuclear button. His answer was sobering. He said, “There is a bad news: he is a fanatic. And there is good news: he’s a coward.” I also don’t believe Putin will be pushing the button. The big issue is, in my view, is that the West is weak, and Putin knows this. President Biden needs to grow some balls, and quickly.
The last thing we chatted about was to do with the sanctions. Mikhail said the sanctions are a joke for now. He explained that the biggest impact from them will be with Russian middle class and creative people. He went onto say that it effects those who do not support Putin and embrace democratic ideas. “The rich Russian oligarchs and state servants like police and corrupted judges will not feel the sanctions“, Mikhail added, “And poor people who always were poor – neither will feel these sanctions.”
So, with Putin’s mass of terrified sheep nothing much will change. Mikhail ended our conversation with, “In any case sanctions will not stop this war.”
