Ukrainian Easter Eggs (1988)
Photographer: Gregory Hansen
Photo: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
dewitty1 reblogged
Ukrainian Easter Eggs (1988)
Photographer: Gregory Hansen
Photo: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
dewitty1 reblogged
Ukrainian Pyzanky designs, 1960
Easter eggs decorated with wax (or batik). Its name comes from the Ukrainian verb “pysaty”, which means “to write”.
dewitty1 reblogged
Hello! I’m a great fan of your work truly.
The thing is I’m Russian. I’ve heard that you prohibited publishing you books in Russia. I totally understand you position, Ukraine deserves freedom and life without war. Though I feel like I need you to know that the iron curtain is a scary thing that many Russian residents are experiencing right now. We, who do not support government’s politics, are afraid to live in this world, where we can’t even have access to foreign books, movies, shows and other art works (let alone scientific papers) . And I do believe that books can build bridges between a reader and other countries’ cultures. It may even help people see through government’s propaganda and help spread awareness. Right? Without foreign authors our country will drown in propaganda, there’ll be no way out. And I don’t want it to happen. I still believe Russia will be free too.
Of course you can do whatever you want with your works. I just want you to be mindful of the danger of the iron curtain in my country and how authors can help people.
Thank you!
P.s. Neverwhere is my comfort book. I’m rereading it right now, when times are tough.
Sorry for my English by the way, my letter can sound rude, I’m not articulate enough :(
I haven't prohibited my books from being sold in Russia -- I can't. For a start, there are valid extant licenses to my existing Russian publishers out there. What I can do is state that I won't sell new books to Russia while Putin is in control. And I'm sure you're right about books building bridges, but I have to do something, even if it's small and symbolic, within my power to say, I don't agree with what Russia is doing to Ukraine.
You know instead of symbolically punishing Russians you could actually help Ukrainians. I'm sure you've got some spare cash and im sure there's some groups in Ukraine or helping Ukrainian refugees that could use it. You could even just use your platform to highlight groups that need donations.
I do. I donate, and I donate a lot. That wasn't the question.
And I use all of my social media platforms to push people to UNHCR, and to solicit donations for their work with people fleeing the war in Ukraine -- and the other 70 million refugees around the world they help. I'm very happy to repost it here...
dewitty1 reblogged
dewitty1 reblogged
Ukraine, 26th Feb, 2022
A friend of mine told me yesterday that he didn’t realise how much Ukraine meant to him until now. I posted yesterday about the time we spent there, and we’re all getting super pre-occupied about the invasion. As I said in that post, I can’t get our waitress out of my head. I can sort of remember what she looked like now. She had an undercut. I think maybe her hair might have been blue? But - I will never know if she lives through this, and it’s driving me very slightly mad.
So naturally, my husband spent all day yesterday obsessively researching everything he could about it with the help of his journalist friends, as a way to help me process it.
This post is me putting it all in order, as a way to try and process my own emotional response as much as anything else (I freely admit there is an element of self-indulgence here). Please don’t take me as the spokesperson for Ukraine right now, nor as a solid reliable news source. But, I haven’t seen this stuff except in bits and pieces on Tumblr, so here we go.
(This is also not about why the invasion has happened. This post is solely about what has happened, and how the invasion is going.)
So, Putin and the rest of the world believed that this invasion would take 1-4 days. The plan was to push through fast, take Kyiv, and force Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, to surrender. Given Russia’s military might, it really looked likely.
Here is the conclusion of all that’s happened so far:
Ukraine is absolutely nailing this??? Actually???
They managed to defend every single city overnight, including Kyiv. They started rolling out and using these WW2-style anti-tank thingies that look a bit like angry gabbions, look, here’s a picture of one being delivered:
A bunch of spare iron girders turned into a hefty octopus of Russian misery, basically.
But it’s not just tanks they’re taking down, oh no. Ukraine successfully shot down a transport plane 20km from Kyiv. That is, I shit you not, the single biggest hit to the Russian military since the Second Chechen War. Volunteers from Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Azerbaijan and Israel are all entering Ukraine to help fight and bolster the anti-Russian forces, which is probably illustrative of how Eurovision voting is going to run for the next decade. Most countries have banned Russian planes from their air space. To help stop the Russian advance, Ukraine has made and installed new road signs, like this one:
I can only say a handful of sentences in Ukrainian, Tumblrs, but as I understand it, from top to bottom, it says:
“Fuck off”
“Fuck off again”
“Fuck off Russia”
Meanwhile, it turns out the Russian military might we feared is… possibly not quite as advertised?
They’re underfunded and badly trained. Ukraine captured 200 soldiers in one go, and most of them were confused 19 year olds with no training. The equipment is shite. The tanks keep running out of fuel. Russian soldiers keep abandoning their tanks and handing them over to the Ukrainian army. Putin’s plan was to take Kyiv fast and move on, and he didn’t have a plan B - hence these kids, playing soldier. Here is an image of a Russian tank receiving roadside assistance from Russia’s finest, an old Lada.
No one expected Zelenskyy to survive the night; but he did. America offered him asylum in the White House.
But he said no.
Zelenskyy remains in Kyiv, with his people.
And Putin, in his desperation to be adored, has turned Zelenskyy into a global icon and hero.
Here is something you may not know about Volodymyr Zelenskyy - he used to be a standup comedian. Was he any good? No idea - but what he IS good at is producing funny short videos he can put on Twitter and that, which are absolutely fantastic for Ukrainian morale. And morale is vital in an invasion like this, and Ukraine are smashing it out of the park there.
They are utilising the internet to its fullest extent. In addition to Zelenskyy’s videos, they’ve made sure that the final words of the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island are known and now echoed around the world: “Russian warship, go fuck yourselves.” A video has gone viral of Ukrainians mocking a group of Russian soldiers whose tank had broken down and who didn’t know the way to Kyiv anyway, presumably because of all the new road signs. They have created a website that lists every single Russian death they can identify, partly so Russian mothers can have closure (thus also painting themselves as the defenders of decency and humanity), and partly for the enormous morale boost of the world knowing, categorically, that they’ve already killed 3700 Russian soldiers (over 100 of which were from that transport plane.) Not one word has leaked of Ukrainian casualties. I’m sure they’re devastating, but for morale purposes, they’re being kept quiet until the dust settles. Ukrainians have started setting up fake Tindr profiles to catfish Russian soldiers for intel, and they’re all 19 and lost, so it’s working. Plus, they’re using Grindr to actually track where the soldiers are, because it turns out Putin was not entirely correct about there being no gays in Russia.
So, Russia wants to cut their internet access. Can the Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, shame a billionaire into providing aid?
This is crucial, remember. Atrocities happen best in the dark, and the world is watching - because of the internet. Morale is vital to maintain. Can they convince Elon Musk to help?
Yep.
Ukraine now has the fastest internet service in the world. The fastest, most stable internet service in human history, in fact. Russia cannot now disable it. The world watches.
Which is just as well, because then Anonymous decided to get involved, and have leaked the website database of the Russian Ministry of Defence. Lol. Also this happens:
And then the Russian propaganda channels started broadcasting the truth of what is happening in Ukraine. Double lol.
So what is the political response?
Well, in addition to closing airspace to Russian planes, loads of countries are sending weapons to Ukraine. Those that can’t are offering asylum. They’re also offering asylum to any Russian soldiers who surrender or defect, which is startlingly good tactics, and there are rumours of around 5000 Russian soldiers who have done just that. Germany, of course, has long had a block on lethal weapons transfer; but Germany recognise this shit for what it is. They’ve lifted the block, thus allowing the Netherlands to send weapons. Efforts are now underway to fast-track Ukraine into the EU. I presume they will consider the lack of pint glasses with crowns on to be a worthwhile price to pay.
So what about Russia’s supporters?
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenka helped Russia with this invasion. Now, this has happened:
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was actually elected president, but some wild nonsense kept her out of power. She’s now running a government in exile. I have literally no idea what this means or will mean! But my god. She has a spine of steel, and this is not a good time to be happening for Putin.
And it’s really, really not, because then intel on a meeting of Putin and assembled Oligarchs LEAKS (hello Anonymous, probably). The highlights:
- This war is costing Russia $15bn a day
- He expected it to take ONE TO FOUR DAYS TO WIN
- It’s been two days and he is losing very badly, currently
- They will run out of rockets by day 4, maybe sooner
- After that they will be down to rifles and ammo
- It will take 3-4 months to make more significant weapons, except they need raw materials, and the countries that can provide them… have cut supply lines
- If the war lasts 10 days, Russia will have completely run out of money and weapons
- It’s only day 2, and Russian soldiers are knocking the doors of random Ukrainian homes begging for food and water because they’ve already run out
So, out of desperation, Putin turns to his greatest, closest and most trusted ally for help: Kazakhstan.
And Kazakhstan
SAYS NO
And then Ukraine shoots down a second Russian plane.
Anyway, I’m going to finish off with a final point. Morale is vital in this situation, so here is the message from the Ukrainian government at the minute, to everyone watching around the world:
Be VERY SUSPICIOUS of any negative news about Ukraine. Russia uses misinformation and propaganda. They will want to damage Ukrainian morale.
Use your social media to spread news of Ukrainian victories.
Don’t give oxygen to negative stories. Especially since they might not be true.
That’s genuinely something we can do to help. Every victory of Ukraine, blast it far and wide. So on that note, I’ll leave you with this:
Congrats to Natalia Antonova’s cousin’s son.
just to supplement op’s post, some news sources.
can’t find sources on how long putin believed the invasion would take, but op says they researched this with journalists, so they probably know more than i do.
what i can find is the following:
a lot of third party discussion of how bad it’s going for russia:
sources on ukraine’s military defense against the attack:
Factbox: How Ukraine’s armed forces shape up against Russia’s - 02/24/22 (this one names some countries’ aid, including money and arms received from turkey and the US, and money from germany)
What kind of resistance can Ukraine mount? - 02/26/22
the blue road sign that says fuck off and whatever was edited:
(image description is in the image alt text)
however, this was a post encouraging ukrainians to alter road signs, which they have done - they are taking down road signs and changing electronic signs to tell russians to fuck off.
‘Go f*** yourself’: Ukrainians change road signs to confuse, send message to Russian troops - 02/28/22
and GPS is being disrupted there as well:
president zelenskyy is impressing a lot of people on a global scale, but this definitely paints a target on him for russia:
How Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky went from an actor playing president on TV to defiant wartime leader - 02/26/22
the guys from snake island are alive:
can’t find sources on the thing about grindr aside from a tweet that didn’t follow up with any links or proof, but A. that would be hilarious, and B. the tinder thing does seem true enough:
sources on musk activating satellite internet for ukraine, which is a nice gesture and a step forward, but the terminals he sent historically haven’t been super reliable and they only work in certain places:
link to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s tweet:
ukraine shooting down russian plane:
Ukraine downs Russian plane over Kyiv - 02/24/22
but it looks like russia also shot their own plane down:
sources on Kazakhstan’s response to Russia:
dewitty1 reblogged
Seeds For Tomorrow
Inspired by the brave Ukrainian woman who told the invading Russian soldier “Put sunflower seeds in your pocket so that sunflowers will grow when you die here.”
The workers at the Pravda brewery in Lviv decided to produce the petrol bombs amid fears that Russian tanks will roll into the western city of 720,000 residents near the Polish border, Agence France-Presse reported.
The company began producing the incendiary weapons for the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, which is made up of reservists who responded to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to take up arms.
“You have to wait for the cloth to be well soaked. When it is, that means the Molotov cocktail is ready,” one smiling employee told AFP as he stuffed the cloth deep into a beer bottle filled with a mixture of oil and gasoline.
The business owner, Yuriy Zastavny, said the idea to produce them came from one of his employees.
One of Pravda’s favorite brews is called “Putin khuylo,” AFP reported — which roughly translates to “Putin is a d—head.
dewitty1 reblogged
Even symbolic support is not meaningless; with every such gesture you are preventing the claim that no one cares, no one opposes, no one disagrees, no one minds.
dewitty1 reblogged
FOR PEOPLE FLEEING UKRAINE TO SLOVAKIA
The Slovak government has finally set up a webpage that has information available in English/Ukrainian and Slovak.
As of now, the border crossings at Ubľa, Vyšné Nemecké and Veľké Slemence have soldiers helping the state police with the masses of people trying to cross.
The waiting times are higher due to the Ukrainian border control checking vehicles and groups of people on foot to see if there are maybe men between the ages of 18-60 because of the mobilisation order Ukraine declared yesterday. Any men in those age ranges will be unable to cross and will have to return back.
Crossing to Slovakia has been made easy:
You just need an ID with your photograph and kids just need their birth certificate. Don’t worry, you can also have an expired ID and you’ll be allow to cross the border. You can also take your pets!
After your cross the border, the Slovak authorities have people from a few organisations and state departments stationed there.
You will be able to get warm food and drinks (my friends restaurant from Košice is coordinating this with another restaurant from the city and they’re stationed right at the border handing out food and warm drinks) , volunteers and non-profits have received a lot of care packages from the people of Slovakia. You’ll be able to get clothes, diapers and formula there.
Shelter will be provided and the official authorities will also help navigate the next few days for you. If you’re planning on staying in Slovakia you’ll be most likely transferred to one of the refugee camps in eastern slovakia. Once those are at full capacity both Košice and the Košice region and Prešov and the Prešov region have coordinated with schools and big city halls so there is always place for you to stay.
A lot of people also volunteered to take in families that need shelter.
If you have families outside of Slovakia and need to move across the country, the National railway carrier (ZSK) are providing tickets all across the country free of charge. All you need is some kind of documentation stating that you’re from Ukraine.
If you’re planning on staying, the parliament has voted to let people fleeing Ukraine work and live in Slovakia and making it easier to get any permits necessary.
Right now, 22:20 26.2.2022, the state police is seeing an increase of people trying to cross the border. Please be patient, you will be let in.
Please stay safe and if you have any question message me. I’ll try to help you navigate any official webpages that might not be translated into English or Ukrainian.
dewitty1 reblogged
i was born at the end of a war. the reason i was born healthy was not because a military, or a government, or a global organization prioritized my wellbeing - but because people, private individuals, took it upon themselves to send pre-natal vitamins and food here, to write letters, to protest for our lives.
i've been seeing a lot of awful gen z gallows humor on western tiktok about the current situation in ukraine, and it hurts my heart. please don't let don't let cynicism take your agency away.
polish government has opened a website for ukrainians seeking safety and trying to cross the ukrainian-polish border:
ua.gov.pl
as of 13:10 polish time, it has been said as many people as possible will be let through the borders. they are also supposed to let through children who do not have passports, as to not divide families.
softnitwit
Polish person here, I’ve been on the website, it looks legit! Adding the full link here:
Information is available in Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and English
Please get the help available!
Other people, please boost this!!!!
mardithemouseboy
Gov.pl is a legit website connected to the polish government i use it to look at tax info and school stuff (it has the lessons for the teachers written out) and driving license info. So this is legit!!!
Ukrainian friends, you can also cross the border to Slovakia, with or without a passport, or at least that’s the latest update from our Ministry of Interior. You must prepare yourselves for waiting in lines as they check every individual vehicle upon entering (waiting times according to our news are hours long because of shitty capacities but hopefully after today the officials will figure out a more effective system). If anybody has a link too, I’d be grateful as I haven’t found anything useful prior to adding to the post. I hope you all stay safe.
Romania is also willing to accept up to 500,000 refugees from Ukraine. Be prepared for long waiting times at the Siret border crossing.
If you can reach Germany, they are willing to accept refugees as well. Our minister of the interior, Nancy Fraeser, said that all Ukranians with a biometric passport can come to Germany even without a visa and stay there for 90 days.
dewitty1 reblogged
dewitty1 reblogged
hope this guy gets to have a lot of sex with the people of his choice.
Impressive