Day 9...
The above bit of missile shrapnel found outside the Presidential home with a quip by Zelenskyy
"Missed Me!"
He has survived 3 assassination attempts this week, and continues to fight alongside his troops.Total badass.
And (it seems) so are the average Ukrainian people.
Moving a live landmine without removing the cigarette from your mouth.
Stealing tanks with tractors.
And maybe my personal favorite-
Grandmas making Molotov Cocktails...or as they are called here
"Ukrainian Smoothies"
I have to admit I have been inordinately fascinated by this 72 hour blitzkrieg of Putin's that is now entering its ninth day...
Following The Kyiv Independent closer than some Ukrainians do.
And, like Burgess' A Clockwork Orange (where he used pidgen Russian in the book...which you could read and understand by the ending)
Using translation with the Kyiv articles is very similar.
In addition to my base couple of words
(basically Nyet and Da)
Now I recognize
Slavia Ukraini
as Glory to Ukraine
Putin Khuylo
(...Putin is a dickhead...)
And this one...
"Путин, пошёл на хуй"
Translating roughly to Putin, Go Fuck Yourself.
Who said the Internet isn't educational???
Anyway...it is Day Nine. Zelenskyy has achieved a hero status...not only here, but throughout the world. The President has balls of steel and his people would follow him through hell...and are.
The Sanctions seem to be working...as are the seizures of assets.
Yachts and Personal Jets.
Volkswagen, IKEA, AirBNB, Nike, Panasonic, Microsoft and others are removing their businesses from Russia.
Airspace and flights and ports are being closed to them.
The Ruble has went under 1 cent on the USD...and the Russian Stock Market has lost >50% of its value now.
At this point Vlad is in a no-win situation.
Even if his troops manage to eventually take Ukraine...the sanctions and economic collapse of Russia will persist.
Already there is a run on the Russian Banks much like the USA in The Great Depression.
I have to believe watching what is happening to Russia is the catalyst for this morning's announcement by Belarus that they will not be joining Russian Forces...and will stay neutral...a reversal from several days ago.
We will see how this plays out.
Putin calls this the Denazification of Ukraine.
It is beyond me to understand why he thinks children in orphanages, kindergartens, playing ball in the street, et al have anything to do with Nazis.
Besides he bombed a famous Anti-Nazi Holocaust site here.
WTF???
Slavia Ukraini
Handling Looters Ukrainian-Style