Today's News: We will win this war or we will get another

 

Here is Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band BoomBox singing in Kyiv.

And here are other beautiful versions too:

Around 300 Lithuanians came together to sing with Ukrainian refugee Eliza Izmalkova. Together, they performed a Ukrainian folk song popularised by Andriy Khlyvnyuk, leader of the Ukrainian band Boombox.#SlavaUkraini #SlavaUkrayini #Ukraine #StandWithUkraine️ # pic.twitter.com/uZ1uUH3ijO

— 24 Hours Europe (@24heuropegr) April 21, 2022

And this:

Two precious Ukrainian children in the midst of rubble left of their neighborhood by the Russian bombing, singing the song "Hey, hey, rise up!" based on a 1914 Ukrainian anthem, "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow." Such spirit. Slava Ukraini!https://t.co/tFmhkkvZqx

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) April 22, 2022

Here's a very perceptive article from Mark Summer about the importance of the Ukraine Russia War for all of us: 

...with every day that goes by, the importance of what’s happening in Ukraine and the scope of what’s at stake seem to increase.... 

Every day, as Russia pushes in more forces, and the West responds by abandoning any pretense when it comes to providing Ukraine with the weaponry to fight back, the do-or-die nature of this conflict becomes more clear....to the United States and every other western nation, two months into this conflict, is that if this isn’t enough to stop Putin, we will have to do it ourselves. We win this war, or we will get another.

... there’s almost no end to the things Russia is doing wrong... The only tactic they have been able to engage that has been by any definition successful is that they have committed war crimes at a scale and pace not seen since World War II. 

Russia doesn’t have the ability to engage successfully with a peer military. It does have the ability to bomb the shit out of children, hospitals, and blind grandmothers. It has the ability to slaughter whole civilian populations and toss them into enormous mass graves. Russia can’t execute intelligent tactics to win battles in the field, but it’s perfectly capable of grinding forward with dumb tactics that pulverize cities and lives. 

Unless, of course, someone makes them stop. Which is where we are now. To really win this thing, Ukraine can’t fight the Russian army to a draw or force them to halt their advance. Ukraine has to destroy the Russian army in a way that keeps it from committing mass murder of civilians, not just right now, but for a long time to come. That is a very big task.

Russia is now walking back its claims of total conquest and pretending it only wanted southern Ukraine all along. 

But if Ukraine gets the arms it needs, and if they have enough soldiers, then maybe they can succeed in pushing Russia back to its own borders. 

Oh, I hope they can. 

Because now Russia is taking aim at Moldova and likely, after that, Romania.

Russian military for the first time says it is aiming for control over the entire of southern Ukraine. Forget “denazification,” now it’s officially about joining Transnistria with Russia and denying Ukraine access to the sea. https://t.co/Vkl6VQm7Cq

— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) April 22, 2022

Sunrise in Kyiv. Ukrainians made it thru the 59th night.

Putin’s ambitions were revealed: to take control of southern and eastern Ukraine, then continue to Moldova and beyond. Who will stop this barbaric madman as tens of thousands are already dead?
We must #StandUpForUkraine

— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) April 23, 2022

Ominously, the Russian fascist regime is threatening to "protect Russian speakers" in Moldova. That's one of the propaganda lies the Moskali used when they invaded Ukraine in 2014 and when they expanded their war in Europe in February of this year.

— Michael MacKay (@mhmck) April 22, 2022

Meanwhile in Mariupol, Putin is announcing Victory! Yeah, sure:

Exactly, if the Russians could take all of Mariupol they would as that simplifies things for them. More likely their troops in the city are simply not capable of this assault https://t.co/on4cVWkdsP

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) April 23, 2022

Here's the reality, in Mariupol and the Donbas now:

Just to clarify by spent I mean in terms of offensive potential. I'm not conveying a categorical sentiment, since these things are contingent. But I am skeptical of any further major offensives beyond Donbas given losses and current force availability constraints.

— Michael Kofman (@KofmanMichael) April 22, 2022

"Despite increased activity, #Russian forces have made no major gains in the last 24 hours as #Ukrainian counter-attacks continue to hinder their efforts", the #British Ministry of Defence reports. https://t.co/s7932TPBnL

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 23, 2022

The conversation with ⁦@jimsciutto⁩ about the fights to come in Ukraine, and how wrong PM Boris Johnson was with his remarks today. https://t.co/1BnNRTRewK

— Mark Hertling (@MarkHertling) April 23, 2022

Per reporting by CBC, Canada will be sending 4 M777 howitzers and “One of three defence sources said the package included a number of precision-guided Excalibur rounds” https://t.co/T3nZlCCsft

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 23, 2022

Here is a problem for military airplanes that had never occurred to me before - mice:

This was tweeted at me.

Mice are the bain of general aviation and particularly with the pilots flying wood and canvas biplanes.

Preventive maintenance programs in US Army & USMC helicopter aviation detects & eliminated this problem. RuAF, not so much👇👇 https://t.co/bN07994tja

— Trent Telenko (@TrentTelenko) April 22, 2022

Here's Russia's most recent stupid smear campaign, this time against Zelenskyy. I suspect we'll see this popping up on Fox News any day now:

Pro Russian sources trying to accuse Zelensky of somehow becoming a billionaire with misbegotten funds is the latest example of projection from those who actually support a regime stuffed with people who have embezzled billions https://t.co/XUrgb9IGM6

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) April 22, 2022

And here's some good news today

This beautiful beast was found wandering around the ruins of his bombed out home in Gorenka, Ukraine. He was rescued and recently reunited with his family. His name is Porshik. Photo: Ukraine Animal Rescue Group. pic.twitter.com/aAYe5Vwmt5

— Lorenzo The Cat (@LorenzoTheCat) April 21, 2022

In other news, Twitter thought this was pretty funny, too:

A maskless guy sit beside me on my flight. He said to me why are you wearing a mask you don't have to anymore. I pulled my mask down and said because I tested positive yesterday and coughed. He jumped up and went and talked to the flight attendant and then sit in a empty seat!

— Jessica M. MSN, FNP-C (@Jessicam6946) April 23, 2022

And today was Earth Day:

Make like a tree & celebrate Earth Day with lights in green. #ESBright

📷: beholdingeye/IG pic.twitter.com/IFi2Wt2b3x

— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) April 22, 2022