50 days of the war have passed.
The first week seemed like an eternity, and then , when new routines are in place, time flies. My friends' kid was born in Ivano-Frankivsk's bomb shelter on March 14, so this boy is one month old today. Just imagine: it's already been 50 days, enough for someone to be born and start growing up into a person, a whole little life inside these 50 days.
Demining is still underway in the liberated territories of the Kyiv region - PHOTO CREDIT
I hear more an more people wanting to return to Kyiv and Kyiv region despite the fact that local authorities ask people to wait a little bit more until all is clear of mines and bombs left behind by the occupants who were leaving our territory. Pyrotechnicians of the State Emergency Service destroyed about 500 ammunition in the Kyiv region in just a day. Shells and mines are found in the courtyards of private residential buildings, along roads, in open areas and infrastructure. Several cases of people and card hitting mines have been reported over the past few days, which is an extremely sad situation.
The State Emergency Service has created an interactive map of dangerous areas and is accepting applications for demining - PHOTO CREDIT
One of the amusing yesterday's news was the hitting of 'moskva' cruiser. On the evening of April 13, Oleksii Arestovych, adviser to the head of the President's Office, said that a strong fire started on the russian warship 'moskva' in the Black Sea with 510 crew members on board. It was this exact russian missile cruiser that offered to surrender to the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island. russian officials refuse to confirm it was hit by Ukrainian forces, but rather refer to an 'accident' as the reason for the fire. Moreover, they state that the damaged warship "remains afloat" after a fire detonated ammunition on board.
The cruiser before being hit - PHOTO CREDIT
According to the Ukrainian side, the warship has been hit by Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. Pentagon has no opportunity to conduct independent investigation as to the real reasons of what has happened, but, whatever the reason, all specialists agree this it's a great damage to russian marine forces, which is nothing but great news. According to Forbes, this cruiser is russia's most expensive military loss in the war against Ukraine with its cost is 750 million dollars.
A new patriotic post stamp by Ukrposhta. It depicts a Ukrainian soldier from the Snake Island and the moskva cruiser. This brief conversation on the first day of the war and a famous phrase "russian warship, go f*ck yourself" have become symbols of Ukrainian resistance. PHOTO CREDIT
For several weeks now, the date "May 9" has been hanging in the air. Everyone has long noticed that the bloody dictator is obsessed with symbolism and numerology, and also prefers to live in the past rather than the present or future, relying on "victories" that occurred decades ago (I put the word "victory" referring to WWII in quotation marks here, because I don't think that in a war, especially with millions of victims, there can be winners - for me this is a day of great sorrow and costly lessons, which, unfortunately, not everyone has learned). There is either an opinion or a rumor that the russian leadership wants to have some kind of "victory" in Ukraine by May 9, in order to "represent it at the parade" and "deliver a speech" - in the best traditions of dictatorial symbolism.
putin is sickly obsessed with pompous parades - photo credit
Now hostilities are moving east and south, and many of the russian battalion tactical groups that participated in the hostilities in the Kyiv region have already been redeployed to these regions. Of course, the sight of these soldiers, who are re-equipped with decommissioned bulletproof vests and who are given dry rations that expired many years ago, is frankly a pitiful sight. Many contractors (according to some sources, up to 40%) refuse to return to Ukraine despite the potential penalty for such refusal. Many russian soldiers who are still in Ukraine call their families begging them not to send younger brothers to this war because serving a sentence in prison is better than dying here for nothing. All this, of course, gives a vibe of despair, being caught in the corner and extreme exhaustion. I totally get it. But it doesn't mean it's time to relax for us, as important and horrible fights are still about to happen. Many cities, towns and villages are still occupied and suffering from the war crimes committed by russians.