To All Those Who Died Alone In The Russian Occupation

a conversation with the older brother; rivne, ukraine.

i'm tired of Eastern European countries being sacrificied by the West in order to appease Russia. this is exactly what happened after WW2, this is what might as well happen now

Not gonna lie, my morale is at the lowest point it's been since the beginning of the invasion. Russians are successfully occupying more and more territories and shell frontline regions every day. People are dying, our culture and herritage is destroyed. International aid dwindled significantly because of american bullshit. Mobilization law has been signed and there is a chance that my family members get conscripted soon. Don't even get me started on internal political problems. A bunch of articles in foreign media talking about our defeat and "peace talks" (what a joke).

It feels like there were no at least moderately good news in a while. On top of that, the feeling that we are screaming into the void is stronger than ever. I'm happy when I see a foreigner online supporting us and spreading the word, because it gets rarer. Ukrainians feel like none of what's happening gets outside our info bubble. Most likely no one but Ukrainians will see this post either. Honestly don't know what to make of all of this.

💔 A Ukrainian poet and soldier, Maksym Kryvtsov, was killed by Russians at the front. He first volunteered for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2014. After the full-scale Russian invasion began in 2022, he returned to its ranks to defend Ukraine.

Just yesterday, Maksym posted a photo with his new poetry book called "Poems from the loophole". It was recognised by PEN Ukraine, an NGO protecting freedom of speech and authors' rights, as one of the best Ukrainian books of 2023.

Shortly before his death, Maksym also posted a photo with his ginger cat on Instagram. The cat, to whom he had dedicated a poem, died with him.

Russia keeps killing Ukrainian poets and trying to destroy our culture. The evil must be held accountable for every crime, every life, and every word taken away.

Photos: Maksym Kryvtsov / Facebook

Collection of illustrations with ghosts👻

So if you go downthread on the linked tweet here, people are saying there were up to 300,000 people at one night of protests in Tbilisi:

That's wild. Rooting for them.

"Investigators assume that the mother died, hugging and holding her children to her chest. The burning temperature of the house was such that the baby's bones and body were reduced to ashes"

Babyn Yar, 82 years past.

Last year, I walked there a lot - and couldn't help but cry, every time. You always knew the Holocaust happened, and what it happened to Ukraine as well, but there, in the memorial park, you see the photos, read the text describing it, you see these ravines, you walk along the graves/monuments of the Jewish cemetery, you listen to the prayers and memorial songs... Can you not cry?

And then there's the rocket attack on Babyn Yar last year. And there's the occupation, execution of civilians, mobile crematoriums. The theater, inscription "KIDS". "Filtration camps". Deportation of children. Blowing up the prisoners' barrack. The damn. The market. The train station... No, I couldn't.

82 years later, and the only thing that changed is the language of the invaders.

Every Ukrainian life taken by ruzzians is a tragedy, whether they were famous or not.

But this, this must hit Zelenskyy just that much harder, knowing how much he cares for everyone under his employ even before his presidency...