I'm glad to see your post and see that you're getting real news.

It is depressing to see what the Russians have done so far.

But, I am proud of what the Ukrainians have done. They have fought back smartly and effectively given their much smaller resources. The 3 day takeover of Ukraine that was predicted did not happen. Kyiv while Putin's primary target is still Ukrainian. That's where Putin expects to to have a bogus government set up.

Kharkiv, only 20 miles away from the border with Russia and where almost everyone speaks Russian has made it obvious that they are Ukrainian and do not want to lose freedom. When Russian's begin to kill civilians and wipe out buildings, it tells us the Russian military know they are not welcome and will be paying a heavy price.

200K soldiers are not enough to control 40M Ukrainians. It would not surprise me if they never make it to control West Ukraine (e.g. city of Lviv).

The total dismemberment of all non-government TV and and Radio in Russia and silencing of international news reporters works for a while, but truth will eventually make it to the Russian public. Using the words "war" or "invasion" in talking about the Russian military activity in Ukraine puts you in prison for 15 years! Several thousand protestors have been arrested. It may be a very slow process, but the truth of what is happening in Ukraine and Russia may lead to Putin's end. The sanctions will make everyone want to know why they are suffering.

I have no contacts in Ukraine. My father had a sister that never married and his uncles died in Siberia back in the 1930's. My mother had sisters who had children, but when she died, so did any communication with them. Unfortunately, they are located just North of Crimea and now under Russian control.

The whole world should be proud of them. On this being the end for Putin, I was speaking to a friend of mine about the invasion on the first or second day of Russia's invasion and after discussing the likely prospect that no one would come to Ukraine's aid (militarily), I said, "The only positive thing one can hope, and it is nowhere near sufficient to accept anything Russia has done, is that this will be Putin's Afghanistan. Afghanistan cost Gorbachev everything, hopefully Ukraine will cost Putin everything."

(Aside: I know the flaw in this analogy. Unlike Putin, Gorbachev considered Afghanistan a mistake and began planning an exit as soon as he became General Secretary. However, that Afghanistan accelerated the fall of the Soviet Union cannot be argued against imo.)

That's not enough, of course. But if we aren't prepared to risk a nuclear exchange over what is being done to Ukrainians then there is nothing worthy of the risk.

Welcome to IWETHEY!