I think we should also thank Ukrainians for their generosity of spirit in sharing the painful intimacy of their lives under such grievous circumstances. There have been many wars around the world since 1945 but this is the only war that has been fully exposed to the world’s gaze in real time across all media. Russians are apparently able to be blind to the reality of this war but the rest of us are compelled to be aware, because Ukrainians have bared their suffering to us every day and shouldered our collective burden, the price of freedom. We cannot turn away. We are thankful for their carrying of our share of the load and for the opportunity to pay our dues.
Yes, russian are blind to the reality of this war. But how could it be otherwise? They have been blind to their own realities for so long. What is this war to them? A russian friend of mine said around 2015- “Why are you, Ukrainians, so proud of your freedom? Who cares? We, russians, live well and that’s all that matters”. (Interestingly enough, that this war exposed how “well” they live).
Prof. Snyder, I wish there was a written transcript of this message. Some subscribers prefer to read your newsletters rather than listen to them. Having the newsletter in print also makes it easy to pass it along to others.
Yes, please. Your points are so well expressed. To share them in text would be so very beneficial to all citizens of the planet 🌎 striving to attain, maintain, retain Democracy and sovereignty. Thank you for your eloquent thoughts. Spot on as always. 🕊️
What a powerful list. I hope to see it published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere, so more Americans can be reminded of our debt of gratitude towards Ukraine and just how deep and wide it goes. Stay safe and be well.
We should consider apologizing to Ukraine for not doing more to stop Putin. I am reading "Winter Is Coming" by Gary Kasparov. The sub title is Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped. He published this in 2015. 2015.
We were asleep at the wheel for so long and now we must make amends and help Ukraine in any way we can. If we had faced Putins behavior for what it is earlier it it would not be so expensive now.
As a means of expressing our gratitude we should open the flood gates of our military arsenal and give Ukraine as many combat aircraft, long range precision weapons, air defense systems, and other elements, as they can absorb, as quickly as we can deliver them. The reluctant and piecemeal provision of such systems has prolonged the war, cost Ukrainian lives both at the front and behind the lines, and enabled Putin to maintain the illusion of the possibility of a Russian victory. This war should have taught us about the necessity to maintain adequate stockpiles of conventional weapons and the ability to "turn on the spigot" to produce them en masse, vice spending huge sums on a bloated nuclear weapons program and on aircraft (e.g F35) that we cannot afford to buy in adequate numbers and armored vehicles (e.g. Abrams tanks) that are such logistical nightmares so as to be useless in a real war. These criticisms apply equally to our NATO allies.
Thank you again, Professor Snider, for your thoughtfulness anc compassion.
Thank you for the opportunity to hear your words. Hearing the words said outloud carries so much weight. I am grateful and my students are grateful to understand the history and the sacrifices of Ukranian treasure that have been made on the worlds behalf because of the Ukrainians willingness to fight for democracy. Your voice and words are tremendously valuable. THank you again for your willingness to share.
I agree that we should be thanking President Zelensky and all Ukrainians for what they have done, are doing and will continue to do as they defeat Russian aggression and literally protect our freedoms. And I also think we should thank individual Ukrainians, those that we know, and those that we do not. I was at a football game this past weekend, here in Canada, and I noticed a man sitting near me wearing a hat that looked familiar. It was in the style of the MAGA hats (all one colour with simple all-Caps text on the front) but this one was blue with yellow writing. It said "MAKE CRIMEA UKRAINIAN AGAIN" and I loved it. I then realized that he was surrounded by family: a Grandmother, two other adult women, two other adult men, and a group of youths. Each of them, every single one, was wearing something that supported Ukraine. I can't even explain why, I'm not Ukrainian but I have supported Ukraine since February 2022, but this display made me so proud of them. So proud of Ukraine. As the game ended and the stands cleared a bit, I walked over and crouched near the man with the MCUA hat (such a better hat) and said "Hey family, ... Slava Ukrainii!" They immediately replied "Heroyam Slava!" And then we all hugged and had a good cry. That emotion, positive though it was, is just under the surface for many of us, and we all need to support one another through this unnecessary war. I hear that emotion in Prof. Snyders voice today too. So I want to say Thank You to that Ukrainian family, to all those who support Ukraine and to Prof. Snyder for helping us to understand, to sympathize, to rally and to fight. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! Slava Ukrainii!!
I hope countries like Switzerland, or India, the Middle East, or several others will be soon able to realize that they need to be fully and unequivocally on the right side as well. I am worried that the mechanisms of the UNO and a necessary revisions of the Security Council take too much time. And that Russia is learning to adapt to the sanctions.
Thank you Prof. Snyder for all your awesome work that is motivating and inspiring!
Thank you for this beautifully said truth regarding our friends, the Ukrainians. I pray the US military provides more than the current 3% of the military budget towards helping them win this war soon. We could do so much more. We must.
Thank you Dr. Snider for your support of Ukraine. Your first point in this podcast is so very critical for everyone to understand. It’s not just one point it’s multi faceted and something that bears repeating.
Thank you Dr. Snyder for all you do for Ukraine. I wish those who opposed our aid to these brave people would listen. Then maybe they would realize that - even if the focus is entirely on the US - Ukraine is worth supporting.
You said it in your point about the real time audit of our military. This should expand to the real time audit of our military industrial base. Because of this war, it has been exposed as woefully inadequate. Who is paying the price now: the Ukrainians in having to ration their use of ammunition.
From an America First perspective, this is ideal, because the other way this would have been revealed would have been in a hot war with China, which would be too late.
I think we should also thank Ukrainians for their generosity of spirit in sharing the painful intimacy of their lives under such grievous circumstances. There have been many wars around the world since 1945 but this is the only war that has been fully exposed to the world’s gaze in real time across all media. Russians are apparently able to be blind to the reality of this war but the rest of us are compelled to be aware, because Ukrainians have bared their suffering to us every day and shouldered our collective burden, the price of freedom. We cannot turn away. We are thankful for their carrying of our share of the load and for the opportunity to pay our dues.
Well said!
Yes, russian are blind to the reality of this war. But how could it be otherwise? They have been blind to their own realities for so long. What is this war to them? A russian friend of mine said around 2015- “Why are you, Ukrainians, so proud of your freedom? Who cares? We, russians, live well and that’s all that matters”. (Interestingly enough, that this war exposed how “well” they live).
Prof. Snyder, I wish there was a written transcript of this message. Some subscribers prefer to read your newsletters rather than listen to them. Having the newsletter in print also makes it easy to pass it along to others.
Thank you.
Yes, please. Your points are so well expressed. To share them in text would be so very beneficial to all citizens of the planet 🌎 striving to attain, maintain, retain Democracy and sovereignty. Thank you for your eloquent thoughts. Spot on as always. 🕊️
I will want the written transcript because you talk too fast for me to understand. Hearing disabilities are widespread.
What a powerful list. I hope to see it published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere, so more Americans can be reminded of our debt of gratitude towards Ukraine and just how deep and wide it goes. Stay safe and be well.
We should consider apologizing to Ukraine for not doing more to stop Putin. I am reading "Winter Is Coming" by Gary Kasparov. The sub title is Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped. He published this in 2015. 2015.
We were asleep at the wheel for so long and now we must make amends and help Ukraine in any way we can. If we had faced Putins behavior for what it is earlier it it would not be so expensive now.
As a means of expressing our gratitude we should open the flood gates of our military arsenal and give Ukraine as many combat aircraft, long range precision weapons, air defense systems, and other elements, as they can absorb, as quickly as we can deliver them. The reluctant and piecemeal provision of such systems has prolonged the war, cost Ukrainian lives both at the front and behind the lines, and enabled Putin to maintain the illusion of the possibility of a Russian victory. This war should have taught us about the necessity to maintain adequate stockpiles of conventional weapons and the ability to "turn on the spigot" to produce them en masse, vice spending huge sums on a bloated nuclear weapons program and on aircraft (e.g F35) that we cannot afford to buy in adequate numbers and armored vehicles (e.g. Abrams tanks) that are such logistical nightmares so as to be useless in a real war. These criticisms apply equally to our NATO allies.
Thank you again, Professor Snider, for your thoughtfulness anc compassion.
Thank you for the opportunity to hear your words. Hearing the words said outloud carries so much weight. I am grateful and my students are grateful to understand the history and the sacrifices of Ukranian treasure that have been made on the worlds behalf because of the Ukrainians willingness to fight for democracy. Your voice and words are tremendously valuable. THank you again for your willingness to share.
Incoming NATO member Sweden has a military built for ‘one thing, and one thing only: fighting Russia,’ says expert. 🇸🇪
Zelensky says Ukraine is working with Sweden to produce ‘cool vehicles’ like CV90s: ‘Just what’s needed at the front’.
U.S. green Berets are looking to troops from NATO’s newest member, Finland as ‘mentors’ for harsh winter combat. 🇫🇮
Thankful for our new NATO members who like Ukraine teach us how to defeat Russian imperialism 🇫🇮🇸🇪
Comrade KGB/Stasi Putin made NATO great again and united to #ProtectDemocracy! ☮️
Thank you so much for your words and everything that you are doing.
very powerful message, grateful to you for sharing it
I agree that we should be thanking President Zelensky and all Ukrainians for what they have done, are doing and will continue to do as they defeat Russian aggression and literally protect our freedoms. And I also think we should thank individual Ukrainians, those that we know, and those that we do not. I was at a football game this past weekend, here in Canada, and I noticed a man sitting near me wearing a hat that looked familiar. It was in the style of the MAGA hats (all one colour with simple all-Caps text on the front) but this one was blue with yellow writing. It said "MAKE CRIMEA UKRAINIAN AGAIN" and I loved it. I then realized that he was surrounded by family: a Grandmother, two other adult women, two other adult men, and a group of youths. Each of them, every single one, was wearing something that supported Ukraine. I can't even explain why, I'm not Ukrainian but I have supported Ukraine since February 2022, but this display made me so proud of them. So proud of Ukraine. As the game ended and the stands cleared a bit, I walked over and crouched near the man with the MCUA hat (such a better hat) and said "Hey family, ... Slava Ukrainii!" They immediately replied "Heroyam Slava!" And then we all hugged and had a good cry. That emotion, positive though it was, is just under the surface for many of us, and we all need to support one another through this unnecessary war. I hear that emotion in Prof. Snyders voice today too. So I want to say Thank You to that Ukrainian family, to all those who support Ukraine and to Prof. Snyder for helping us to understand, to sympathize, to rally and to fight. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! Slava Ukrainii!!
Thanks for this essay. Timely and poignant.
Excellent thank you
I hope countries like Switzerland, or India, the Middle East, or several others will be soon able to realize that they need to be fully and unequivocally on the right side as well. I am worried that the mechanisms of the UNO and a necessary revisions of the Security Council take too much time. And that Russia is learning to adapt to the sanctions.
Thank you Prof. Snyder for all your awesome work that is motivating and inspiring!
Thank you for this beautifully said truth regarding our friends, the Ukrainians. I pray the US military provides more than the current 3% of the military budget towards helping them win this war soon. We could do so much more. We must.
Thank you Dr. Snider for your support of Ukraine. Your first point in this podcast is so very critical for everyone to understand. It’s not just one point it’s multi faceted and something that bears repeating.
Thank you Dr. Snyder for all you do for Ukraine. I wish those who opposed our aid to these brave people would listen. Then maybe they would realize that - even if the focus is entirely on the US - Ukraine is worth supporting.
You said it in your point about the real time audit of our military. This should expand to the real time audit of our military industrial base. Because of this war, it has been exposed as woefully inadequate. Who is paying the price now: the Ukrainians in having to ration their use of ammunition.
From an America First perspective, this is ideal, because the other way this would have been revealed would have been in a hot war with China, which would be too late.
Ожте, дякую України!
І ми дякуємо американцям ❤️
Вдячність у всьому – це добре. Моє серце з Україною.