It’s hard not to succumb to hopelessness. Day after day the news from Mariupol remains the same; people remain trapped without food, water, electricity, heat or any contact to the outside world. When the shelling takes a pause, it’s just so the bombers can drop their ordinance on the population and then scurry back to Russia, allowing the shelling to resume. Attempts to provide humanitarian are block or attacked.

I’ve been to Mariupol at least a half-dozen times, probably even more. I’ve been visiting Ukraine for over a decade so it’s hard to keep track, but Mariupol was one of my first destinations. I personally know some of the people trapped in the city, and know more second-hand from conversations with Viktoria. I know some of those people are smart and resourceful, and had this situation only been in place for two, three, four days, I would not have been too concerned. But it’s been far longer than that, and what had been a military operation — regardless of it’s purported purpose or merit — has become a campaign of genocide. When facing that, “smart and resourceful” can only accomplish so much.

For the past two weeks, there have been great stories coming out of Ukraine. The stories about the success of the Ukrainian military have been inspiring. Farmers stealing tanks and people standing up to the Russian military make you want to cheer. I’m happy that evacuation efforts from Sumy and other parts of the country have meet with some success, and that innocent civilians are being taken out of harm’s way.

Just once, though, why can’t one of those stories be about Mariupol? The Azov Regiment defending the city has been doing a great job, but it’s a holding operation at best. Where is the story about the Ukrainian military destroying the column of Russian vehicles advancing on the city? Where’s the story about the 50 buses of humanitarian aid reaching the weary but happy citizens of Mariupol? Where’s the story about the X thousand people who were successfully evacuated to safety?

Just once I’d like to read one of those stories. And every day that there isn’t one, the hopelessness grows.