I’ve added a visual representation of our Ukrainian family under the Family link, in the menu above. Where appropriate, I’ve shown the referenced name followed by their real name. Mostly it’s just all the Katya (which is short for Katheryn and Ekaterina — basically Catherine.) (Viktoria’s family also has a lot of Alexanders; thank goodness I don’t have to show them.)

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Supposedly the Russians have taken Mariupol and Putin has called for a halt to any more efforts to take the Azovstal area and plant. Of course, that was all said yesterday, and the shelling continued, so… sure.

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The war crimes and attempts to cover them up continue:

• UN representatives document dozens of executions of civilians in Bucha
• Up to 9,000 bodies of slain civilians could be buried in mass grave spotted near Mariupol
• Another mass grave of dead residents discovered in Mariupol (yeah, another one)

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A more positive store from the BBC: Mariupol: Driving into the ‘apocalypse’ to save mum and dad – BBC News. For some added context, the events described in the article happened about the same time that Katya 2 and Vanya left Mariupol on foot, walking about 12 miles to a neighboring town.

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Although “Mariupol” is being heard a lot these days, if your news is anything like mine, you’ve probably been hearing the name of city pronounced in a few different ways, usually wrong. I think the version I hear the most often is “MARY-opal.” The other night I heard “MARY-you-POLE.” It hurt my ears so much I sent an email to the channel (a local station) and gave them some pronunciation tips (while casually noting that my wife is from there, so, c’mon guys, get it right). Never heard back, but also haven’t heard any recent news about Mariupol on the newscast I typically watch.

In case you were wondering, it’s a four-syllable name — Mar-i-u-pol — with the emphasis on the third syllable. Proper pronunciation would be “mahr-ih-YOU-pull,” but that “ih” isn’t something that shows up much in English. So a close “Western” pronunciation is “mahr-ee-OO-pull,” without too much “ee” coming through. And it’s OK if the second and third syllables end up pushed together; most of the time it does almost sound like the city’s name only has three syllables.

Given everything that’s been happening there — some of which is only starting to be known — it seems only proper to try to pronounce the name correctly.