Technically, Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, so this war has been going on for over 8 years. But it’s been three months since the latest round of actions has begun. Back in 2014, Russia was hiding/lying about what it was doing — suspiciously-accented Russia soldiers in new, unbranded fatigues showing up in Crimea, and “off-duty volunteers” showing up with tanks and weapons in Eastern Ukraine — but this time they’re out in the open about it. Still lying, of course; remember how initially Putin was saying that they had no intention of occupying Ukraine? They were just there to “de-Nazify” the country, put in their own puppet regime, and they were out of there. That line has since given way to various ways of subsuming portions of the east and south into existing oblasts or create a new, region Russian territory from them.

Giving up land for peace has never worked, ever, and I applaud President Zelensky for taking a stand on this. I would also like to see Ukraine’s 2014 borders made whole again, and I think that should be the ultimate goal. I’m not one for war — it’s a failure of diplomacy, common sense and basic humanity — but I believe the rules are meant to be followed if we’re going to call ourselves civilized. In this case the “rules” are internationally agreed-upon borders, and Russia stomped all over those rules.

I’ve been to Ukraine many times, and almost without exception have found the Ukrainian people to be welcoming and generous to me. I think they were a little amused — An American! And so far away from Kyiv! Is he lost? — but they were friendly and open. Despite the differences, I “clicked” with Mariupol, even before I met Viktoria. In some ways, it was always similar to Portland — climate, a port city, etc. I’m saddened to have seen what’s happened to it, and I really want to see it restored — a fully European and Ukrainian city.

A quick family update and recap:

• Katya 2 and Vanya are still in Vienna and getting closer to migrating to Canada. They’ve both been approved for temporary visas, but Katya’s had a typo that needs to be addressed first, and Vanya needs to get an authorized travel document from their visa center. So still moving forward, but with a couple bumps.
• Artem, Katya 1 and family are still in the Mariupol area, so contact has been spotty at best. It sounds like they’ve been “processed” by the occupying forces and fortunately haven’t been re-located to some unknown part of Russia. Not the best of safest situation, but stable for now.
• Baba Katya and Rodion are also in the Mariupol area, a few miles east of Artem’s family. We’ve been trying to get in direct contact, but so far our phone systems haven’t wanted to talk to the occupier’s phone system, which is the only thing working around there. (Viktoria was able to contact Rodion’s teacher — now in Kherson — who was able to contact Katya. Some relaying involved, but it worked.) Katya’s son/Rodion’s father, Roman, is also there, though his wife and their kids have gone to Russia. Again, not a great place to be, but things are stable. I know that Katya and Rodion had gone to Donetsk a few weeks ago, so they can move about a bit and have some resources to get the things they need.
• Inna is still unaccounted for. Apart from one brief blip back in March, there’s been no information.
• Katya 2’s parents and grandmother are still in Volnovakha and seem to be getting by OK. I posted some video of when they came to Mariupol, so they’re able to get around somewhat. They are in regular contact with Zhenya and Katya.
• Zhenya remains on that farm. He may not like helping out with the chores, but he’s safe — well, as safe as anyone can be in Ukraine. I think he should just hunker down for the duration, but Viktoria still seems convinced that he’s going to be drafted and sent to the front lines at any moment. (I try to tell her that just having martial law in place does not mean that’s going to happen, but sometimes you just can’t argue reason.)

(Just a reminder that you can find a relationship tree with all these names under Family in the menu at the top of the page.)