I made a grocery run this afternoon, and I listened to MSNBC on SXM radio as I drove to the store. The segment that I heard addressed the humanitarian crisis unfolding along the Ukranian-Polish border. I suspect that many of you, like me, have contributed what you can to various charities and NGOs addressing the evolving misery caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I’ve made special contributions to UNICEF and World Central Kitchen efforts in that part of the world. There are many other relief efforts worthy of our support, of course.
The news item that I heard addressed these agencies and their relief efforts, and it made reference to the efforts sponsored by other of Ukraine’s neighboring countries. It gave me pause. As I recall, Putin claimed that he needed to liberate the Ukranian people who were, after all, the brothers and sisters of the Russian people – siblings.
My Ancestry.com results do not link me to the Slavs, yet we are all distant cousins even if not siblings. I contribute to the relief efforts because the shoe could easily have been on the other foot, and I the one who was a refugee. Still, neither the irony nor hypocrisy of Putin’s rhetoric are wasted on me.
Vladimir, if they are your siblings, why are you destroying their cities, and killing their children? Why is Russia sending missiles, bombs, and canon rounds rather than humanitarian aid?