Yesterday was indeed a day for celebration. The hostages — sixteen of them — had been released and were safely back in the U.S. or in Germany, reuniting with family and friends at last.

But that was yesterday. Today, for the rest of the world at least, life goes on. And so it does for the hostage-prisoners remaining in Putin’s prisons. In addition to an unknown number of Russian citizens being charged daily with “crimes” ranging from “insulting the military” to “spreading false information” to full-fledged treason, there are, at last count, eight Americans remaining in prison in Russia on similarly imaginary charges. They are:

Marc Fogel
Robert Romanov Woodland
Staff Sergeant Gordon Black
Robert Gilman
Ksenia Karelina
David Barnes
Eugene Spector
Michael Travis Leake

While it is heart-warming indeed to see my list shrunk to this level, it is still eight names too long. And I shall continue to publish their names weekly, at the same time hoping that they, too, are or soon will be the subjects of behind-the-scenes negotiations for their release.

*. *. *

But when will we stop playing games with human lives? The so-called “lower” species of animals would never do this to their own.

And we consider ourselves superior?

Don’t make me laugh!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/2/24