Today is the 1001st day of the war in Ukraine — the war that Russia said was never going to happen, even as it mobilized its forces on the border near the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine in February of 2022. Until, on February 24th, it did happen . . . Vladimir Putin labeling it a “special military operation” to support breakaway elements falsely claiming persecution by alleged neo-Nazi Ukrainian leaders — a leadership in actuality headed by a mild-mannered Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Volodymyr Zelensky – Before the War
I would say that you can’t make this stuff up . . . only Putin did just that. The entire war — all 1,000 days of it — has been based on a fiction designed to camouflage . . . though not at all convincingly . . . his mad empirical ambition to “reclaim” sovereign territory and reunite the former Soviet republics.
A “Special Military Operation” Begins
And in that 1,000-day span, he has caused the deaths and maiming of no fewer than half a million people — civilian as well as military, on both sides of the conflict — and laid waste to vast regions of a peaceful nation. He has torn families apart, forced millions to flee their lifelong homes, ripped children from the arms of their parents.
He is a murderer, a war criminal, an evil excuse for a human being. He is the 21st Century’s Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden combined. And still he sits in the Kremlin, imprisoning his own people under onerous new laws . . . and threatening Ukraine and its allies with the “nuclear option.”
And the world holds its collective breath and wonders . . .
This is not about a Kingston Trio folk song from the 1960s, though I admit that the melody is now stuck in my head. I’ll be humming it for the next couple of days, unless someone plays “All I Want For Christmas Is You” again.
But this is about real soldiers — missing ones.
Mobilized Russian Soldier Undergoing Training – Moscow Region – December 2022
The independent news source Novaya Gazeta Europe reports that 1,010 soldiers — 858 professionals, 150 draftees from the 2022 mobilization, and two conscripts — have deserted from a single division, based in the Volgograd region, that has been deployed in Ukraine since the start of the war nearly three years ago. [Novaya Gazeta Europe, November 19, 2024.]
The original source of the information is IStories, another independent news outlet, which in turn cited a document sent to Russian regional authorities in the spring of this year by the command of the 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division of the Russian Ground Forces. IStories wrote:
“Over 1,000 men have abandoned just one division, while there are at least two dozen divisions involved in the war of Ukraine.” [Id.]
This, IStories says, could indicate a huge number of missing troops.
Yes . . . seriously!
One soldier was quoted as saying that many of the men had gone AWOL early in the war, when they realized it was going to last “longer than two weeks,” as they said they had been promised by their commanding officers. [Id.]
Naturally, no official figures concerning deserters — in fact, no negative data concerning anything — are disclosed by the Russian authorities. During the first six months following the February 24, 2022, invasion, professional soldiers were able to terminate their contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense — though many were coerced or threatened into staying. Since September 2022, however, all such contracts have been open-ended.
*. *. *
Aside from the question of why this is happening — why the Russian troops are deserting in such unusually large numbers — there is another question that is driving me crazy:
Where the hell are they??!!!
Seriously, where and how do 1,000 or more Russian soldiers hide in Ukraine? Have they been taken prisoner? And if so, why haven’t the Ukrainian authorities publicized it? Did they manage to sneak into other countries bordering Ukraine? And, being Russian — being the enemy — wouldn’t that also have been reported? Have they formed a commune in the Carpathian Mountains? Joined Donald Trump’s transition team? Or Elon Musk’s SpaceX program?
Surely they wouldn’t have returned to Russia to face arrest.
It’s a mystery, for certain. And if anyone has the answer, I’d really like to know where all those soldiers have gone.
I’m writing this on November 19th — the date in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln stood on a battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and spoke the words that would not only inspire a nation at war with itself, but would echo through the years to inspire future generations of Americans, both at war and in times of peace.
President Abraham Lincoln
Now, 161 years later, our country is facing increasing external threats from foreign enemies, as well as internal changes that threaten our very ability to protect ourselves from those enemies. The world of 2024 is vastly different from Lincoln’s: our enemies are closer, in terms of travel time; and our weaponry is no longer limited to the musket and the cannon.
What our country needs, now more than ever before, is unity. What we have instead, and are facing to an even greater extent in the immediate future, is divisiveness of a magnitude not seen since Lincoln’s time. And we need a government that will stop fomenting anger and hatred, and instead concentrate on standing up to external foes . . . rather than pandering to them for personal advantage.
So, on this anniversary — and just a week after our Veterans Day remembrance — I thought it would be appropriate to repeat a portion of Lincoln’s address to the troops at Gettysburg . . . lest we forget:
“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here, have, thus far, so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Delivering his address at Gettysburg
“. . . of the people, by the people, for the people . . .”
As my grandmother used to say (and as I have quoted many times in the past): From his mouth to God’s ears.
. . . that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Vladimir Putin played dirty. He had his North Korean friend, Kim Jong Un, send 11,000 troops to fight with the Russians in Ukraine. According to Putin’s own philosophy, that calls for a response. But Ukraine doesn’t have the option of calling on outsiders to do their work for them.
So why is the aggressor surprised when his victims fight back with the only means available to them? Has Putin seen the devastation his weapons have caused in Ukraine? The civilians he has slaughtered? The hell he has created for a peaceable nation that was no threat to him?
Ukraine’s missile struck an ammunition warehouse — a legitimate military target — not a school, or an apartment building, or a maternity hospital.
Paybacks are hell, Mr. Putin. You started this. And Ukraine isn’t anywhere near to being even yet — nor do they want to be. It’s time for you to stop whining, admit the monstrous crimes you have committed, and call an end to it.
You want to be a hero? It’s simple: First be a mensch.
Not surprisingly, the Kremlin’s reaction to yesterday’s White House announcement — that permission had been granted to Ukraine for the use of U.S. long-range missiles to defend against Russia’s continuing attacks — was immediate, vicious, and escalatory.
Vladimir Putin: The “Escalator”
The Russian government’s Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper said on its website on Monday morning that “Departing US president Joe Biden … has taken one of the most provocative, uncalculated decisions of his administration, which risks catastrophic consequences.” [Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, November 18, 2024.]
Member of the Russian Parliament Leonid Slutsky said that the U.S. decision would “inevitably lead to a serious escalation, threatening serious consequences.” [Id.]
And, taking it a step further, Russian Senator Vladimir Dzhabarov called it “an unprecedented step towards World War Three.” [Id.]
On a less threatening note, the pro-Kremlin Komsomolskaya Pravda labeled it a “predictable escalation.” [Id.]
And then we heard from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who told journalists:
“. . . if such a decision has been taken it means a whole new spiral of tension and a whole new situation with regard to US involvement in this conflict,” and accused the current U.S. administration of “adding fuel to the fire and continuing to stoke tension around this conflict.” [Id.]
Dmitry Peskov, with Vladimir Putin
As always, Mr. Peskov manages to overlook a few facts, such as:
Who started the war (a.k.a. “Special Military Operation”) in 2022? — That would be Vladimir Putin.
Who, for nearly three years, has systematically targeted the infrastructure and civilian areas of a sovereign nation that was not bothering anyone, causing hundreds of thousands of combined civilian and military casualties? — That, again, would be Putin.
Who has brought in foreign military troops to support its own, as well as mercenaries and former prisoners convicted of the most violent crimes? — You’ve got it: Putin.
But who screams bloody murder when Ukraine receives support from its allies? — That wouldn’t be Putin, would it? Well . . . yes, it would.
And who cries like a baby when their victim, Ukraine, dares to strike back on Russian territory? — Oh, please! Do I really have to answer this one?
But never mind the war of words. What might Russia actually do as a result of this new development? Reading Vladimir Putin’s mind is a guessing-game at best. But back in June, when asked by journalists what he might do if Ukraine were given the ability to hit targets on Russian soil with weapons supplied by Europe, this is what he replied:
“First, we will, of course, improve our air defence systems. We will be destroying their missiles. Second, we believe that if someone is thinking it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to strike our territory and create problems for us, why can’t we supply our weapons of the same class to those regions around the world where they will target sensitive facilities of the countries that are doing this to Russia?” [Id.]
That’s fairly straightforward, wouldn’t you say?
And more recently, Putin’s ally, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, had this to say to BBC’s Steve Rosenberg:
“I warned them [Western officials]. ‘Guys, be careful with those long-range missiles.’
“The Houthi [rebels] might come to Putin and ask for coastal weapons systems that can carry out terrifying strikes on ships. And if he gets his revenge on you for supplying long-range weapons to [President] Zelensky by supplying the Houthis with the Bastion missile system? What happens if an aircraft carrier is hit? A British or American one. What then?” [Id.]
Aleksandr Lukashenko
Chilling words. Is it any wonder, then, that Poland has established a NATO-integrated missile defense base in its northern regions? Or that Sweden and Finland are giving their citizens instructions on “how to survive a war”?
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But there is another factor to consider in attempting to assess Vladimir Putin’s state of mind: the Trump Factor.
Joe Biden has just another two months to serve as President of the United States. He has been stalwart in his support of Ukraine; and Vladimir Putin knows — in fact, the whole world knows — that Donald Trump is far less . . . shall we say . . . enthusiastic about continuing that support.
BFFs at Helsinki, 2018: We still don’t know what was privately discussed.
My money is on Putin simply waiting out the next two months, relying on his ability — whether real or perceived — to manipulate Trump in ways that he has been unable to do with President Biden.
If I’m right, it wouldn’t be the best-case scenario for Ukraine — though it’s certainly not as terrifying as the prospect of World War III.
But then, nothing is. And Vladimir Putin knows it.
Meet Margret Chola, a fun-loving grandmother in her mid-80s from rural Zambia, whose granddaughter, Diana Kaumba, happens to be a stylist based in New York City.
Margret Chola, FashionistaClassy Lady
In a spirited moment one day when Diana was in Zambia visiting her “Mbuya” (“grandmother,” in the local Bemba language), the two women began playing dress-up with some of Diana’s fashion creations. Seeing how fabulous Mbuya looked in the stylish outfits, Diana thought it would be fun to photograph her, on her farm outside of the capital city of Lusaka, and to post some of the pictures online.
Diana Kaumba and “Mbuya” Margret Chola
The first ten minutes after posting brought 1,000 or so likes, and today Margret Chola is known to the world as “Legendary Glamma,” with 225,000 Instagram followers. Of her new role, she says:
“I feel different, I feel new and alive in these clothes, in a way that I’ve never felt before. I feel like I can conquer the world!” [Penny Dale, BBC, November 15, 2024.]
With a Pearl-Loving Friend
Diana says she hopes their Granny Series will highlight that older people still have a lot to offer:
“Do not write them off, love them just the same till the end because remember we will be just like them one day.” [Id.]
A Girl Can’t Have Too Much Bling
Mbuya’s life has been a difficult one. But she urges people to “live their lives and not worry about being judged by society.” She says you can “always forgive yourself for whatever mistakes you made. You can never change your past — but you can change your future. . . . I’m now able to wake up with a purpose knowing that people around the world love to see me.” [Id.]
Wearing the Zambian National Colors
This beautiful, vibrant, spunky lady is my new role model. Keep it going, Mbuya.
February 24, 2022: Vladimir Putin’s Russian military forces invade Ukraine. Putin predicts total surrender within days, or weeks at the most. He seriously underestimates Ukraine’s strength and the response of the international community.
Today: The war in Ukraine is still raging. Estimated casualties on both sides thus far: somewhere in the neighborhood of half a million, though exact figures are impossible to obtain due to Russia’s refusal to release accurate statistics.
In the Interim: Crippling sanctions have been placed on Russia and many of its top officials and oligarchs. The International Criminal Court has issued a worldwide warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin for war crimes involving the forcible removal of Ukrainian children from their homeland, thus isolating him and making it impossible for him to travel to all but a few countries throughout the world.
Putin has repeatedly said that he wishes to negotiate an end to the hostilities . . . though, of course, only on his terms, which include his keeping all Ukrainian territory he has thus far managed to occupy, as well as guarantees that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says, in effect, “When hell freezes over.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
November 13, 2024: Poland and the U.S. inaugurate a NATO missile defense base in Northern Poland, integrating it into NATO’s defenses. As expected, Russia’s Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, responds:
“. . . And, of course, this leads to the adoption of appropriate measures to ensure parity.”
November 15, 2024: Putin reaches out to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, expressing Russia’s readiness to look at energy deals if Berlin is also interested. This is widely viewed as a desire on Putin’s part to begin wriggling out of the aforementioned sanctions.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
November 17, 2024 (Ukraine time): Russia launches one of its largest air strikes on Ukraine, principally on its energy infrastructure and other civilian sites in cities throughout the country. Is this blatant escalation of hostilities what the Kremlin deems to be “appropriate measures”?
In an understandable display of defensive readiness, neighboring Poland scrambles its fighter jets.
Polish F-16s
November 17, 2024 (U.S. Eastern time): American President Joe Biden gives the go-ahead for Ukraine to use long-range missiles supplied by the U.S. to strike farther inside Russia — permission long sought by Ukraine but heretofore held back for fear of escalation.
A Very Grateful President Zelensky, With President Biden
*. *. *
It is now just past midnight on November 18th. This started two years and nearly nine months ago. It’s not likely to end overnight tonight, so I presume there will be follow-up later today. I can hardly wait.
This week’s tribute to the hostages takes us to Berlin, Germany, where Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, along with former hostages Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin, and about 2,000 Russian exiles and sympathizers marched to the Russian Embassy to protest the war against Ukraine, to demand the release of Russia’s political prisoners, and to urge the ouster of Vladimir Putin and his trial as a war criminal. [RFE/RL, November 17, 2024.]
(L-R) Vladimir Kara-Murza, Yulia Navalnaya, Ilya Yashin
Shouting “Russia without Putin” and “No to war,” the crowd marched peacefully behind the three opposition leaders from Potsdamer Platz to the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin. Addressing the crowd, Yashin said, “Putin is not Russia. Russia is us. And we are against the war.”
In a statement released prior to the march, the organizers told the world:
“The march aims to unite everyone who stands against Vladimir Putin’s aggressive war in Ukraine and political repressions in Russia.”[Id.]
Yet the protest had its detractors, including the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makeev, who said it was a “walk without dignity and without consequences,” and that it merely displayed the opposition group’s “weakness.” In the Zeit newspaper, he had also written that the three — Navalnaya, Kara-Murza and Yashin — were not doing enough to support Ukraine, and that they should be urging their fellow Russian citizens to protest in Russia.
Perhaps Ambassador Makeev has a point. But has he considered the futility and the dangers of staging even the smallest, most peaceful protest in Russia? It’s easy for him to speak from the safety of Berlin, but he should first recall the fate of Alexei Navalny and others who fought against the odds . . . and lost their lives.
Alexei Navalny
I see today’s march as a tribute to those who have made that effort and are still paying for it. And to those non-Russians who sit beside them in prison as political pawns of Vladimir Putin, waiting for their turn to be traded and sent home.
Sometimes the fight against tyranny has to begin outside the palace walls . . . or, in this case, outside the country’s borders.
For anyone who reads me with any amount of regularity, it should be obvious that the Dmitry of whom I speak is none other than Dmitry Sergeevich Peskov, Press Secretary / spokesman for the Moscow Kremlin, and thus also for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
And for those of you who don’t know, here he is:
Dmitry “Dima” Peskov
He is a man with an obviously stressful job, which he has held for the past sixteen years. And that means he must be damned good at what he does — and he’d better be.
An East German government representative misspoke once in 1989; and in doing so, he unintentionally brought down — not only the Berlin Wall — but, as a domino-effect consequence, also the entire Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe and, just two years later, the Soviet Union itself.
So the person speaking for the Kremlin today would, at all costs, want to avoid making that sort of faux pas.
It is Dmitry’s unimaginable responsibility to know everything that is going on everywhere in the world at all times, how it affects Russia’s interests, what his boss (Putin) thinks about it, and how best to spin it to Russia’s advantage. Unfortunately, that often requires him to prevaricate, obfuscate, dissemble, equivocate . . . well, let’s face it: outright lie . . . with a perfectly straight face.
But let’s look at that face. It’s pleasant, intelligent, attractive, charming — evocative of a loving father or grandfather. His smile looks genuine, and there’s even a hint of a twinkle in the eyes. If you met him at a social gathering, you’d probably like him.
So it has for some time bothered me to think that he really, truly, honestly believes the bullshit he is required to spew at the world on a daily basis on behalf of the evil man he calls “boss.”
The Boss: Vladimir Putin
And because, in my mind, Dima — I have taken the liberty of addressing him by his nickname — Peskov does not appear to fit his professional image, I have tried to think of him as a normal person, and one with the sort of quirky sense of humor that invites teasing in return. And I’ve had fun with that.
Until today, when I Googled his name to check his patronymic (middle name) for this post, and stumbled across an item on the website of the U.S. Department of State (DOS) titled, “Faces of Kremlin Propaganda: Dmitri Peskov.”
Of course, I have always known, and not all that deep down inside, that Dima — the real Dima — could not have been faking it all these years and gotten away with it; and that he couldn’t have risen to his present position without sincerely believing in the guy who signs his paycheck. But seeing it in print, from an official source . . . well, it’s taken all the fun out of the teasing.
For example, the State Department says:
“In this capacity [as Putin’s spokesperson since 2008], he has played a key role in propaganda and disinformation campaigns to cover up the Kremlin’s links to the 2006 polonium poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko, the 2018 Novichok poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skirpal [sic] and his daughter Yulia, and the 2020 Novichok poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. In all these cases, official and independent sources have debunked the Kremlin’s disinformation and established the Kremlin’s direct responsibility. Serving Putin has been lucrative for Peskov, and despite being a civil servant for his entire career, he and his family are now multimillionaires.”[state.gov]
Well, it didn’t say he personally poisoned them; he was just an accessory after the fact. But still . . . Dima . . . how could you?
As for the “multimillionaires” reference, I followed the State Department’s link and learned that Dima, his wife and two adult children have been living the high life, far above his salary range, for many years, and are now among those sanctioned by the United States since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. Under the circumstances, I think that’s fair; but I do hope they have enough left for rent, groceries, and a clothing allowance, because the little woman looks pretty high-maintenance to me.
Date Night With the Missus
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And speaking of Ukraine . . . Oh, my God! This is what DOS has to say:
“Before Putin launched his unprovoked and brutal war of choice against Ukraine, Peskov repeatedly denied Russia had any intentions to invade its neighbor. He falsely asserted that Russia did not pose a threat to Ukraine, that Russia had never attacked any other nation, and that Russia would be the ‘last country in Europe’ to think about starting a war. Attempting to discredit Western media reports that exposed the Kremlin’s invasion preparations, Peskov called them ‘provocations,’ and ‘unfounded fomenting of tension,’ ‘Western hysteria,’ ‘irresponsible fakes,’ and ‘maniacal information insanity.’ Russia’s war in Ukraine validated the media reports and undermined Peskov’s credibility.” [state.gov]
Do you see what I mean about his sense of humor? “The last country in Europe to think about starting a war”??!!! Does he write his own material?
But reading on:
About the reports of atrocities committed by the Russian forces in Ukraine, Peskov repeated the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement that “not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions” under Russian occupation; said the accusations were ”groundless”; called the descriptions of the mass killings a “well-staged tragic show” and “a forgery in order to try to denigrate the Russian army”; and insisted that the killings were the “result of a staged falsification.” [state.gov]
By which time, I was no longer laughing, but was feeling pretty much like this:
*. *. *
Well, as you can imagine, Dmitry Sergeevich Peskov doesn’t seem so normal, or so likable, or so tease-able, any longer. He’s just another one of Putin’s henchmen, fully invested in the dictator’s mad ambition to take over the world by any means available. I’ve known it all along, of course — just not in such agonizing detail.
What’s really upsetting, though, is that now I have to find someone new and amusing to pick on . . . and in Putin’s inner circle, that’s not easy.
Sorry, Dima . . . I have to honor my country’s sanctions. But it’s been fun while it lasted.
See you in the news, kiddo.
До свидания,
Brendochka 11/17/24
(Footnote: I wonder what kind of sense of humor Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (right rear, above) has. But wait . . . he’s been sanctioned too. Damn! Can’t have any fun with these freakin’ Russians anymore.)
Other than world peace, a clean environment, and cures for all sorts of terrible diseases, you mean?
The awful truth is . . . I haven’t the foggiest notion.
This is what happens when you get older, you no longer go to work every day, and your social life slows down to approximately the speed of one of those ancient Galapagos tortoises. You have more jewelry than you will ever again wear; those beautiful leather handbags you used to covet are now too heavy to lift, even empty; and your stack of “to-be-read” books has already toppled over onto the cat twice.
(She’s all right, but she still runs screaming from the room every time I pick up a book.)
I’ve been collecting art glass and Native American pieces for so many years, there is no bare space for any more. And I’m sick to death of dusting them anyway. Actually thinking of having a yard sale one of these days.
The same goes for kitchen stuff and small appliances. Besides, who cooks?
And if you’re thinking a nice fluffy robe or throw would be just the ticket for those cold winter nights, everybody else is way ahead of you — I’ve got so many, I’ll have to donate some to the local shelter.
Though some nice red wine (Merlot is perfect) would help me stay good and warm.
That fruit-of-the-month thing you sent a couple of years ago was lovely, but that was before my digestive system went all kerflooey, so probably not a good idea now. IBS is really a bitch.
And I still have enough of last birthday’s body lotion gift set left to de-wrinkle an elephant.
I am running out of toenail fungus cream, though.
And speaking of animals . . . no, I don’t need a puppy for company, thank you. You know I love them, but they have to be walked at all hours, and I can barely get myself to the bathroom on time these days.
I did used to love the day spa with the massage. But I caught a look at myself in the bathroom mirror the other day. Nobody sees me naked anymore. Understand? Nobody!
Anyway, I guess you’ve gotten the picture by now. There are a few basic necessities you might consider — not very sexy, but it would save the Amazon delivery people a couple of trips, and me a good bit of money. Things like toilet paper, vitamins, and laundry detergent (those cute little pods because the jugs of liquid are also too fuckin’ heavy to lift anymore).
Of course, there’s always a gift certificate from my therapist’s office. Medicare doesn’t cover everything, you know.
Well, I do hope this has been helpful. And thanks ever so much for thinking of me.
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 