Darkest Day: one year on

 

Maidan demonstration, Kyiv 2014

 

Exactly one year ago today Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Of course I sprang into 'action', and wrote a blog post, entitled  The Darkest Day. There didn't seem much else to be done, and to be honest, at the time the outcome seemed inevitable, that outcome being the rapid conquest and subjugation of Ukraine, and its elimination as an independent nation. Quite surprisingly, that blog post became my 'most read' ever ( with the exception of  one other post that had been previously  'nobbled' by a bot attack ).  I had expressed myself pretty strongly, and I wondered if I would attract hostile reactions, even attacks, on the blog - I'm glad to say that didn't happen, and there were many supportive comments.   I've just been re-reading the post, and I stand by everything I said. 

Pro-democracy protestor Yevhen Shulga, 2014

 

Of course there was a very unexpected outcome: the Russian invasion failed. Ukraine's defence forces fought bravely and successfully, and  gave Putin a massive shock; Western nations have rallied in Ukraine's support and provided arms and equipment to Ukraine.   Despite many thousands of casualties both military and civilian, despite thousands of war crimes inflicted by the Russia's deliberate targeting of the civilians they claim to be 'liberating',  Ukraine fights on, has had victories, and has regained territory. The cost has been terrible, but I entirely understand Ukraine's willingness to pay that cost and keep fighting, and  I think we in the West need to support our governments in supporting Ukraine. Freedom is at stake; Putin now says he is fighting a war against the West, so perhaps we have little choice.

Battle damage to Ukrainian homes, 2022

 

As before, I am not going to get into nerdy discussions of the fighting and whether they should have done X, Y or Z - there are too many armchair generals already, I'm sure. But there is  of course much  worthwhile analysis available - I would highlight the Royal United Services Institute, which for example has a summary today entitled The War In Ukraine One Year On . I've also been recently recommended a 'Substack' blog ,  Comment is Freed, a joint effort by  political commentatior Sam Freedman  and his father, the military historian  Lawrence Freedman, whose recent piece The Storm Before The Calm  makes interesting reading.   Regarding the effect on those of us not directly involved in the fighting, political journalist Andrew Marr recently wrote a chilling ( but realistic, I'm afraid ) piece which should give us all plenty to consider :  The war in Ukraine will go on for years – and so will its consequences for Britain.  Also Steve Rosenberg, the BBC's man in Moscow has been consistently interesting ( and sobering for those who might think the Russian population will not support Putin ), his latest piece about How Putin's fate is tied to Russia's war raises some scary possibilities  ( civil war in a nuclear-armed power? ). 

burial of victims of Russian occupation, Bucha 2022

Yesterday I paid a visit to London's Imperial War Museum, which had advertised an exhibition of pictures by photo-journalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind. covering the period since the 2014 Ukraine revolution and Russian takeover of  Crimea,  to the current war. I used my phone to capture some of those pictures, which I include in this blog post.  They are very impressive, but I have to say the exhibition was underwhelming - there was just one small room, and perhaps no more than 20 pictures. I thought the subject deserved a much bigger effort than that - and I note that the main exhibition space in the museum is currently filled by an exhibit about computer games.  I'm not sure if this is a deliberate reflection of the priorities of the IWM management.  However, I was glad to see the exhibition and spend a little time thinking about the situation. I guess this post is also part of that train of thought. 

 

Yevhen Shulga, now Ukrainian soldier, 2022

I'll get back to hobby stuff next time; meanwhile I think it's worth a pause to reflect. Keep well, everyone. 

The Darkest Day

 

photo from Sky News - I hope they won't mind me using it

 

I had planned to post a game report tonight - but given the news from Ukraine, it did not seem appropriate.  

This is the darkest day.  There is a hideous, brutal attack on freedom itself, and on all of us who value freedom.  Individually there may be  nothing we can do about it, but we can think, and feel, and we can speak. I hope our hearts and minds are with the people of Ukraine as they face the possible ruin of their hopes, for no remotely valid reasons.  I hold no grudge against the people of Russia; this barbarity springs from the mind of just one man.

We who share a hobby which  itself engages  with warfare, and involves a necessary interest in military history,  may need to take a pause to think about ourselves, too. There is perhaps a natural tendency to be curious and 'nerdily' interested about the mechanics and details of what is going on - but we should be mindful that this is not like a wargame, this is a very real, large-scale horror, unfolding in real time.  I am thus not going  to get into a 'what if' frame of mind, not going  to speculate about how things might turn out, and who might 'win'. There will be no 'winners', only different degrees of loss.  I'm afraid that there is little hope of 'the good guys winning', at least in the short term.  In the long term, we need to remember them,  keep thinking of them, and not forget what is being done to them today. 

We might also think about our hobby and our approach to it, as plenty of others would doutbless accuse us of glorifying the sort of violence unleashed today.  I have never really been able to put my finger on 'the reason why' my interests have bent this way, and I am not sure I could confidently defend against such attacks.  Perhaps at least by acquiring some knowledge, we are aware of the horrors of war, and hopefully less eager to promote the real thing as a result?  And of course we should be clear that we are only playing a game, which can, in the final analysis, have not the slightest resemblance to the real thing - thankfully.

Enough said, I think. I don't know if this has helped me, or any of you. I don't know how this will turn out - except that we can be sure that no good will come of it.  Stokes at the Grand Duchy of Stollen said 'there are no words', and he is probably more eloquent and profound as a result. But I wanted to at least say something,  not just let it go, as only pictures and sounds from 'a far-away country, of which we know little'.   I hope you will allow me that.

Keep well, and safe, everyone.