Nov 19

Nov 19 1000 Days

Chicago, Demonstrations, Protest, Public Declarations

For the last 1,000 days, the Ukrainian people have been fighting for their independence. On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine in violation of international law. The experts predicted that Russian tanks would overrun Kiev within a matter of days. The Russians didn’t get close. Like the Little Engine That Could, Ukraine has held its own despite Russia’s far larger military.

According to U.S. government estimates, more than 600,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the start of the war, with Russian troops incurring their heaviest losses this past September, which may explain why Putin asked North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to send over 10,000 troops to the region. Fortunately, the North Korean troops are reportedly more enamored with pornography than fighting, but that could change at any moment if those troops are ordered to frontlines. The troops, however, may not be combat ready, now sapped of their energy, strength, and in the immortal words of Sterling Hayden in Dr. Strangelove, their “precious bodily fluids.”

The Russian death toll is attributable in significant part to its willingness to employ a tactic known as the meat grinder—sending large numbers of troops into battle without regard to whether they survive, hoping that sheer numbers will overwhelm the Ukrainian lines. This tactic explains why so many Russian young men have fled Russia rather than face inscription, as well as why the Russian military has looked to conscripts from far-flung ethnic regions rather than from Moscow and St. Petersburg, often enticing the naive recruits with significant upfront payments.

The war has not been without significant cost to the Ukrainians. The U.S. estimates that more than 57,500 Ukrainians have been killed, with another 250,000 wounded. On a relative basis, Ukraine’s losses have far exceeded the Russian ones because Ukraine’s population is a third of Russia’s population.

No one should forget the Ukrainian children who have been “kidnapped” by the Russians. As of June, the Ukrainian government put the number at 20,000. It has identified over 70 camps where Ukrainian children are undergoing “re-education” as part of the Russian effort to eradicate the Ukrainian people’s cultural identity.

Regrettably, on November 5th, the Ukrainians found themselves fighting on a second front with the election of Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States. Trump claims that he will end the conflict in just one day following his inauguration on January 20th. He will force a settlement by cutting off military and other aid to Ukraine. Unless Ukraine accepts the terms, it will face further territorial losses. The imposed agreement will likely preclude Ukraine from joining NATO (and other Western alliances) for twenty years, thereby providing Putin with the opportunity to rearm. Within just a matter of years, Putin will try once again to conquer Ukraine, assuming he hasn’t fallen out of a window.

Tonight, several hundred members of Chicago’s Ukrainian Community and their friends gathered in the plaza outside the Wrigley Building for a rally commemorating the war’s 1,000th day. Among those present were officials representing the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, and Poland. While Putin currently has his hands full with Ukraine, those nations recognize that he may eyeing their territories as part of his effort to reconstitute the Soviet Union of his youth.

The rally adhered to a tried-and-true formula: speeches, anthems, and chants, followed by a march, this time north on Michigan Avenue to Jane Byrne Plaza (site of Chicago’s historic Water Tower). Sadly, there were several demonstrators holding signs revealing that friends and relatives had been killed while defending the homeland.

In keeping with past practice, the rally concluded with the singing of the Ukrainian National Anthem. Before the group disbanded, one organizer thanked members of the Chicago Police Department for their assistance.

The demonstration’s watchword: resilience. While Trump’s victory is a tragedy for the Ukrainians, nobody should underestimate the Ukrainian nation’s most important weapon—resilience.

[I generally don’t take positions regarding the events I cover. I make an exception for Ukrainian and anti-Putin Russian demonstrations. There is only one correct viewpoint.]

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]