Kharkiv Shelled

Thursday early afternoon I heard artillery explosions in Kharkiv. I couldn't tell where it came from, but later that afternoon I made the acquaintance of several foreign journalists. I traveled with them to the site where there 3 shells landed. Several small businesses were destroyed, across the street in parking lot cars were destroyed and nearby an apartment building suffered damage. It was unclear if there were fatalities or injuries at this location, but other parts of the city, 9 people were killed from the shelling that day.

Later that night I heard shelling again. Around midnight, I looked out the window of my room. Due to the curfew and blackout and the city being nearly depopulated there were only a handful of lights visible despite that I was in the very center (and on an upper floor) in a large city.

Kharkiv

Kharkiv is a city of about 1.5 million people- or it was before Russia attacked. I heard various estimates as to the number of people currently living there, but 20% is the most common number. Immediately after arriving at the train station, I took a cab around the city to see the destruction. The photos are of the northern Saltivka area, I could not get further north or east without permission. Some of the streets returning to Kharkiv city center were carefully controlled by the police. 

Border

I spent several days in Warsaw on a project, then traveled by train to Chelm, Poland. From there, I engaged a taxi for the distance to the border with Ukraine. It is roughly 25 kilometers (15 miles) to the border. The entire distance was marked by cars and trucks waiting to cross. Since the driver wasn't crossing the border, he passed all those in line and dropped me just before the first checkpoint. Since there is not a pedestrian crossing at the location, I asked a van driver for a ride across the border. He dropped me off after going through the various passport and customs checks and immediately I got a ride to the next city in Ukraine where I caught the train Kyiv that night.

The driver told me that the line to enter Ukraine actually extended even further than Chelm. He thought it was about 30 kilometers (18+ miles) in total. Those in line have to wait 4 or 5 days to gain entry. The cars are full of people and/ or goods that Ukrainians are taking back for consumption or sale. Prices for goods are rising in Ukraine due to the war, Russia's blockade of the Ukrainian coastline,  worldwide supply chain issues. Poland and Ukraine have announced an agreement on joint customs to ease the burdens of travelers and truckers. 

It is tough enough to be away from home and family for months, but these unfortunate folks have to endure days of no toilets, bathing, hot food or decent rest. They are fortunate compare to some, though.

After crossing the border, there was a line of about 15 kilometers from Ukraine to Poland. All trucks.

Funeral

My first full day in Lviv, I had a meeting with a member of the Oblast Rada on housing issues. We spoke about the large numbers of internally displaced people in Lviv and those who will return from Poland, Slovakia, Germany and other nations. Lviv Region is preparing to have long-term housing issues for hundreds of thousands of people. They are thinking about this, but without the resources and there is no clarity on real numbers or timeframe.

Minutes later, I was walking down the street with several connections when we saw the car in the photo. Over the last several days, I have seen a few signs like this, but this was the first time in the center of Lviv. The reference is to the famous slogan broadcast at a Russian ship near Odessa that has become a rallying cry for Ukraine.   

There was just a moment of levity and within several blocks reality hits home again. I rounded a corner close to the Opera House and saw several older women sobbing near a large church. Then there was a group of very young men in uniform. They looked about the age of our own son, who is 18. Moments later, two vehicles arrived and the soldiers arranged themselves to serve as pallbearers and crossbearers. Then the bore two coffins of their fellow soldiers into the church. 

The pace of life in Lviv is this way. As citizens carry on with the tasks of every day life, thousands of refugees are among them, daily funerals are held and air raid sirens pierce the calm.

Kamchatka Soldiers & Sock Money

About 300 soldiers in Kamchatka on contracts refused to go to Ukraine and fight. Word has gotten out that many are dying and the operation is a disaster. Further, many Russians have friends or family in Ukraine and although the Putin regime and its propagandists, such as Margarita Simonyan and Vladimir Solovyev on First Channel have been doing their best to demonize (and dehumanize) Ukrainians as Nazis, many don't buy it. 

The result is that these soldiers are losing their jobs, their apartments are being taken away and the government will prosecute them. We have predicted for some time that the search for enemies would take a turn inwards. Worse is on the way.

Another example of the pressure the state puts on citizens is that they are now "asking" for money from employees of the government and government-owned companies for socks, clothes, and other items for soldiers. Anyone who saw the rally at Luzhniki Stadium with Putin saw a stadium full of people who were required to attend the rally at risk of their employment and possibly worse. 

Dictatorships lack soft power and use coercive diplomacy to achieve results. When that fails, they use the tools of both hybrid warfare and then modern warfare, including targeting civilians.