Today is Ukrainian Independence Day. And given what Ukraine has endured and done over the past six months it is an extra special one. I’m going to keep tonight’s post fairly brief. I’m going to start with President Zelenskyy’s Independence Day address, follow it with President Biden’s statement, and then finish with the third part of The Washington Post‘s long form reporting on the war for Ukraine. It is from there that the title for tonight’s post comes from. They are the orders of LTG Yevhen Mosiuk when asked what instructions should be given to Ukrainians defending their towns.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address. Video below, English transcript after the jump:
Speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Independence Day of Ukraine
The free people of independent Ukraine!
And that says it all. Just four words, but how much is behind them today. On the 182nd day of the full-scale war. How many symbols and meanings, feats and losses, joy and pain are in these words. And mainly how much truth is in them. Our truth. Truth about our present, with which it is impossible to argue, as it is impossible not to see and not to admit. We are the free people of independent Ukraine. After six months of the attempts to destroy us, we are the free people of independent Ukraine. And this is the truth about our future. The free people of independent Ukraine.
Six months ago, Russia declared war against us. On February 24, the entire Ukraine heard explosions and gunshots. And on August 24, it wasn’t supposed to hear the words “Happy Independence Day”. On February 24, we were told: you have no chance. On August 24, we say: Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!
During these six months, we changed history, changed the world and changed ourselves. Now we know for sure who is really our brother and friend, and who is not even a casual acquaintance. Who did not lose his name and reputation, and who worried for the terrorists to save face. Who doesn’t really need us, and where the door is really open for us. We understood who is who. And the whole world learned who Ukrainians are. What Ukraine is. No one will say about it anymore: it is somewhere over there, near Russia.
We started to respect ourselves. We understood that despite any help and support, no one but us will fight for our independence. And we united.
We didn’t have HIMARS yet, but we had people willing to stop tanks with their bare hands. They were not ready to close the sky for us, but we had people willing to cover their native land with themselves.
The Ukrainian people and their courage inspired the whole world. They gave humanity a new hope that justice has not completely left our cynical world. And it is still not force that wins in it, but truth. Not money, but values. Not oil, but people.
Yesterday the world was not united. COVID-19 clearly showed: it’s every man for himself. Ukraine has changed this in six months. All world history textbooks will have a section “Times when Ukraine united the world”. When democracy grew teeth again. When tyranny receives an answer in the language it understands.
Someone said: Europe is no longer a player. Weak, disunited, passive, sleepy. Ukraine invigorated the whole continent. Europe takes to the squares. Europe introduces tough sanctions. Europe unanimously recognizes that Ukraine is a future member of the European Union.
Big business realized that money still smells. With blood, cinder, death. Corporations and brands are leaving the Russian market, and people have become more important than potential losses.
Never before in the world has public opinion had such an influence on politicians. Today, people dictate trends and rules of behavior to the authorities. Being indifferent, inactive and slow is a shame. Being indecisive and too cautious is a shame. Speaking sluggishly, vaguely and too diplomatically is a shame. Not supporting Ukraine is a shame. And saying about fatigue from Ukraine is a shame. This is a very comfortable position: fatigue is a cover to close your eyes. And today we hear from world leaders and ordinary citizens: we will be with you until the end, until your victory.
Dear people!
We always paid tribute to all the fighters for independence, called this day the main holiday, and the blue-yellow flag – a shrine, put our hands to our hearts while singing the national anthem, and proudly said “Glory to Ukraine!” and “Glory to Heroes!”. On February 24, we had to prove our words with deeds.
On this day, the second all-Ukrainian referendum actually took place. Again – the main question. Again – a decisive choice. But this time it was necessary to say “yes” to independence not in the ballot, but in the soul and conscience. Go not to the precinct, but to the military commissariat departments, the territorial defense units, the volunteer movement, the information troops or simply work steadily and conscientiously in your place, at full strength, for a common goal.
We all changed. Someone was born again. As a person, individual, citizen, patriot, simply as a Ukrainian. And this, of course, is good news. Someone disappeared. Did not perish, did not die, but dissolved. As a person, individual, citizen, as a Ukrainian. And this is actually not bad news either. We will not hinder each other anymore.
We made a choice. For some, it is Mariupol. For some – Monaco. But we know who the majority is. And we finally became truly one. A new nation that emerged on February 24 at 4 am. Not born, but reborn. A nation that didn’t cry, didn’t scream, didn’t get scared. Didn’t run away. Didn’t give up. Didn’t forget.
This flag will be everywhere it should be by right. Both in Donbas and in Crimea. The enemy thought we would greet him with flowers and champagne. Instead, he received wreaths and Molotov cocktails. He was waiting for an ovation, but hears “claps”.
The occupier believed that in a few days he would be on parade in our capital’s downtown. Today, you can see this “parade” on Khreshchatyk. The proof that enemy equipment can appear in the center of Kyiv only in such form. Burnt, wrecked and destroyed.
It doesn’t matter to us what kind of army you have, what matters to us is our land. We will fight for it until the end.
We are holding on for six months. It is difficult for us, but we clenched our fists fighting for our fate. Every new day is a new reason not to give up. Because, having gone through so much, we have no right not to reach the end. What is the end of the war for us? We used to say: peace. Now we say: victory.
We will not seek an understanding with the terrorists. Although we understand the Russian language that you came to defend. And killed thousands of people you came to liberate.
And Johnson, who speaks English, is much more understandable and close to us than murderers, rapists and looters who did it in Russian.
And we don’t sit down at the negotiating table because of fear, with a gun pointed at our head. For us, the most terrible iron is not missiles, aircraft and tanks, but shackles. Not trenches, but fetters.
And we will put our hands up only once – when we will celebrate our victory. The whole of Ukraine. Because we do not trade our lands and our people. For us, Ukraine is all of Ukraine. All 25 regions, without any concessions or compromises. We do not know these words, they were destroyed by missiles on February 24.
Donbas is Ukraine. And we will return it, whatever the path may be. Crimea is Ukraine. And we will return it. Whatever the path may be. You don’t want your soldiers to die? Free our lands. You don’t want your mothers to cry? Free our lands. These are our simple and clear terms.
The free people of independent Ukraine!
We are facing this day in different places. Someone is in trenches and dugouts, in tanks and IFVs, at sea and in the air. Fighting for independence on the frontline. Someone is on the road, in cars, trucks and trains. Fighting for independence by delivering what is necessary to those on the frontline. And someone is on a smartphone or on a computer. Also fighting for independence by raising funds so that those on the road have something to bring to those on the frontline.
We are facing this day in different circumstances, conditions and even in different time zones, but with one goal – preservation of independence and victory of Ukraine!
We united.
Happy Independence Day of Ukraine!
Glory to Ukraine!
Here is President Biden’s statement:
Statement from PresidentBiden on Ukraine IndependenceDay
On behalf of all Americans, I congratulate the people of Ukraine on their Independence Day. Over the past six months, Ukrainians have inspired the world with their extraordinary courage and dedication to freedom. They have stood resolute and strong in the face of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. And today is not only a celebration of the past, but a resounding affirmation that Ukraine proudly remains – and will remain – a sovereign and independent nation.
The United States of America is committed to supporting the people of Ukraine as they continue the fight to defend their sovereignty. As part of that commitment, I am proud to announce our biggest tranche of security assistance to date: approximately $2.98 billion of weapons and equipment to be provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. This will allow Ukraine to acquire air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and radars to ensure it can continue to defend itself over the long term.
I know this independence day is bittersweet for many Ukrainians as thousands have been killed or wounded, millions have been displaced from their homes, and so many others have fallen victim to Russian atrocities and attacks. But six months of relentless attacks have only strengthened Ukrainians’ pride in themselves, in their country, and in their thirty-one years of independence. Today and every day, we stand with the Ukrainian people to proclaim that the darkness that drives autocracy is no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere. The United States, including proud Ukrainian-Americans, looks forward to continuing to celebrate Ukraine as a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous state for decades to come.
Here are the details regarding the new military aid package the Biden administration announced today:
‼️ Details of the new $3 billion US military aid pkg to #Ukraine:
▪️ +6 NASAMS and ammo
▪️ 245,000 rounds for 155mm howitzers
▪️ 65,000 rounds for 120mm mortars
▪️ 24 counter-artillery radars
▪️ PUMA drones
▪️ VAMPIRE counter-UAS
▪️ Laser-guided rocket systems
▪️ Other funding. pic.twitter.com/PnQ40egcPA— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) August 24, 2022
And, as expected, the Russians did not take the day off to celebrate:
Earlier appearance of these photos on the Dnepr Operativ Telegram channel: https://t.co/vJ05D24Jf4
— Aric Toler (@AricToler) August 24, 2022
We knew that Russia will commit brutal and devastating attack on Independence Day of Ukraine. At least 15 killed, 50 injured after missile strike on railway station in Chaplyne, Dnipro. Another strike on railway hub in Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi. Air raid alerts continue in Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/meq1oTUGTx
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) August 24, 2022
As I teased above, The Washington Post has published the third part in their long form reporting on the war for Ukraine. Today’s dealt with the responses and decisions made by the Ukrainian civilian and military leadership. It is worth taking the time to read the whole thing!
Vitaly Rudenko, a commander at the national guard base just outside the airport gates, looked up in disbelief. “Until the final moment, I didn’t believe it. Maybe I didn’t want to believe it,” he said.
In Kyiv, Ukraine’s military leadership had descended into a fortified shelter. Defense communications aides hurried down the hallway in pursuit of Lt. Gen. Yevhen Moisiuk, the No. 2 officer in Ukraine’s armed forces, to ask him what message they should deliver to Ukrainians as Russian forces entered their towns.
Moisiuk stopped walking and spun around.
“Tell everyone: ‘Kill the occupiers,’ ” Moisiuk said. “Kill the occupiers!”
Bookish and pensive, Gen. Col. Oleksandr Syrsky is the kind of seasoned military officer who plans for all contingencies — even the scenarios he deems highly unlikely.
The notion that Kyiv — where urban warfare would vex even the most sophisticated military — could be Putin’s primary initial target defied belief for most of the Ukrainian elite, even within the armed forces.
“To think the leadership of Russia would unleash such brazen, large-scale aggression, honestly speaking, I could not even imagine it,” recalled Syrsky, who had fought Russia and its separatist proxies in eastern Ukraine and was tapped to lead Kyiv’s defense just before the invasion. “It seemed to me that if active hostilities were to start, they would most likely start in the east, around or within the borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“But we’re the military,” said Syrsky, one of several top Ukrainian military and political officials who spoke at length about the battle for Kyiv, some of them, like Syrsky, in their first extensive interviews. “Therefore, regardless of what I believed or didn’t believe, how it all seemed, I still carried out the activities required.”
Given the array of Putin’s forces along Ukraine’s borders, Syrsky had determined that if the Russians did attack Kyiv, their columns would advance along two or three major highways on what they foresaw as a fast, decapitating drive to the government quarter in Kyiv. The Kremlin battle plan assumed the city would be left defended by only weak Ukrainian forces, disoriented by the political chaos as Zelensky and his ministers fled.
To protect the city, Syrsky had organized two rings of forces, one in the outer suburbs and one within the capital. He wanted the outer ring to be as far from the inner ring as possible to protect the downtown area from shelling and keep the Russians fighting on the approaches to Kyiv.
Syrsky divided the city and the surrounding region into sectors and assigned generals from the military education centers to lead each area, creating a clear chain of command to which all Ukrainian military units and security services would answer. Tactical decisions would be made immediately by officers on the ground without having to consult headquarters.
About a week before the invasion, the Ukrainian military had moved all command posts into the field toward the probable axes of a Russian advance. Syrsky had also issued an order to move the army’s aviation assets, including helicopters and jets, off major bases, putting them well away from obvious airstrike targets.
When it came to tank power, however, only one mechanized brigade, the 72nd, was available to defend the capital — clearly insufficient for such a large city. As a fix, Syrsky said, he ordered all the military education centers to create special makeshift battalions and had the artillery systems normally used for training brought to the capital area.
Some of those systems came from the Divychki training center southeast of Kyiv, where Ukraine years earlier had brought back into service heavy Soviet-era tanks known as 2S7 Pions, or Peonies. Juggernauts of artillery warfare, each weighing 46 tons and carrying 203mm howitzers, they can fire shells of over 240 pounds more than 20 miles.
Syrsky ordered his artillerymen to take up defensive positions outside the city, to the northeast and northwest, the areas likely to face a Russian onslaught.
That single move turned out to be critical, according to Kyiv’s mayor, former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, because Russia targeted the bases where those systems were normally housed in the very first hours of the war.
“The leadership of the country said there wouldn’t be a war, but the military knew,” Klitschko said.
The Ukrainians largely kept their preparations to themselves. A senior U.S. defense official said Washington knew more about Russia’s plan to invade than about Ukraine’s plan for defense, fueling doubts about how Kyiv would fare. U.S. officials suspected that the Ukrainian military was wary of sharing war plans while its political leadership was downplaying the likelihood of war, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said he was one of the leaders who didn’t believe an all-out assault was coming.
European officials had been assuring him they didn’t see the same threat the United States and Britain did. According to Ukraine’s own intelligence assessments, Russia also didn’t have enough forces amassed over the border to capture or occupy a city the size of Kyiv.
On Feb. 22, Reznikov had spoken over the phone with his counterpart in Belarus, Viktor Khrenin, who promised that Russian forces on Belarusian territory would not invade — offering his word as an officer, the Ukrainian defense minister said.
“And he was a liar,” Reznikov said.
Two days later, after the invasion had begun, the two men spoke again. Reznikov heard a nervous and uncomfortable voice on the other end of the line. The Belarusian minister said he was conveying a message from his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, Reznikov recalled: If Ukraine would sign an act of capitulation, the invasion would stop.
Reznikov said he replied, “I am ready to accept the capitulation from the Russian side.”
Several hours into the invasion, deep beneath Kyiv’s government quarter, Zelensky was breathing the stale air of a bunker that had been built in the Soviet era and hardly touched since.
The head of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, had laid out the situation for the president. “The simple issue is that all of our partners are telling us it will be very hard for us, that we have almost zero chances to succeed,” Danilov told him.
“We will not receive much support in the first days, because they will look at how we are able to defend the country,” he continued. “Maybe they don’t want a large amount of weapons to get in the hands of the Russians.”
Danilov also issued Zelensky a personal warning. There was credible information that the Russians had set in motion a plan to kill or capture him. At a minimum, Zelensky must ensure that anyone around him with a weapon was a known, loyal person. Whether he should evacuate, Danilov added, was up to him.
To make that decision, “you have to look deep inside,” Danilov told the president, without making a recommendation one way or the other. “The stakes are too high.”
Others were urging Zelensky to leave. His presidential guard advised him to relocate to a secure location outside the capital and possibly later to western Ukraine, according to Oleksiy Arestovych, a military adviser to the Ukrainian leader.
“Your office is a target,” the presidential guard warned, according to Arestovych, who added his own recommendation that Zelensky should leave Kyiv. “There are going to be rockets hitting it and saboteurs will attack.”
Even the bunker wasn’t safe. “There was talk of them barricading the exits and releasing gas,” said Arestovych.
Dark warnings had been emanating from Moscow for years, but this possibility seemed especially twisted. Russian units were approaching Kyiv to “liberate” Ukraine from alleged “Nazis” by threatening the life of its first Jewish president — possibly, his advisers feared, with deadly gas.
The Kremlin had reason to expect Zelensky might leave. Eight years earlier, Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president backed by Moscow, had escaped to Russia after a pro-Europe uprising in Kyiv. The U.S.-supported president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, had fled the country in 2021 as the Taliban surrounded Kabul. Russian leaders saw Zelensky, a 44-year-old former comedic actor, as a lightweight who would crumble in the face of tanks.
As the day went on, Arestovych became convinced the Ukrainian military would not be able to defend the capital and told the president as much. “People who understood military things went up to him and said, ‘We’re not going to hold,’ ” Arestovych said.
Zelensky eventually erupted. He was staying.
“This is the last time I am going to hear this,” Arestovych recalled him saying. “I don’t want to hear it again.”
Zelensky told Danilov to stop annoying him with constant warnings about threats to his life, asking the National Security and Defense Council chief whether he had anything else to say — anything more important.
“Listen, I am a living person. I don’t want to die, like any other person,” Zelensky said. “But I definitely know that if I think about that, then I’m already dead.”
In the first hours and days, he lived with a constant sense of acute tension, his palms sweating like they would when he was a kid taking exams, he said. Reznikov, the defense minister, would eventually need to see a therapist, he said, because he was so emotionally and physically exhausted.
Zelensky also received appeals about the need to maintain continuity of government from U.S. and European officials, in some cases with offers to help him leave the capital. By ensuring his own security, the officials reasoned, he could prevent a power vacuum.
He saw the situation in exactly opposite terms — if he fled, he would be ceding Ukraine’s power center to the Russians without a fight, and it would result in the immediate collapse of the government. How would members of the Ukrainian military feel on the front lines if the president was gone? Zelensky said this wasn’t about him clinging to the presidency.
“I’m not trying to hold on to power,” Zelensky said he explained to the Western officials. “If the question is that I leave, and that will stop the bloodshed, then I am all for it. I will go right now. I didn’t get into politics for that — and I will go whenever you say, if it will stop the war.”
Zelensky suspected that some of his foreign interlocutors simply wanted the conflict to end as quickly as possible, with his administration effectively surrendering to Russia.
“Of all those who called me, there was no one who believed we would survive. Not because they didn’t believe in Ukraine, but because of this demonization of the leader of the Russian Federation — his power, his philosophy, the way he advertised the might of the Russian army. And so [they thought], with all due respect to the Ukrainians: They won’t bring it, they’ll be finished off in two or three days, maybe five, and then it will all end.”
From the first hours, his chief focus became marshaling the support Ukraine would need to survive — from Ukrainians, who needed to resist, but also from foreign leaders, who needed to send Kyiv weapons and raise the costs for Russia.
In one video call with European leaders, he said, “This may be the last time you see me alive.” Ukrainian mothers are watching their children die in pursuit of European values, he told them. It left some of the European officials in tears.
Zelensky’s outreach proved to be equal parts inspiration and shaming. As much as he spoke to a given country’s leaders, he also appealed to its people, sometimes by serving up blunt truths to their governments in public. He urged German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to “tear down this wall” — a reference to President Ronald Reagan’s call to remove the Berlin Wall — arguing that Russia once again was trying to divide Europe. He told German politicians they must do what they could, “so that you will not be ashamed of yourselves after this war.”
Yermak, the head of the presidential administration, said that over the subsequent weeks, he regularly texted photos of slain Ukrainian children and ruined Ukrainian homes to the cellphones of officials around the world, including Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser; Karen Donfried, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs; and members of Congress.
“I confess these were ghastly photos that were keeping me up at night,” Yermak said. “Ninety percent of the people who received them, they reacted, they called back and they started doing even more.”
Much, much, much more at the link!
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— Patron (@PatronDsns) August 24, 2022
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— Patron (@PatronDsns) August 24, 2022
And a new video from Patron’s official TikTok:
@patron__dsns З Днем Незалежності, рідна Україно!🇺🇦 #славаукраїні #деньнезалежності #песпатрон
The caption translates as:
Happy Independence Day, native Ukraine! 🇺🇦 #Glory to Ukraine #Happy Independence Day to Ukraine #dogPatron
Open thread!
Anne Laurie
All respect for your labors, Adam. I *know* how hard it is to sit down and bricolage posts like this, especially on subjects so disheartening.
Thank you for your service!
Another Scott
Thank you Adam. An important anniversary in a year that will not soon be forgotten.
For those who may have missed it:
Shockingly well done, and very touching and inspiring.
(via Oryx)
Cheers,
Scott.
Albatrossity
Zelenskyy’s speech, even in translation, rings like a bell. Thank you!
CarolPW
@Anne Laurie:
You are both pearls beyond price. Thank you both.
Mike in NC
Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!
Stacib
Meaning absolutely no disrespect – Zelensky’s speech reminds me of a line in a James Brown song during the Civil Rights marches – “we would rather die on our feet than live on our knees”.
Adam, I would like to add my thanks and appreciation for all you do. I read the translation of the speech every day even when I can’t read the rest. Zelensky is the most impressive person I’ve witnessed in my lifetime.
Chetan Murthy
I put WaPo on my list of rags I don’t read (and canceled my subscription) after one too many “opinion pieces fluffing the GrOPers, masquerading as news on the news page.” But the article (from which Adam excerpted only a small portion) was well-worth reading.
It makes me feel a little shame that the Ukrainian people are defending all of us, and all we can do is send them money. And sure, weapons. I’m really glad our country is yet again The Arsenal of Democracy.
Bill Arnold
@Chetan Murthy:
Yes, good piece, and well-structured; it flits very effectively among various points of view.
Gin & Tonic
So, in honor of Independence Day (although it’s already August 25 in Ukraine) and to answer some questions that have arisen from time to time, a few words (in the Tony Jay sense of “few”) on the Slava Ukraini/Glory to Ukraine slogan.
To begin I’ll note, as I have before, I’m just some pseudonymous rando on the Internet – not a linguist, etymologist or ethnographer. These are my opinions, and those commenters who also have varying degrees of Ukrainian background may have differing opinions.
As to history, I have seen it argued that the slogan dates to the 19th Century, specifically Taras Shevchenko (the poet and bard Shevchenko, 1814-1861, is the pre-eminent poet and arguably the pre-eminent literary figure of Ukraine; born a serf, he grew into a proto-nationalist.) I find this unpersuasive, but for the reasons we need to digress into grammar. Slavic languages have noun and adjective cases – Ukrainian, in particular, has seven. They determine the specific usage of the noun or adjective (i.e. direct object, indirect object, etc.) What you find in Shevchenko’s written corpus is “Slava Ukrainy,” with the ending syllable pronounced like “knit.” This is the genitive case, literally “the glory of Ukraine.” The modern greeting/exhortation is “Slava Ukraini” with the ending syllable pronounced closer to “knee” – although the “n” is palatalized (formed with the tongue further back on the palate than an English “n”.) This is the dative case, where Ukraine is the indirect object and you are saying “Glory to Ukraine.” I do not find this in Shevchenko.
So in my view, the slogan dates to the early 20th Century and is directly attributable to the western-Ukrainian nationalist movement known as the OUN (which begat the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, referred to by its Ukrainian initials as UPA.) I’ve written a bit about the history of this movement and won’t repeat it here. But somewhere in this usage was added the rejoinder “Heroyam Slava!” or “Glory to Her Heroes.” This call-and-response is something that has a precedent, so let’s digress into religion. Upon greeting a priest, either Catholic or Orthodox, in a situation where you might otherwise say “hello” or shake hands, it is customary and expected that the civilian will say “Slava Isusu Khrystu!” or “Glory to Jesus Christ!,” and the priest will respond “Slava na Viky!” or “Glory for Eternity!” This is not really a profession of faith, it’s just a polite and universally accepted way of greeting the priest (if he happens to speak first, you just reverse the roles.) But to my mind it’s a pattern that has become acculturated over a very long period – glory to something, glory to something in response.
But the call-and-response of Slava Ukraini/Heroyam Slava is something that was certainly spread and perhaps authored among the emigre community, because the heroes in question are those who fought and died in the UPA, or those who were assassinated by the NKVD (Shukhevych/Bandera.) Since voicing that slogan in Soviet-era Ukraine would get you, at best, into a psych ward, it wasn’t something you heard much there. Where you’d hear it was where the emigres were, in places like un-signed dark paneled basement bars in Astoria or Parma or Hamtramck, or at the end of a turgid talk at a “conference” attended by literally dozens of has-beens darkly plotting. Being identified with the OUN’s Bandera faction, to the russians the slogan was pure Nazism.
And then came the breakup of the Soviet Union and the independence of Ukraine. Within a couple of years there was a lot of activity in older downtowns, with bars and clubs of various sorts. “Glory to Ukraine” started being heard un-ironically. In the early 2000’s, I think, a club opened in L’viv with an UPA theme, and the gimmick was that going down the stairs the bouncer would say “Glory to Ukraine” to which you’d have to respond “Glory to Her Heroes.” Since L’viv was the seat of OUN activities, this both made sense and further proved the nazism of the Ukrainians. (The club also turned into a tourist trap.)
The 2013-2014 Maidan revolution was when the slogan became ubiquitous. Ukrainians were whipsawed between the euphoria of ousting a gangster President, and the agony of having your gangster next-door neighbor bite off a chunk of flesh. “Slava Ukraini” was then looking toward the future. In a generation it’s gone from a subversive, revanchist slogan to a phrase ending the President’s daily address. The fact that russians have despised it for decades makes it so much sweeter.
Corrections welcome.
John Revolta
@Gin & Tonic: Thanks for this. Seeing the phrase at the end of Zelenskyy’s speech every day made me feel strangely uncomfortable even as I agreed with the sentiment. It’s good to know more about the background of things.
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
Zelenskyy’s address was almost overwhelmingly moving and poignant, although I have come to expect nothing less of him. And learning more about his response in the beginning of the invasion, his calculus for resisting pleas to evacuate, his view of his role in this situation…I know this is maybe trite at this point, but I’ve rarely seen a leader show this level of strength of character and integrity and heroism. And it’s all the more amazing since prior to the re-invasion, his standing in the country was not at its best, shall we say. I’m sure some, maybe a lot, of Ukrainians expected him to take off like Yanukovych. And yet he didn’t just stay, but proved to be the exact person they needed in his role.
I would also recommend folks watch his address to the UN Security Council (that link is to the version on his FB page with English subtitles).
Thank you for putting this post together Adam, and for the work you’ve done throughout the whole war. I appreciate it very much.
Villago Delenda Est
Adam, thanks for these updates. And to Putin and his minions: no quarter.
Dan B
@Gin & Tonic: Fascinating background on the cultural history of Slava ukraini (sp?). The Maidan Revolution had roots in one of the most important scholars of non-violence, Professor Gene Sharp. His analysis demonstrated that movements that originated from the bottom up or from the middle, and from early stages involved the ordinary people who make societies function, remained successful. So Glory to Ukraine morphed into a celebratory salute to everyone. It seems Zelensky had the instinct for this dynamic that he harnessed despite being from an elite background: parents who were professors, and elite education: Zelensky’s degree in Law.
Ken
I will relax slightly; I was fully expecting Russia to do something even more atrocious than usual.
Andrya
@Gin & Tonic: First, thanks so much for answering so many of my questions over the past months. And of course, thanks to Adam for doing this.
Just this once, I am tempted to add a bit of even older context to your post. In the Iliad, “eternal glory” was “kleos” (Achilles chose “kleos” over length of life). In Slavic languages, initial “k” becomes “s”, so it’s “slava” in Old Church Slavonic. (Related forms are Sanskrit “sravas” and Old English “hloud”.)
Why do I mention this? I find it kind of moving that “Slava Ukraini” goes back to the earliest roots of western civilization.
Torrey
@Gin & Tonic: Thank you for this. Very helpful information particularly for understanding the call-and-response structure.
Carlo Graziani
So this is interesting news. Counterbattery suppression is a capability that’s been desperately needed since the very beginning. I’d really like to know more about these things, as information bacomes available — what are they, when and at what rate will they be delivered, what kind of fires are they useful for suppressing, how much front can each unit cover, how many friendly fires can they direct simultaneously, etc. I assume someone here <cough>Omnes<cough> can unload a little seminar that can help us understand how much trouble these things are going to make for the Russians.
Jay
@Carlo Graziani:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-battery_radar
Omnes Omnibus
@Carlo Graziani: Radar is something I never dealt with. It would have just come to someone like me as targeting data.
Carlo Graziani
@Jay: that’s useful, but I was hoping for some specifics on the systems to be shipped, and on what sort of fires they can coordinate and suppress,
Jay
@Carlo Graziani:
https://gagadget.com/en/139667-armed-forces-of-ukraine-use-american-antpq-36-counter-battery-radars-at-the-front-video-amp/
Probably more of the same systems as the UA already knows how to use them and integrate them.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/TPQ-36_Firefinder_radar
Jay
@Carlo Graziani:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/TPQ-36_Firefinder_radar
Jesse
This is probably an old topic and may well have been discussed here before, but I wonder what kind of accountability we need from the various European states who insisted, prior to the invasion, that it’s no biggie. Accountability for hemming and hawing about helping Ukraine, at least in the very earliest days of the war, up to and including (as in Germany’s case) an outright refusal to help (I’m thinking the first week or so of the war). Recently there were reports in German media about the ongoing delays, if not a real clawing back, of Germany’s about-face in helping arm Ukraine. Accountability for Italy’s continuing (if not actually *growing*) exports to Russia via Turkey.
I get the impression that the US is basically taking over all the main roles here, allowing other states to slip into the shadows and offer virtually nothing. I’m talking about the European states who, for decades, insisted that they had a “subtle” and “European” (read: non-American) relationship with Russia. When actually they were simply deeply dependent on Russia. This is the logic of a slave who insists that slavery is just fine, if not actually something to be expanded. (“Hey, let’s just keep doing business with them. It’ll work out in the end.”)
Jesse
Adam, my understanding is that some (most?) of the supplies the US has been giving Ukraine come out of existing US stocks. I also understand that some of the aid is about equipment not in current stocks, and needs to be built & shipped overseas. In the latest defense budget, is there any provision, then, for renewing those depleted stocks? (In other words, is it a good time to be be a gun & ammunition manufacturer, because you can look forward to some giant orders?)
oldster
@Andrya:
Beautiful stuff, Andrya!
I wonder whether the religious response that G&T reports, “Slava na Viky,” is etymologically related to the fuller I-E epic phrase for “undying glory,” sc. either kleos aphthiton in Greek or sravas aksitam in Sanskrit?
The bible is obviously the more proximate source, but it would be fun if the second element (na) were a privative and the third (Viky) a word for ending or death.
lowtechcyclist
@Ken:
Oh, they managed:
oldster
@Jesse:
Total agreement on Germany’s shameful failure to rise to the occasion.
It’s like they got together and said, “last few times, we ruined our nations reputation by excessive belligerence. Maybe this time we could cover our name in shame through mistimed pacifism!”
Or, as you suggest, enough of the power elite has been thoroughly suborned by Russia that they are blocking any effective action by those Germans who still have a conscience.
It is shocking to me, as a fan of Germany. And it puts their last few decades of prosperity in a harsh light: fueling your economy with Russian gas means getting rich on the death of Ukrainians.
Chief Oshkosh
@oldster:
It seems that the German politicians have moved from being embarrassed about their impotency to where they now just shrug. Yeah, we run the country on Russian gas and our top 1% will really feel the pinch in the pocketbook if we cross Vlad, so…¯\_(ツ)_/
ETA: Of course, they’ve also seen how impotent Vlad’s military is, so they know that they don’t really have to fear that tanks will roll across their borders. Thus, they have even less impetus to pitch in to help Ukraine.
Ken
@lowtechcyclist: Unfortunately that’s only a typical level of atrocity. I was worrying about use of chemical or biological weapons; or perhaps a breach at that nuclear plant they control. All to be blamed on Ukraine, of course.
Torrey
@Andrya: Thank you for pointing this out. I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of it, since I’m teaching the Iliad next semester. That’s a connection I think the students will find valuable. The idea of “kleos” as a matter of being remembered is also reflected in Zelenskyy’s customary final phrases right before the end of each of his video addresses: “eternal glory” of course to those fighting for Ukraine, but also “eternal memory” for those who have died, including those murdered by the russians, not limited to those who give their lives in the line of duty.
Gin & Tonic
I got tired of typing, but should note that in the modern context, “Heroyam Slava!” is not a necessary response – others have developed. “Smert’ voroham!” (Death to the enemy) is perfectly acceptable.
Gin & Tonic
@Andrya: That’s interesting, thanks. Long, long time ago I was able to read Old Church Slavonic – that was the language of Mass, similarly to Latin for Roman Catholicism.
way2blue
Thank you Adam for these posts—I wish they were no longer needed. And thank you, Gin & Tonic, for your vivid insights into how the Ukrainian people are faring. A thanks also to all the commenters with military expertise who mull over strategies & equipment. As someone with little exposure to military machinations your debates are engrossing…