Sofiy in Ukraine
“I mean, he’s taking over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart,” - Donald Trump, Mar-a-Lago, Feb. 23, 2022
It’s 5 am and Sofiy is awake, startled by the sound of bombs dropping. Or, at least, she thinks that’s what they are. Never in her 35 years has she heard a bomb outside of American movies. Her husband, Petro takes her hand. A simple gesture, meant to reassure her that they are together.
“I would like to address the citizens of Russia directly, not as president but as a citizen of Ukraine, and I address the citizens of Russia as I would the citizens of Ukraine. We share a more than 2,000-kilometer border. Your soldiers are stationed all along it, almost 200,000 soldiers, and thousands of military vehicles. Your leaders have chosen for them to take a step forward into the territory of another country. And that single step could be the beginning of a great war on the European continent.” - President Zelensky, Feb. 24, 2022, about 2 am.
Now her children are awake: 8 and 6 years old, they will never forget this and whatever happens next. Oksana is crying. Her big brother, Olek, tries to console her. Sofiy’s heart breaks and her mind races. Should they pack and leave town? But go where, her husband whispers. He leaves her to comfort the children while he slips into another room to watch the news.
"There is no purgatory for war criminals," Ukraine's UK ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told Russia's Vassily Nebenzia. "They go straight to hell, ambassador." Feb. 24, 2022, shortly before the bombing started at an Emergency Meeting of the UN Security Council, chaired unfortunately by Nebenzia
Some people are leaving town, but the banks have run out of money. Sofiy still can’t believe this is happening. The bombs sound closer now. She thought they weren’t coming to Kyiv? Then the sirens begin and warnings from the government to get to a bomb shelter. Petro is googling where to go. How is this happening? Putin hates President Zelensky but how is that a reason to invade her country? She makes breakfast for Oksana and Olek, then grabs a suitcase.
Russian ambassador to the UN Nebenzia: "this is called a special military operation in Donbas." Feb. 24, 2022, just before the bombing started and Russian troops advanced in areas all over Ukraine. Not just Donbas.
Source: New York Times
News reports that the military airfields near Kyiv have been bombed. Putin promised he doesn’t want to occupy Ukraine, but what are his promises worth? Nothing, Petro tells Sofiy. For now, they will head to a shelter, but they agree they need to think about the unthinkable: leaving their hometown and perhaps, their homeland.
Putin declared: “I have declared a special military operation” for the “demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine.”
“This is the red line that I have spoken of many times,” he continued, apparently wearing the same red tie and speaking from the same office from which he gave an address on Monday. “They have crossed it.” - Feb. 24, 2022 5:45 am Moscow time (4:45 am Kyiv time)
They tell you that we’re Nazis. But how can a people that lost 8 million lives to defeat the Nazis support Nazism? How can I be a Nazi? Say it to my grandfather, who fought in World War II as a Soviet infantryman and died a colonel in an independent Ukraine. President Zelensky, Feb. 24, 2022, about 2 am. It’s worth noting that Zelensky is Jewish.
Sofiy and Petro pack a suitcase: warm clothes, extra socks, a blanket. Should they bring pillows? A sleeping bag? How long will they be there? Sofiy grabs a photo album. She tells her children to get coloring books and one toy each. Oksana cries that she wants to wear her Elsa costume - she lives in it when at home. Sofiy stuffs it in. Petro packs water bottles and some food in a backpack. They head off to the subway station which has been re-purposed into a temporary bomb shelter. Nobody is going to work today.
Mr. Putin ominously told the world that Russia “remains one of the most powerful nuclear states” with “a certain advantage in several cutting edge weapons.” He threatened anyone who dared interfere with consequences we’ve never faced in history. - Putin during his insane declaration of war, Nov. 24, 2022
It’s cold in the subway. Someone next to Sofiy explains that the Russians waited for the weather to ice over the fields to make it easier for their tanks to advance. Everywhere people are shocked. Some are crying, some are holding hands, all are asking “why” and “what next.” A CNN reporter approaches Sofiy, asks her in Ukranian how she is doing. “Perelyakanyy.” Terrified, she softly replies. We are trying to keep on a brave face for the children, but inside, we are not sure. Is Putin going to occupy Kyiv? All of Ukraine? How is that possible?
Sofiy spoke earlier with her parents who live in Lyiv, on the western side of the country. So far, it remains untouched by Russian bombs. People are going to work, hanging out in coffee shops, existing as if all is normal. Sofiy and Petro would like to find a way to get to her parents, but the roads are clogged (and probably not safe). Many people are talking about escaping to the west.
President Biden is expected to address the nation (and the world, really) at 12:30 pm ET. The US intelligence community is to be commended. They got this one right. Our options are limited, as they always seem to be when authoritarian leaders go on a bender. We had no good options in Syria and I suspect we have no good ones here. Biden and the majority of the rest of the world have been preparing for this day and have sanctions ready to go. Putin priced that pain into his calculation and decided it was worth it. The sanctions will hurt, but they will also hurt us, most likely by raising the price of gasoline. FOX News will shift back and forth between declaring this war Biden’s fault, saying he wasn’t tough enough, to saying he’s being too tough (when the gas prices rise). Shockingly, there are some prominent Republicans who want to justify Putin’s actions.
Meanwhile, my fictional friend, Sofiy is shivering in a subway station/bomb shelter, wondering if she will ever see her apartment again.