Tag Archives: Ukraine

Monday.

Berdyansk, Ukraine.

Meanwhile…

This afternoon.

Berdyansk, Ukraine.

That’ll learn them.

Central Train Station, Kyiv, Ukraine last month

This morning.

Further to Ukraine’s banning of military-aged men from leaving the country…

…via EuroNews:

Members of Ukraine’s transgender community are having trouble fleeing Russia’s bombardment of the country, activists have told Euronews.

They say some are being stopped at the border because the gender markers on their passports or identification documents do not match their actual genders.

Activists say both transgender men and women are facing the problem, but it is a particular problem for the latter.

“The situation is very hard because the LGBTQ+ community was feeling marginalised and discriminated against before the war began,” said Igor Medvid, a coordinator for HPLGBT.

“Many people say that when they attempted to cross the border, the border police and the border guards are making their decision based on the gender marker in the passport…and we consider this as another example of lawful transphobia.”

Meanwhile…

While LGBTQ+ activists in Ukraine have made strides over the past couple of years, there are still many barriers for trans people.

Before 2017, members of the trans community had to spend time supervised in a mental institution before they could begin transitioning.

But while that requirement has been scrapped, people still need an outpatient psychiatric examination to change their gender markers, which could lead to inpatient hospitalisation.

They also have to undergo “irreversible medical intervention”.

‘Lawful transphobia’ stopping Ukraine’s trans community from fleeing (EuroNews)

AP

Meanwhile…

Um.

 

President Michael D Higgins has suggested that Ukraine could become a neutral country

This morning.

Via The Times:

The government has distanced itself from the president’s remarks that Ukraine should become a neutral country in the interest of peace.

President Higgins said last week that a neutral Ukraine could discuss “what might be agreed in terms of defence rather than aggression” with other neutral EU member states…

…Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said: “It should be for Ukraine to decide whether it’s neutral or whether it joins Nato, and whether it wants to join the European Union or not.”

…A spokesman for the taoiseach said it was not for the Irish government to say whether Ukraine should be neutral or not. “We are here to support them on a humanitarian aspect and to support their territorial sovereignty. It’s not for me to make a comment [on neutrality],” he said.

Leaders distance themselves from Higgins remarks on Ukraine neutrality (Brian Mahon, The Times)

RollingNews

This afternoon.

Meanwhile…

Anyone?

This morning.

Further to the exclusion by the Dublin International Piano Competition of nine Russian pianists because of the war in Ukraine…

…via Irish Times Letters:

The Dublin Piano Competition has cancelled its Russian competitors (“Dublin piano competition’s move to ban Russian competitors faces criticism”). Do these people know the histories and opinions of the pianists concerned?

Our culture is obsessed with individual choice and a refusal to apply stereotypes. Until, it seems, we decide to tar entire nations with one brush. How ridiculous we are going to look in a few years.

Kevin O’Connell, Carlow.

Irish Times Letters

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

This afternoon

Further to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s weekend move to ban 11 left wing opposition parties…

…Via The Spectator:

The news that Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has banned eleven opposition parties – including the pro-Russian ‘Opposition – Platform For Life’ which holds 44 seats in the 450-member Ukrainian parliament and has spoken out against the Russian invasion – may be the embattled leader’s first major mistake in the month since Putin launched his brutal invasion.

…For Ukraine’s strongest card – the unique selling point that has drawn such sympathy and support from almost the entire democratic world – has been the fact that, in stark contrast to Putin’s repressive Russian state, it is – or was – a free country.

That means that it holds real elections, has a diverse media, and allows politicians critical of the government to get their views heard. All things that we take for granted but which have already disappeared or are fast vanishing in Putin’s prison state.

That difference drew a dramatic line between the society that the majority of Ukrainians wished to live in, and the big bad neighbour from hell next door. Tragically, Zelensky’s two moves fatally blur that line.

…The danger for Ukraine following these martial law moves is that, however well grounded the decisions are for reasons of its own security, they risk making the country resemble the Russian invader who cracks down on opposition and stifles critical voices. And the western nations that have so far been so solid in their support may start to ask themselves whether Ukraine is now treading a dangerous path.

…So is the suppression of opposition by Zelensky a sign of strength – a confident government acting ruthlessly to crackdown on the enemy within? Or is it a confession of weakness, an admission that beneath the veneer of unity and resistance there are many Ukrainians prepared to compromise or even collude and collaborate with the invader who is devastating their country? Either way, it is not a good look for a man who has been seen as the heroic symbol of freedom against tyranny.

Is Zelensky’s party crackdown his first mistake? (The Spectator)

Getty

“Right now, when we need you right now, remember Pearl Harbour. The terrible morning of December 7 1941 when your skies were black from the planes attacking. You remember it

“September 11 – a terrible day in 2001 when evil tried to turn your cities, independent territories in battleground, when innocent people were attacked from air.

“Yes, just like nobody else expected it. You could not stop it.

“I need to protect the sky.”

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky (top) speaking to the US Congress earlier.

Um.

Zelensky invokes 9/11 and Pearl Harbor in plea to US Congress for more military aid for Ukraine (Evening Standard)

Meanwhile…

Ah here.

Earlier: ‘Parts Of Possible Peace’