From Maia Mikhaluk in Kyiv (361st day of ruzzian invasion): It’s 361 days since ruzzians attacked with their full force, but this was started 9 years ago. It actually started not even with the annexation of Crimea in March of 2014 but earlier in Oct 2013 when our pro-ruzzian, corrupt president Yanukovich returned from a visit to Moscow and announced that Ukraine would not be signing Association with EU, but rather would be returning into the orbit of ruzzia.
Ukrainians didn’t agree with that and started a peaceful protest that lasted till the end of Feb. In desperation or at the order of putin Yanukovich threw armed police at unarmed protesters. The whole Kyiv and people from many other cities (hundreds of thousands of people) continued protesting on Independence Square (Maidan). If you want to learn more about that you can watch Winter on Fire on Netflix.
9 years ago it was a very dark time on Maidan. It seemed hopeless. But then after Yanukovich gave the order to snipers to kill unarmed protesters, he ended up running out the country, fleeing to ruzzia. We hardly had time to celebrate. When putin lost his puppet Yanukovich and control over Ukraine he started the hybrid war, annexing Crimea and attacking Donetsk and Lughansk regions.
The countries that had guaranteed our sovereignty when we had given up nuclear arsenal in 1994 in Budapest Memorandum expressed concerns but didn’t help us to liberate our territory then. The hybrid war in the east of Ukraine continued. Over the past 9 years putin was preparing for the massive invasion that he started in Feb 2022.
We hear again and again that everybody was expecting Kyiv to fall fast. Only after a few months, when it became obvious Ukraine would not be conquered, we started getting help from western countries. And maybe this help is coming to a big extent because western leaders realized that putin would not stop with Ukraine. Taking over Ukraine would only encourage him for a bigger war.
Today Ukraine remembers the sacrifice of 100+ protesters who were shot by snipers 9 years ago. We call them Heavenly Hundred. They were among the first casualties of this war that is going on right now between ruzzia and Ukraine.
PS. I am sharing photo album that came up in my Facebook memories from events of 9 years ago.
Voice of Ukraine 
2 responses to “2/21/2023 – This war was started 9 years ago”
When she was just a girl she expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
And the bullets catch in her teeth
Life goes on, it gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear a waterfall
In the night, the stormy night, she’ll close her eyes
In the night, the stormy night, away she’d fly:
Dream of para-para-paradise
Paradise
Every time she closed her eyes…
And lying underneath the stormy sky
She’d say “Oh, I know the sun must set to rise.”
[“Paradise” by the band Coldplay]
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I now remember the sniping. What kind of people does such a thing? I think prayers might only give some solice to the praying. No real help. I’m laying here wondering what can be done. I’ve seen no real protesting going on. It’s time to do MUCH MORE PROTESTING!!! NOW!!! We have slmost the same colors in our Swedish flags as the Ukraine one. Maybe put them together as a symbol of support from us Swedes? A cross that is wellow on the blue side and vice versa? But that’s NOT a real PROTEST! Maybe ask Greta Thunberg what to do? I think I’ll try that first while pondering other possible actions…
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