Attack on Lviv
Listen to the sound of approaching Iranian suicide drones
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ATTACK ON LVIV—War Day 482: "Heaven in the fire thunder": Listen to Ukrainian air defense engage with Russia’s menacing incoming Iranian Shaheed Drones
This morning around 4:45am, Russia sent three Iranian-made drones into the city of Lviv. Here's the terrifying sound of what happened, juxtaposed with a voice recording of a now-fallen warrior-poet-philosopher, Oleq Kliufas, reading his translation of “Magnolias in Lemon Smell”
MAGNOLIAS IN LEMON SMELL
(Volodymyr Sosiura, 1923)
“Magnolias in lemon smell
A rosebay dreams in holy wonder
Though heaven in the fire thunder
And starlike notions bloom as well”
—translation by Oleq Kliufas (June 9, 1980 - June 13, 2023, killed near Bakhmut)
from Tuesday 20 June: my Ukraine report on Chicago's @wgnradiovideo with Bob Sirott—delivered every weekday since Russia's full-scale invasion
As Ukraine is getting closer to victory, it's going to be more difficult
The meaning of de-escalation: surrender of the free to the smug elites
by Joe Lindsley, TVP World
LVIV, UKRAINE—I would like to share with you four images from Ukraine this past week: 1. In Kyiv, the president of South Africa lectures “both sides to find peace.” 2. In Lviv, on the cobbled streets, seven people sit in silence for an hour, contemplating the death of Olek, a poet-soldier, at the hands of the Russians. 3. Down in Kherson, the chief rabbi of Ukraine, crawls on the ground under shelling while he delivers aid to victims of Russia’s dam destruction. 4. Back in Lviv, a dozen American men and women in their 50s and 60s teach English every day for a month, despite the sound of air-raid sirens and the ever-present threat of missiles.
The person in the first image, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, does not understand what those in the other three scenes do.
"This war must be settled and there should be peace through negotiations," the South African president told reporters in Kyiv on June 16. He’d only been here a few hours and already thought he knew decisively what to do. Smugly, he spoke of Russia’s war on Ukraine as some sort of natural disaster, a tornado foisted upon Ukraine by some unknown, godly force. “We argue that there must be de-escalation on both sides,” he said.
“De-escalation.” What does de-escalation mean for Ukrainians? Does it mean that people like Olek should hide in their cellars or escape to Monte Carlo or London instead of facing the fight, while Russia destroys Ukraine’s Russian-speaking cities? Does it mean that those English teachers should stay put in North Carolina instead of traveling to a war zone to equip Ukrainians with a stronger power to shout to the world their message of freedom? Should the rabbi have likewise stayed in his synagogue in Kyiv while people drown from the Russian destruction? If a woman is being raped, would you say that both she and the rapist need to de-escalate?
Anyone who ever calls for Ukraine to de-escalate, regardless of what they say, believes neither in democracy nor in decency. As King George VI said in his famed elocution accurately portrayed in the film The King’s Speech, those calling for Ukraine to de-escalate only believe “[in] the mere primitive doctrine that ‘might is right.’”
Read the full story at Poland’s TVP World.
PREVIOUSLY: Nezlamni / Unbreakable: A War-time Podcast from Lviv—Episode 1: The Russian-Induced Floods
Here’s our new podcast, recorded from the cobbled street outside of Lviv café @facet_lviv , to show a bit of the reality of life in war. Co-hosted by Ukrainian artist Oles Derega @derega , this episode also features @safi.lenter from Crimea and Yaro from Lviv.
“The mission of everyone here is to nurture one’s spiritual growth … so you can be there for others.”
Regular Resources:
Air-Raid Alert Map
State of the War Map: shows Russian positions and what Ukrainians have taken back; updated daily
“[It's something rare in our world of corporate and automated radio regular, real humanity.”
—Neil Steinberg, in the Chicago Sun-Times, on Joe Lindsley’s daily Ukraine reports with Bob Sirott of Chicago’s WGN Radio. We invite you to follow on YouTube.
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ABOUT US: Reporting Every Single Weekday Since Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion
"Joseph Lindsley's reports are enlightening, frightening, heart-wrenchingly and poetically descriptive." —a regular listener to the daily report from Ukraine on Chicago's WGN Radio with Bob Sirott
“I just returned from three months in Ukraine. Not my first time there, and certainly not my last; a powerful experience for me personally, but I must say that JOE’s REPORTING, HIS INSIGHTS, and, OBVIOUSLY, HIS HEART, ARE SPOT-ON.” —Jim, a Telegram follower of Ukrainian Freedom News
American journalist Joe Lindsley, in Ukraine since 2020, leads the Ukrainian Freedom News team of Ukrainians and foreigners on a mission to share real talk and real life in war-time with the world. Every weekday since late February 2022, he has reported live from Ukraine on Chicago’s WGN Radio with host Bob Sirott. You can listen to all episodes at UkrainianFreedomNews.com or via our YouTube channel.
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UKRAINIAN FREEDOM NEWS
Truth to the World | Supplies to Ukraine
Joe Lindsley, Editor-in-chief
Vitalii Gulden, Creative Producer
Beata Szrom, Operations Director
Pavlo Vitenko, Chief Reporter
Jean-Baptiste Besson, Field Editor
Brennan Phillips, War Columnist