Russians Pound Kharkiv
In terrifying few minutes, at least 6 major missiles hit the city centre
Plus: American support for Ukraine is not what it seems. Here’s why we need to look more closely.
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by Joe Lindsley
KHARKIV, 30 miles from Russia—As I was preparing to send this newsletter around 11pm last night Ukraine time—thud—I heard that awful noise, awfully close. Russian missile landing in Kharkiv. As I grabbed the go-bag, I heard it once again. The windows shook. By the time I reached the cellar, there was a third and then a fourth explosion, all quite close. It seems in the space of a dozen minutes there were six strikes in the centre of Kharkiv.
My daily Ukraine report on Chicago’s WGN Radio: War Day 348: Russian Rockets Slam Kharkiv Before Alarm Sounds. On 8 February, War Day 350, I’ll share stories about tonight’s attacks.
At least this time the strikes were preceded by an air-alarm. On Sunday morning, as I recount in the WGN Radio daily Ukraine report above, there was no warning: that awful thud was the wake-up call for most of the city, followed by another.
One street became a diorama of pain and resilience, with ripped facades exposing people's homes.
Tonight, I smelled heavy smoke, but we must wait until daylight to see the scope of the damage. And, heh, even as I slept for a few hours, there was still another alarm.
Meanwhile, as President Joe Biden gives his State of the Union speech, I have growing concerns about whether Washington elites want Ukraine to win. For the past months, Washington and allies could have been fortifying Ukraine with tanks and longer range offensive weapons. Instead, they debated and dithered.
Listen to some of the explosions in Kharkiv here.
Now, both public and private sources claim that we can expect a massive Russian assault in the coming weeks. A massive Russian assault: I have a chilling feeling as I type those words—and I can feel each of the thuds from last night’s strikes, already an escalation that seems to portend something worse.
A person I know with experience working in the Pentagon, and whose prediction about the hour of the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion was accurate, tells me that the White House and the Pentagon, and this is damn distressing, are waiting to see if Ukraine can survive whatever Russia is planning. Only after that will DC consider sending modern and advanced equipment.
As though Ukrainians haven’t already proven themselves! As though the world hasn’t already seen the atrocities of the Russians!
Never again: what does it mean? Nothing, perhaps, to the elite.
What was the “sin” of the Ukrainians? It was having the audacity in 2014’s Revolution of Dignity to take control of their democracy by standing up to the elite, corrupt, pro-Putin regime. The price of true freedom and democracy is high.
The brave little people in Ukraine vs the global elites
As the big people in Washington wait, the brave little people—the Ukrainian civilians and fathers turned soldiers on February 24; the South African warrior with half his jaw blown off who will return to the fight; the young nurse from Utah wounded by a Russian rocket while she attended to a victim of another Russian rocket—these brave people are all that stand against expanding Russian tyranny.
You can hear the stories of these people in the videos in this newsletter.
As I prepare to look through the smoke tomorrow and see what happened here, we all need to look through the smoke of Washington politics:
American aid for Ukraine might sound extraordinarily high, but the U.S. has actually spent far less than it seems. Much of the "billions of dollars" of support is simply the valuation of old military equipment that the USA paid for long ago, equipment the US wanted to replace anyway. Ukrainians are willing to fight, but the best new equipment—things that could help Ukraine defeat Russia—are not yet in their hands.
And as I hit send on this newsletter, I know that at any moment, without warning, a new Russian rocket could land here. Every hour Moscow continues to unleash evil upon the free people of Ukraine. At this moment the fighting continues to rage in Bakhmut while the Russians continue their nightly shelling of cities like Nikopol in the south.
Below are more stories from Kharkiv.
Stories, Sounds, and Facts of War: Every weekday, Ukrainian Freedom News’s Joe Lindsley, an American in Ukraine since the pandemic started, gives a live war report on Chicago’s WGN Radio. You can listen and watch below. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch all our stories.
US Support for Ukraine: Not What It Seems
Amid the Snowy Ruins, Here are Scenes Both Tragic and Hopeful from Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine
KHARKIV, 30 miles from Russia: Last time I reported live from Kharkiv's North Saltvika, it was terrifying, with active shelling all around. This time, amid the snowy ruins, people have returned to rebuild whatever is salvageable. With our volunteer team we also visited a liberated Ukrainian village and the horrifying scene of a civilian evacuation column destroyed by a Russian tank.
Coffee and Rockets: War Appears in Even Small Moments of Peace
The tired clerk, but still with a smile, handed me my coffeecup: On it, a silhouette of a woman with blood red tears—and these words: «Я в серці, маю те, що не вмирає»: "There is something in my heart that does not die."
War Day 345: Singers, Medics, Soldiers Cry ... and Sing—in a café at the edge of the free world
Why Kissinger Is Wrong About Ukraine
Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state, with whom I used to attend Yankees games, says Russia must remain a global player and that Ukraine must negotiate. But why do we have to accept a world in which we live in fear of tyrants?
ABOUT US: Ukrainian Freedom News: The wild story—so far—of free people standing for democracy, faith, dignity
"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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Joe Lindsley, Editor-in-chief
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