War Day 685: Russia's Billion-Dollar Attacks Fail, But Washington Won't Endorse Ukrainian Victory
🇺🇦 600+ DAYS OF WAR REPORTING on Chicago's WGN Radio with host Bob Sirott and reporter Joe Lindsley, the only American reporting in Ukraine every single day until victory 🎙️ from Tuesday 9 January 2024
Despite the intense Russian attacks that began on December 28th, the infrastructure in Ukraine is still functioning. Russia spends more than $1 billion on these nationwide missile strikes, and for what? Ukrainians just keep going and adapting.
Meanwhile, Washington just keeps talking. The Kingdom of Denmark pledged to send some of its American F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which requires the permission of the USA. But the arrival date keeps getting pushed back.
Why?
It's a tricky but essential question. Is it possible that Washington only wants Ukraine to have the best weapons once Ukraine surrenders some territory to Russia? Increasingly it seems so. And yet on the ground, even in newly-re-devastated Kharkiv, the resolution of Ukrainians reminds steadfast, however tired they are.
WGN RADIO DAILY UKRAINE REPORT
War Day 684: The World is Scrooge and Ukraine is the Cratchit Family
🇺🇦 600+ DAYS OF WAR REPORTING on Chicago's WGN Radio with host Bob Sirott and reporter Joe Lindsley, the only American reporting in Ukraine every single day until victory 🎙️ from Monday 8 January 2024
Today was another day of a Russian missile danse macabre, with these death rockets flying to and fro, often changing course, designed to bring maximum chaos and destruction to Ukraine. For now, Ukrainian air defense holds on. How to stop this?
It's simple: long-range weapons to hit the Russian bases that cause this hell.
Yet amid increased Russian sky assaults, Ukrainians keep their Christmas traditions. Unlike the commercialised West, Ukraine celebrates Christmas after December 24 well into January. And these celebrations, however somber this year, are needed, because Ukrainians are recognising that all those Western politicians who said they support Ukrainian victory, well, they really don't.
I realized while observing Ukrainian Christmas in this dark time that the world is Scrooge and Ukraine is the Cratchit family. Even those who seem to care act like Scrooge: stingy with help and perplexed why there could be people on this plant who believe in freedom so much that they won't surrender it after two years of constant missile and artillery attacks.
Will freedom-loving people realize this reality?
WAR CARDS
Wartime Tarot, Episode 1: The Schoolgirl in the Bomb Shelter | with @neivanmade
Dive into the stories of life in war with American journalist Joe Lindsley and Ukrainian artist #NEIVANMADE
▪️Joe randomly draws a Tarot card created by #NEIVANMADE, and the artist unveils the gripping story behind his sketch. Episode 1, “The High Priestess,” captures a young girl studying in a shelter amidst a missile attack, embodying the pursuit of wisdom as the ultimate shield.
▪️Contact @neivanmade to purchase a set of these cards, which include a book of relevant quotations from sources including the Bible, ancient philosophers, and modern Ukrainian musicians.
Beetroot is a tech ecosystem with several companies working together towards the same goal: creating sustainable social, economic, and environmental impact at scale
The Swedish Government and the Commander in Chief of our Army warning of a potential war on Swedish ground has apparently made a lot of people worried. Good. I would be much more worried if they didn't say this.
Russian trolls and useful idiots went bananas online after this statement, mocking it and playing it down. We know the pattern — it means the right things have been said.
We have been enormously lucky to live in a country without war on our land for hundreds of years. But there is no rule of nature that says it could never happen — even if most of us grew up kind of feeling that way, as we didn't have grandparents who could tell us about real war experiences. We have a lot of immigrants with experience, but somehow this always felt more distant for most of us (shame for that).
Just days before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it was extremely hard for most people living there (myself included) to fully comprehend the risk of what was coming — despite so many things pointing in that direction and that we were already 8 years into the war. I guess it's human nature to not expect or accept the worst scenario.
This means that pointing out the risks now, when there is still some time to prepare, both decreases the risks of it actually happening and improves our chances if it actually does.
Unfortunately, we are neighbors to what is currently a terrorist state waging a genocidal war on Ukraine and a hybrid war on the civilized world — challenging our ways of living and our freedom.
The best thing we can do right now, by far, is to support Ukraine with everything we can, systematically, long-term. In parallel, prepare ourselves.
Please help us spread the reality from Ukraine by forwarding to five friends and asking them to follow us across all social media: links to Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Spotify, and Facebook are here. Joe Lindsley is the only American who has been reporting every single day from Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Together with the Ukrainian Freedom News alliance of volunteers, they not only share the truth with the world but work to get supplies to friends at the front lines.
State of the War Map: shows Russian positions and what Ukrainians have taken back; updated daily
Mriya Report: a 24/7 Twitter audio channel featuring the best Ukrainian volunteers and representatives
“[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.
*UKRAINIAN FREEDOM NEWS: Please support us by subscribing and sharing this newsletter with your friends, colleagues, and family. Donations welcome here.*
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.
Spread the word and join us in sharing the reality of democracy and culture in Ukraine, which Russia is seeking to destroy.
Joe Lindsley, Editor-in-chief Beata Szrom, Operations Director James Gamache, Collaborations Director Andrii Lashkov, Video Editor Anton Hutyriak, Field Editor Brennan Phillips, War Columnist DeepInspire Foundation, Sourcing and Supply
SLAVA UKRAINE 🇺🇦 🇺🇸💙💛💪🙏🏻