Slav'EUkrayiniye! Yesterday was a Red Letter Day in Kiev.
It was a very impressive display of Ukrainian rectitude, a tribute to a Kultur, the 'recognition of heroes' a display of military in all its stages and the exposition to the Whirled that 'EUkrayiniye does not stand alone'. It must have cost a bundle. But with the latest welfare loan 'tranche' (26 billion whatevers) expected next week, a noteworthy celebration could be afforded.
The only noteworthy part is that EUkraine is on the hook for another 26 billion worth of 'integrity' for an adventure that started because the EU couldbdn't raise 10 billion in Ukrainiabondss and the World Bank was fixing to devaste the place. Putin offered the needed funds. We know where 2013 led. To a 'state of war' in 2014. That's still in play and apparently crippling EUkraine's "accession" to anything outside a charnel house. Neither the EU nor NATO has happened as expected.
That's probably Putin's fault. But now he's got everybody involved, and paying for it. I guess that was the main point of the parade- reassuring everyone that 'all is yet well' as their anthem goes
If you watched the festivities you might well believe that.
One of the things I noticed yesterday was that some military event scheduled for Moscow was being cancelled in light of the threat of EUkrainian drone attacks. It struck me that the Russians could have put a real damper on Kiev, yesterday afternoon, and caused massive military casualties. They didn't even utter a warning. Putin humiliated as another major Moscow event cancelled.
So Yelenskiyy the mensch earned feathers in his cap and the EUkrainian army got to take its latest hi-tech 'wunderwaffeln' off for deployment at the fronts, like every other year. This time far fewer heroes and noticeably far more drones, on land, sea and air. All around Kiev.
One F16 and 2 Mirages (demonstrated by French pilots) with the panolopy of 'Soviet aviation' - Migs, MiLs, Sukhois, Antonovs and Illyuhins inherited by EUkraine and now upgraded closer to NATO standards. They even had the moxy to recall the fly of of Uriaine's "Mirya" - the Dream - the one of a kind Russian giant destroyed by Ukrainian shellfire while trying to dislodge Russian invaders from Boryspil Airport in the first days of the newly-widened war. But that too is Putin's fault. The drones were very impressive including a f,light of anti drone drones lauched by a p;latoon to Kievan gamers and the resquiste dromnm shower compurer generatedinto 'parade order'. Robotic attack drones sailed the Donets and platoons of armed lard drones - armed with 'everything' - made by what seemed to be the EUkraine equivalent of the Acme Corporation- (from the stencils on them) rattled through Freedom Square toward tomorrow land.
Prior to that, and perhaps in another venue - there were celebrations mounted in Lvov and Odessa, there was a cultural parade that matched the best I've ever seen. In terms of imported flowers (real or artificial) alone, it cost a bundle. If there is one thing that EUkraine has mastered it is the automated parade float' - those were beautiful, colorful, huuuge! They celebrated every aspect of EUkrainian kultur - food, music, dance, religion, industry, agriculture , shtetl life, the Karpathian homesteads, bold Cossacks and delightful lustmadels. The announcements were all done in THE national lingo and English. This ISN'T the part of EUkraine emphasized to the World. And it should have been.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYAPqK1KQHk&t=18s
Given the way the Russians have been targeting buildings around Kyiv s large enough to build these things, the cultural parade is a MIRACLE.
