The conflict between my vodka loving neighbors here in Eastern Europe has brought some surprises after almost 10 days of very ugly and brutal conflict. The first and very pleasant one is that the Ukrainians are holding on very well, I don't think anybody even hoped let alone expected that they could prevent being overrun for more than a few days. Every day that passes I'm more impressed with their fighting spirit and I cheer them on the best I can. They are paying the ultimate price for our values of freedom and if they manage to get out of this mess with their country still standing they will become the rock starts of the continent if not the world.
The other surprise is the fact that Russia's population isn't massively protesting in the streets already. Sure there have been some smaller protests but when your currency is going down the drain and there are already talks of rationing the stuff you can buy I think prison doesn't seem that bad. I mean not having to worry about putting food on the table and paying rent for a while seems like a relief given how shitty the situation must be for the average Russian citizen.
Speaking of protests, I saw Serbians protesting in support of the invasion and they don't have the excuse of being forced to get by without any independent media outlets. Thinking about how people can be in favor of Putin playing "War crimes simulator 2022" makes me want to pack my shit and go live on Mars.
