Happy Monday News Viewers, this is Free Range, our Free Chat with an environmental bent. Below are pictures of Ukraine getting ready for war. While Putin plays word games, regular people try to prepare. As a state which has fought to attain democracy, the Ukrainians are willing to fight, whether or not they are equipped to do it.
After all is said and done, war is a waste; the human and environmental cost of destruction with today’s weapons and today’s vehicles, the toxicity that remains in the air, in soil; the cost that is required to rebuild, risks of damage to one of Ukraine’s many nuclear reactors leading to radioactivity in water and soil , damage through cyber attacks to power grid, water management, sewage and garbage management–
A view along Rynok (Market) Square in LviA young woman handles a weapon during a basic combat training for civilians, organized by the Special Forces Unit Azov, of Ukraine’s National Guard, in Mariupol, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)The statue of St. Volodymyr in Kyiv overlooking the Dnieper River. The location of the monument is reputed to be in the area where the saint forcibly baptized the populace of the city in A.D. 988A young woman handles a weapon during a basic combat training for civilians, organized by the Special Forces Unit Azov, of Ukraine’s National Guard, in Mariupol, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)Members of the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army clean weaponry ahead of deployment to Poland from Fort Bragg, N.C. on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. They are among soldiers the Department of Defense is sending in a demonstration of American commitment to NATO allies worried at the prospect of Russia invading Ukraine. (AP Photo/Nathan Posner)Ukrainian military cadets march past the Independence Monument in downtown Kharkiv. Alan Chin for Insider Civilians train with members of the Georgian Legion, a paramilitary unit formed mainly by ethnic Georgian volunteers to fight against Russian forces in Ukraine in 2014, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)A bullet riddled effigy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is coated by fresh snow at a frontline position in the Luhansk regionA Ukrainian serviceman fires an NLAW anti-tank weapon during an exercise in the Joint Forces Operation, in the Donetsk regionUkrainian Army soldiers pose for a photo as they gather to celebrate a Day of Unity in Odessa, Ukraine Ukrainian servicemen with the 34th Battalion dance to a performance by Larisa Borisenko, near the frontline village of Krymske, Luhansk region, in eastern Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)People from Donetsk, the territory controlled by a pro-Russia separatist government in eastern Ukraine, gather to fill in documents after evacuating in the Rostov-on-Don region, near the border with Ukraine, RussiaUkrainian police officers march past a woman begging for alms during a demonstration in Odessa, UkraineCivilians in Kyiv prepare to distribute wooden mock rifles in the shape of an AK-47.Timothy FadekThe training in Kyiv took place at an former factory that made machine parts, according to Fadek. “These are the regular civilians who will be given AK-47s, and they will store these AK-47s in their homes in Kyiv and they will be asked or somehow called to duty should the need arise,” Fadek said.Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNNIn Kharkiv, some local residents and children were given instruction on how to disassemble AK-47s.Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNNAn army medic in Kharkiv instructs reservists on how to use a tourniquet.Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNNA man is taught how to use a rifle in Kharkiv.Timothy Fadek/Redux for CNN
Let’s hope we can commit to forcing Putin to back off. The choice to construct rather than destruct. THAT would be a miracle. . . . meanwhile, it’s all topics all the time; hope everyone’s having a great Monday, now, what’s on your mind?
