Ukraine: 1 year after trauma of war there's an app for that

The mental health first aiders fighting back in Ukraine

BBC
By Martha Henriques
23rd February 2023

The question is, when an entire country is under siege, infrastructure is being targeted, and movement in the open is dangerous or impossible, how do you provide that essential information before the golden hours are up?

Mental health workers in Ukraine have been providing urgent psychological care since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. Their work could limit the lasting mental health repercussions of the war.

When Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine broke out on 24 February 2022, Iryna Frankova, a medical doctor and clinical psychologist working at Bogomolets National Medical University in Kyiv, knew that she had to act fast. There was the need to check her loved ones were safe, and that she wasn't in imminent danger. There was the question of whether to leave and if so, where to go.

But there was another urgent question too. Ukraine would soon be facing a crisis in mental health and, if previous conflicts were anything to go by, this was likely to be sidelined at precisely the moment when the most impactful help could be given – right at the start.

After a trauma, there is a window known as the "golden hours", a critical period in which action to support people's mental health can limit long-term damage, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression.

"It's the idea is that we really need to reach people in a very early stage after the exposure to trauma, in order to be able to prevent mental health consequences," says Frankova, speaking to BBC Future one year after the war began.

On one level, this might seem common sense: a particularly good time to offer someone comfort is when they are reeling from shock. But the evidence suggests that such small acts of support – sometimes as simple as reminding someone that they are not alone – reduces the risk of developing conditions that linger for years.

A year into the war, the app has now reached 81,000 users, and the service is now expanding beyond the automated chatbot service to offer a live chat with mental health professionals. They've had close to 5,000 requests already, Lezin says. Now, the chatbot has become a part of a European Union-funded project on psychosocial support for Ukrainians in bordering countries. They're soon to launch the service on WhatsApp, as well as its own standalone app. "This is a good beginning," says Frankova.
read more here

Ukraine's children fighting PTSD--teaching all of us how to heal

Providing Psychological Support to Ukrainian Children

United Help Ukraine Through a unique international collaboration, United Help Ukraine is sponsoring and raising funds for the Hibuki Therapy Project. “Hibuki” means “Open Embrace” in Hebrew.

First developed by Israeli child psychologists in 2006, the Hibuki intervention uses a specially designed toy dog to support the mental health and recovery of children impacted by war trauma. Now we are bringing Hibuki dogs to Ukraine and countries of relocation to help countless children who have experienced the unimaginable.

This play-based intervention brings comfort and helps children share their emotions, which are often hard to process or communicate to adults who can – and want – to help. Hibuki dogs and therapy are provided to all families free of charge through a network of specially trained mental health professionals.

In Ukraine, children are one of the most vulnerable groups and are severely impacted by the ongoing crisis, and UHU is committed to providing psychological aid through the Hibuki Therapy Project.

All of the Hibuki toys and therapeutic support is provided to Ukrainian children free of charge through a network of specially trained volunteers and mental health professionals.

Israeli innovation helps Ukraine's PTSD-afflicted children

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Published: DECEMBER 6, 2022

Kinder Velt Child Trauma Center in Ukraine

(photo credit: Courtesy)

The children's trauma center in Ukraine draws on experience from another country that knows war and terror too well: Israel.

As war rages on in Ukraine and a season of bitter coldness and erratic electricity commences, a center started by an Israeli-Ukrainian is administering developmental and psychological therapies to the nation's children.

“When we began seeing how deeply the children were suffering, we resolved to take action,” said David Roytman, who splits his time between Israel and his native Odessa, and founded the Kinder Velt (Children's World) Center nearly three years ago.

Roytman, an internationally-acclaimed artist and multimillionaire whose luxury Judaica company earned him the reputation as the ‘Jewish Louis Vuitton,’ is familiar with anxiety and trauma from war.
read more here

From me,

We learn how to heal after others did so we can learn from them. We can learn from their mistakes and pass on their successes. The most important thing we gain from listening to other survivors battling PTSD is hope! Our world may be dark one day but does not have to stay dark forever. Their struggles shine a light on the way to healing.

PTSD: 15 million Ukrainians now need mental-health care

No end in sight to war for overwhelmed Ukraine psychologists dealing with the mental health fallout

Toronto Star
By Katharine Lake Berz Special to the Star
Dec. 17, 2022

Beyond dealing with the physical horrors, a mixture of panic attacks, insomnia, flashbacks, anxiety and depression affect majority of patients doctors see suffering from PTSD

IVANO-FRANKIVSK, Ukraine — Susanna Anhelova’s heart aches as she looks out at the 70 somber souls waiting to start the support program for women she is leading in western Ukraine. Anhelova has worked for 25 years with victims of trauma but says this is the hardest work she has ever faced.

One of the women in the room, barely past her teens, stares despondently at her phone. Another bows her head as her child whines. All are looking to Anhelova to help them recover. All have survived unimaginable abuse and torture as Russian prisoners of war.

Anhelova prays the electricity will stay on long enough for her to offer words of comfort and tries not to think of her own children near the shelling at their home in Kyiv.

“I must help these women learn to live again, so we can win this war,” she says.

The war in Ukraine has brought pain and hardship to millions of civilians since Russia invaded on Feb. 24. The European Union estimates that 20,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, with many more injured and millions left homeless. An estimated 15 million Ukrainians now need mental-health care, according to the Ukraine ministry of health.

“The devastation of the war is like the rings of a stone thrown in the water,” she says. “Larger and larger circles ripple forever.”

When Anhelova’s waves of memories threaten to overwhelm her, she reminds herself that her work is important.

“This is my front line, my struggle. This is what I can do for our victory.”
read more here

Pink Floyd - Hey Hey Rise Up

You don't need to understand the words to feel the message.

Pink Floyd - Hey Hey Rise Up (feat. Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox)
This is something that most humans can understand. For the others, they are either slaughtering the Ukrainian people, or approving of it. This is one of the rare times when there is no in-between.

Beslan school attack: understand how a demon took control of Russia

If you are wondering how Putin could hate so much, he'd willingly slaughter babies and children in Ukraine, he didn't care about then in his own country. 

Beslan school attack

Britannica

The siege began on the morning of September 1, 2004, when at least 32 armed individuals stormed the school and took more than 1,000 hostages, including pupils in both primary and secondary grades and their teachers, as well as parents and relatives who had gathered to celebrate the opening day of the new school year. Some people died in the initial attack, but most were herded into a gymnasium, which the attackers rigged with explosives. The hostages were refused water or food; after two days passed, some of them resorted to drinking urine. The siege ended on the morning of September 3, when explosions inside the school prompted Russian special forces to enter the building. Many hostages were killed by explosions or in a subsequent fire in the gym.

Watch this on PBS and understand how a demon took control of Russia.

Miracles in Ukraine

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 31, 2022

I believe in the power of prayer. With the understanding that God will not interfere with the freewill of anyone, He does try to get through to people. With that in mind, I've been praying that God watch over the people of Ukraine, as well as get through to the Russian soldiers. They need to see the difference between defending their country and the slaughter of people who were no threat to them or their country. I have no doubt that God has in fact opened their eyes to see the truth and know what they are becoming.

Keep in mind that God knows the hearts and minds of all of His Creation. He knows who are being deceived and those who are doing the deceiving. When you read some of what has been happening, it is easy to accept that God is as busy as He can be there and getting through to those who will listen to Him. That is how miracles work!

As hellish as it is for the people of Ukraine, miracles are happening there to protect them. It would be great if there were more of them but when you consider what else has been happening, with Russian soldiers sabotaging their own equipment and shooting down their own aircraft, joining the Ukrainians fighting against other Russian soldiers and Russia leaving Chernobyl before they cause even more damage to it, there is something miraculous going on!

Russian troops sabotaging their own equipment and refusing orders in Ukraine, UK spy chief says CNBC

“We’ve seen Russian soldiers — short of weapons and morale — refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft.” Jeremy Fleming

Newly declassified U.S. intelligence revealed on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin feels he has been misled by Russia’s military leaders, who kept crucial details about the invasion from him over fear of angering him.
Russian officials said this week that they would scale back their military activity in and around the cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv — an announcement that has been met with skepticism in the West.

Former Russian Soldiers Join Ukraine Against Putin's Invasion, Kyiv Says Newsweek

Ukraine has said some former Russian soldiers have switched sides and have now joined Kyiv's forces fighting against Vladimir Putin's invasion.

The Ukrainian defense ministry said on its Telegram channel on Wednesday that commanders of the "Freedom of Russia" legion were visiting detained former Russian military personnel "in order to select those who wish to serve."

In a follow up post, it said that the "first volunteers," comprising ex-Russian troops, "have already begun individual additional training."

Unprotected Russian soldiers disturbed radioactive dust in Chernobyl's 'Red Forest', workers say Reuters

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Russian soldiers who seized the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster drove their armoured vehicles without radiation protection through a highly toxic zone called the "Red Forest", kicking up clouds of radioactive dust, workers at the site said.

The two sources said soldiers in the convoy did not use any anti-radiation gear. The second Chernobyl employee said that was "suicidal" for the soldiers because the radioactive dust they inhaled was likely to cause internal radiation in their bodies.

Russian soldier allegedly surrenders tank for $10K, Ukrainian citizenship NY Post

A Russian soldier allegedly surrendered his tank to Ukraine, claiming his military bosses’ war campaign was too “chaotic” and that he’d rather take up the Ukrainians’ offer for resettlement than continue fighting.

The soldier will eventually receive $10,000, a comfortable place to live and a chance to apply for citizenship, a Ukrainian official said.

Russian soldiers release Ukraine town’s mayor and agree to leave after protests The Guardian

A mayor in a Ukrainian town occupied by Russian forces has been released from captivity and the soldiers have agreed to leave after a mass protest by residents.

Slavutych, a northern town close to the Chernobyl nuclear site, was taken by Russian forces but stun grenades and overhead fire failed to disperse unarmed protesters on its main square on Saturday.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kathie Costos Author of The Lost Son, Alive Again and Stranger Angels a series of miracles to help you believe miracles do still happen.

Baltic Way 2 million peace chain of independence from Russia

Fascinating article on TIME How Telegram Became the Digital Battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine War shows the need of humans to connect to others.

“It’s the last social media bridge from the Western world into the Russian world…where you can kind of see what’s going and how the battle is playing out,” says Clint Watts, a former FBI agent and fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who focuses on foreign disinformation. “Whoever can sustain their information campaigns on Telegram has the best chance of shaping world views around what’s going on inside Ukraine.”

There is no algorithm that decides what to show users or what to restrict, and its architecture allows limitless groups. Comments are easily turned off, turning channels into a megaphone blasting information to a captive audience of millions of followers. With just one click, a built-in button can translate messages from Russian to English or other languages, turning it into a tool of mass communication.

This has turned Telegram into the heart of the propaganda battle, allowing tales of Ukrainian resistance or heroism to go viral side-by-side with Russian disinformation. Now, amid increasingly brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians and a desperate crackdown on “false information” in Russia, both sides are racing to dominate the Telegram war.

But even without the apps on phones, they managed to connect millions of people from different countries, hand in hand. 

The Baltic Way

The Human Chain Of The Baltic Way (NPR)

Thirty years ago, 2 million people in the Baltic states made a human chain to demand independence from the Soviet Union. Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians remembered the chain Friday.

Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong formed human chains yesterday, saying they were inspired by a similar protest against the Soviet Union exactly 30 years earlier. That human chain was called the Baltic Way. It involved some 2 million people who joined hands across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to demand independence from the Kremlin. Here's NPR's Lucian Kim from Moscow.

LUCIAN KIM, BYLINE: August 23 is a double anniversary for the three Baltic nations, a day of mourning and a day of pride - mourning because, on that day 80 years ago, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a treaty that put much of Eastern Europe under the Kremlin's control. But it's also a day of pride because on August 23, 1989, ordinary Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians formed a human chain and demonstrated their yearning for freedom.

read more on NPR

Ukrainian women are volunteering to fight

Ukrainian women are volunteering to fight — and history shows they always have

NPR
Lauren Frayer
Iryna Matviyishyn
March 19, 2022

Kobzar's late grandmother was an army medic in World War II. It's become part of the family lore — how brave she was, treating soldiers on the front lines. So when Ukraine went to war again last month, Kobzar — a 49-year-old mother of two — decided to follow in her grandmother's footsteps. She left her office job in health care supply chains and enlisted in the army.

Tanya Kobzar's late grandmother was an army medic in World War II. It's become part of the family lore how brave she was, treating soldiers on the front lines. Tanya Kobzar

LVIV, Ukraine — In the lead-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tanya Kobzar was having nightmares.

"I was waking up in the middle of the night, terrified. I would look at a black-and-white photo of my grandmother, which I have framed on a table," she recalls. "She reminds me of how brave a person can be."

Kobzar's late grandmother was an army medic in World War II. It's become part of the family lore — how brave she was, treating soldiers on the front lines. So when Ukraine went to war again last month, Kobzar — a 49-year-old mother of two — decided to follow in her grandmother's footsteps. She left her office job in health care supply chains and enlisted in the army.

"I did this for my children and for my country," says Kobzar, who's using her military nickname in this NPR interview, rather than her full surname, because she doesn't have permission from her commander to speak to the media.
read more here on NPR

War has come to Ukraine

"Usually on such days we used to say, Spring has come, but now we are saying, War has come." Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

That is from Ukraine President Zelenskyy. That is what love does. He is staying with his people and showing them the way to fight back for their own country, for each other and for the sake of their future. They have been determined to decide that their future is living in freedom. Putin decided that he would destroy everything to stop them.That is what evil does.

Putin alone decided to do this but he could not have done any of it had he not been supported by his generals and members of the military arming their weapons and directing the bombs that have blown up hospitals, schools, homes, caused the slaughter of babies, children, women and men who never threatened them, who never attacked them. Putin has lied to his own people and those he sent to destroy Ukraine.

I beleive in the power of prayer, but I beleive in God's ability to deliver the prayers above what people choose to do.

I beleive God sees into the hearts and minds and no one can hide what they are really are from Him.

As much as I am praying for God's protection of the people of Ukraine and all those who are offering them safety in other countries, I am also praying for Putin.

I am not praying for him, but that God grants him no moments of peace. That the screams and cries of all the people he killed never go silent in his mind. That the blood of the people he murdered never get washed off his hands. That the food he fills his belly with turns bitter in this mouth and burns his stomach. That in his dreams he sees himself replacing the faces on the bodies he has burned and blown up. That when he looks at his children, he sees their faces. That when he looks at all the women he holds close, he sees the pregnant women he killed.

Putin will not care about any of them unless it becomes imbedded in his soul and becomes personal to him because it is all making his life miserable. He had no conscience but cares only about himself. I pray God makes his life more miserable than he can endure.

I pray the same for his generals carrying out his murderous orders of slaughtering the people of Ukraine. They have no courage or if they did, they would refuse to obey Putin's orders. They sit far away and tell others who and what to target and then go off and stuff their bellies and count their blood money while the men  they command are slaughtering and are slaughtered while Putin refuse to even acknowledge their deaths.

Sky News has a report on how some of the Ukrainian refugees are returning to Ukraine even as Putin's bombs destroy everything they can reach.

Millions of Ukrainian refugees have been fleeing and heading to Poland but for some, the draw to be back home is outweighing the considerable risk they know they will face if they return. This is what courage does. 

To all those in Ukraine, trying to save people and put out the fires, that is what love does and you are giving the world hope that God's strength is limitless and love cannot be defeated.

Arnold Schwarzenegger message to Russian soldiers

To readers in Russia, Arnold Schwarzenegger has an important message for you.

This is his video, without being cut or edited by news media stations. Listen to the whole message and then think about what is going on inside of you. That sickening feeling you have over what you are doing is not hatred of the Ukrainina people. It is hatred of what you are becomming. I pray you find the strength and courage to do the right thing. God will show you the way to end the slaughter of the Ukrainian people. What you choose to do this day, will in fact last the rest of your life. Do you want to find mercy from God? Do you want to find redemption for what you have done? Do you want to be able to look at your own children and say that you did all you could to save the lives of Ukrainian childen? Or, do you want to spend the rest of your life hating what you have become aqnd explain to your children how you participated in the slaughter of other children just like them?

Arnold Schwarzenegger message to Russian Soldiers
I love the Russian people, that's why I have to tell you the truth. Please watch and share.

Survivors emerge from rubble in Ukraine

Mariupol theatre: 'We knew something terrible would happen'

BBC News, Lviv, Ukraine
By Hugo Bachega, Orysia Khimiak
March 17, 2022

After leaving Mariupol, Kate was headed to the city of Lviv, in western Ukraine, a region that has been largely spared of attacks. "The first day after we managed to get out, I couldn't talk. We all just cried", she said. "But now it feels like there are no tears left. I don't think this pain will ever disappear."

Civilians are said to be emerging alive from the ruins of a theatre that, according to Ukrainian authorities, was bombed by Russia in the city of Mariupol. Despite pictures of devastation at the scene, many who were sheltering there are thought to have survived in a basement that withstood Wednesday's attack.

For 10 days, that basement was a refuge for Kate, a 38-year-old Mariupol native, and her son, who is 17. Their own home, like many others in the besieged city, had been destroyed by Russian attacks, and they thought the Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama was a place where they would be relatively safe.

Mother and son squeezed in the building's dark rooms, corridors and halls with dozens of other families. Some women, Kate said, carried babies that were just four or five months old.

"In the beginning, it was really tough, because we didn't have a well-organised food supply. So on the first two days, adults didn't have any food," Kate, who used to work at the city's zoo shop and did not want to give her full name, said. "We gave food only to the children." They slept on improvised beds made with soft parts of auditorium seats which had been put together on the floor. The seats made of wood, she said, were cut in parts and used as firewood for them to cook. "Around the theatre there wasn't enough trees we could use, and it was too dangerous to go outside".
read more here

There had been a video plea for food so that the people taking shelter there could survive. The Russians used that to target them. There were signs on the grounds on both sides of the theater with so that the Russians would know there were children there. They didn't care. They used it to murder the people inside.

When you look at what they are doing to Ukraine, it is easy to focus on all the evil they are committing. What is harder is to try to focus on the miracles that come out of it.

We cannot do much to help the people suffering such evil acts. We cannot do much to open the eyes of the Russian people so they will see they are being lied to. All we can do is pray they see the truth for themselves.

All the reports, what little there is, are about the Russians supporting what Putin is doing. That's only part of the realty going on there because we've seen the massive protests happening and brave Russians being arrested while trying to stop the slaughter of the Ukrainian people.

We saw the woman holding up a sign on a Russian news broadcast.

And then there are other things like this going on.

PBS NewsHour
As some Russians protest the conflict in Ukraine a former senior Kremlin official has criticized the operations there. This comes after an employee of Russian state television on Monday interrupted a live newscast to demonstrate against the fighting and amid reports that Russia asked China for military assistance. Special correspondent Ryan Chilcote joins Judy Woodruff from Moscow to discuss.
For now, know your limitations and do what you can for the people of Ukraine. Watch the news to a point and then do something else for your own sanity. In closing, also notice the first miracle. Putin thought the would take Ukraine in a few days. It's been a month!

Ukraine video shown to congress, stunning

If you just watched President Zelensky deliver his speech to Congress, you saw the video of what Putin is doing to the Ukrainian people. If you have a heart, it just broke.

PBS NewsHour
Warning: Some of the video shown during this speech contains graphic imagery.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a virtual address Wednesday to Congress, the latest in a series of appeals the leader has made to world leaders for more assistance as Russia's invasion continues.

we can choose to do something

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 12, 2022

With so many horrible things going on in the world right now, it is understandable to feel hopeless. After all, we are not in control over much. We cannot stop the bombs and slaughter of Ukrainian citizens. We cannot get them food water and supplies as Russian forces surround them. We cannot stop the Russian soldiers from murdering citizens. Only Putin can do that, but he won't.

Sure we can pray that God opens their hearts and minds so they see the difference between defending their own country during war and what they are doing in Ukraine. That has actually been working. Some have seen what they are becoming and it makes them sick to their stomachs. They are telling citizens in Ukraine they had no idea what they were being sent to do after they surrender. The most remarkable thing is, the videos of this happening also show compassion the Ukrainian people have for those sent to kill them.

‘I didn’t want to fight’ -- Ukraine offers Russian soldiers 5 million rubles, pardon

(WILX) - The Ukrainian government, as well as many Ukrainian civilians, have made a point of saying on camera that they do not hold the Russian soldiers to blame for the war ordered by Vladimir Putin.

“I didn’t want to fight,” said one Russian soldier, interviewed after being captured in Ukraine. “I will say the Ukarainian army are nice guys. They didn’t hit me. They gave me food.”

Now, Ukraine is backing that sentiment with a direct offer.

TV presenter Maria Yefrosinina, who is an ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine, has announced an offer to Russian soldiers from the Ukraine Government, funded by the global IT community.

The thing is, no matter how bad something is, we can do nothing while it gets worse, or, we can choose to do something, no matter how small we may thing it is. Nothing changes for the better if we do nothing.

If you are in pain, you understand what it feels like. Then you can also understand the pain someone else is living with. If you have ever lost hope, then you know what it feels like when others lose hope. No matter what they are going through, the chances are, you went through the same thing.

Sure you could remember what others did to you and decide to do the same, but it is better to remember what it was like when someone did something for you and do the same.

Remember what words would have given you comfort and restored a sense of hope within yourself, and do the same for others.

Remember what it felt like to be given the glimmer of things getting better for you, and do the same for others.

Remember what it felt like when someone showed you kindness after others only showed you their backs, and do the same for others.

Do what you can for others and heal yourself at the same time. You do not have the power to change the entire world, but you are empowered to change the world for someone else.

“Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” ― Saint Augustine

Who voted to acquit Trump over what he did to Ukraine?

Aa friend of mine has finally woken up to the fact that Congress tried to hold Trump accountable for what he did to Ukraine in defense of what Putin was doing for him. Now we know that the Republican senators are just as responsible for what Putin did to Ukraine, as Putin is. They had the chance to convict him after the House impeached him. They decided to defend Trump no matter what price would come to Ukraine and the rest of the world, including this country.

Trump must think Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a joke

CNN

According to a recording of the speech obtained by The Washington Post, Trump told the audience of GOP donors that the United States should "put the Chinese flag" on F-22 fighter jets and "bomb the s**t" out of Russia. He quipped, "And then we say, China did it. Then they start fighting with each other, and we sit back and watch."

Politico

President Trump acquitted on both impeachment charges, avoids removal

USA TODAY
Bart Jansen
Christal Hayes
Savannah Behrmann
Nicholas Wu
February 5, 2020

WASHINGTON - The Senate acquitted President Donald Trump for his dealings with Ukraine on Wednesday, culminating months of bitter partisan clashes over accusations he tried to cheat in the 2020 election by pressuring the U.S. ally to investigate political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

The Republican-led Senate voted to acquit Trump on two articles of impeachment - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was the only senator to cross party lines by voting to convict for abuse of power.

McConnell said impeachment is net win for GOP

“Having been dragged into something she instinctively felt was a mistake, then the second impulse was to get it over with as quickly as possible,” McConnell said of what he called an “abbreviated, truncated, rush job over in the House.”

McConnell then guessed that House Democrats would make the case a fight over witnesses in the Senate. But his staff counted 60 times when House managers had declared during the trial that they had already proved their case.

“I’m proud of my colleagues for seeing through that,” McConnell said of the nearly party-line votes to reject additional witnesses in the trial.

He also said it was right to avoid having Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts resolve a tie over witnesses, if a vote had come to that.

“It’s pretty clear that would have dragged the Supreme Court into the maelstrom,” McConnell said.

He concluded that impeachment was a political loser for Democrats because Trump enjoyed the highest approval ratings of his presidency.
read more here

Who voted to acquit Trump

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ)
Sen. John Boozman (R-AK)
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK)
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO)
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL)
Sen. David Perdue (R-GA)
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA)
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID)
Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)
Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE)
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE)
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC)
Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND)
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
Sen. James Lankford (R-OK)
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD)
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)

Guardian Angels Fly Over Ukraine. Why Isn't NATO?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 5, 2022

We have all heard the leaders of NATO nations say they will not enforce a "no-fly zone" over Ukraine. They say they don't want to start WWIII. The problem with that is, it already started. It started when Putin decided to invade Ukraine and didn't care what came with that choice for war.

Why aren't they explaining at what point do they plan to actually do something to stop him? What is risk of stopping him now? Do they actually think that prolonging the end result will be better than minimizing the slaughter of the Ukrainian people?

Putin hates many things. Democracy is bad for him. NATO is bad for him. His own people don't matter to him so what makes anyone think he will stop after Ukraine? He already started WWIII. The other thing they're missing is the simple fact that angels are already flying over Ukriane and could really use some help.

(WESH) "Kyiv needs you and your drone at this moment of fury!" read a Facebook post late last week from the Ukrainian military, calling for citizens to donate hobby drones and to volunteer as experienced pilots to operate them.

One entrepreneur who runs a retail store selling consumer drones in the capital said its entire stock of some 300 drones made by Chinese company DJI has been dispersed for the cause. Others are working to get more drones across the border from friends and colleagues in Poland and elsewhere in Europe.

"Why are we doing this? We have no other choice. This is our land, our home," said Denys Sushko, head of operations at Kyiv-based industrial drone technology company DroneUA, which before the war was helping to provide drone services to farmers and energy companies.

Putin has targeted civilian populations, hospitals, schools and power plants without ever once considering how that will expose the entire world to poisonous clouds. How many more civilians deaths are acceptable? 

The Times UK

Kurilo, from Chuhuiv in the eastern Kharkiv region, narrowly escaped after a Russian missile struck her home on Thursday and she thanked a “guardian angel” for saving her life. “I never thought such a thing could happen. I never thought this would truly happen in this lifetime,” she said as she emerged in shock from the town hospital after treatment. Her comments were reported by Euronews and AFP.

Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception angels

Some say we should mind our own business because their eyes are closed to the simple fact that the entire world can in fact become another target of Putin's hatred. He started WWIII and it is up to the rest of the world to stop him.

I believe in God. I believe that we will all have to answer for what we have done while on this earth. We will all die one day and it will be too late to do the right thing when we had the chance to. Will the leaders of NATO have to explain whey they did do everything in their power to prevent more death?

I am praying for all of them to open their eyes and see what evil and lies are. Praying they see what truth and goodness are. Praying they open their hearts and minds so that God will give them the courage and strength to do the right thing. Praying God shows them the way to do the right thing before it is too late.

Putin already had his prayers answered when Satan began to deliver death at his hands.

It is time for better angels to fly over Ukraine!

The people of Ukraine are fighting many battles

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 3, 2022

The people of Ukraine are fighting many battles right now. Some have decided to stay and fight the Russian invaders. Some decided to leave Ukraine to get away from the bombs, tanks and bullets. No one should judge any of them or assume that what you think you would do, is what they should do. No one knows but them. What you think you may do is something you will ever know until you too have to decide what choice to make. All we can do is pray for the best for all of them.

People are all different. 

One Body but Many Parts
There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

Most of us do not know what to do to help them. If the NATO nations joined in defending Ukraine, with our military forces there, it would unleash another world war, but this one would not end until the death and destruction of the entire planet. So please get that idea out of your head if you are thinking it would be an easy thing to do. Putin has shown no interest in doing the right thing at all.

So what can we do? What can the people of Ukraine do?

All of us are given different gifts. 

There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord. There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.

The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

What gift were you given to help them with? While some are fighting the Russian invaders, all of them are fighting the trauma inflicted on that nation. We can help them fight that one by letting them know they should not judge the actions of others. If they have chosen to leave, some will be regretting that decision but they should not. Not everyone has the ability to put their lives on the line. If they decided to stay and fight, they should not judge the actions of others who decided to leave. Again, not everyone has the same ability. Each of them are making hard choices based on their own capabilities.

If they choose to not fight, they can help those who do by offering to help their families and get their children out of the war zones. They can organize help to get them the supplies, weapons and support they need to defend Ukraine. They can always pray for God to show those who stay the way to defeat the invaders.

We have seen the actions of people who have found compassion for Russian soldiers who did not know what they are being ordered to do and have refused to do it. We have seen citizens form large groups to stop the tanks and do what they can to defend what they can. We have also seen miracles when tanks have gotten stuck in long lines giving people more time to evacuate and prepare for the battles that were forced on them.

If they are among those who left, they can open their eyes to see all the good people in other nations opening their arms to take care of them. They can help one another speak about what they are trying to recover from so they can begin to heal together.

They can all fight the enemy they are carrying inside of themselves so that they begin to heal even as the Russian invaders are still trying to destroy all they had. They can recover their own power by taking away the power of the evil invaders by using the power they do have to help others in whatever way they can with the gifts they have been given by the Holy Spirit inside of them.

As for the rest of us, remember, the Ukrainian people were just like the rest of us. Living their lives, doing their jobs, taking care of them families and living in peace at the same time Putin surrendered his soul to Satan.

UN diplomats say "Da nyet” to Russia and walk out

Dozens of diplomats walk out during Russian foreign minister's UN speech – video 

Dozens of diplomats walked out of a speech by the Russian foreign minister to the UN human rights forum on Tuesday. Sergei Lavrov was addressing the UN human rights council remotely, after cancelling his attendance previously because of what the Russian mission in Geneva said on Monday were EU states blocking his flight path, when delegates from the UK, US and EU started to walk out in protest. Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UN, said the organisation was taking a 'very strong stance in defence of its own principles' Russia-Ukraine war latest updates At a glance: what we know so far on day six of Russian invasion 

Guardian News
March 1, 2022

Dozens of diplomats walked out of a speech by the Russian foreign minister to the UN human rights forum on Tuesday.

Ukraine:Snake Island Soldiers Survived

The defiant soldiers of Snake Island are actually ‘alive and well,’ says Ukraine’s navy

CNN
By Sebastian Shukla and Lianne Kolirin
Updated 3:06 PM EST, Mon February 28, 2022

CNN
The Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island – who were all feared dead after their defiant response to threats from a Russian warship – are actually “alive and well,” according to the Ukrainian Navy.

All of the soldiers on the tiny island in the Black Sea were thought to have been killed in an attack on the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last Thursday.

According to a purported audio exchange, one of the Ukrainian troops had responded to a warning from an approaching Russian vessel to lay down their weapons or face bombing by saying, “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”
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Ukraine: "Show this to Putin," doctor said crying after 6 year old died

Doctor unable to save Ukrainian girl wounded in Russian shelling says: "Show this to Putin"

CBS News
FEBRUARY 28, 2022

Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs said that as of Sunday evening, 352 civilians had been killed, including 14 children. The agency said 116 children were among 1,684 wounded civilians.

In the port city of Mariupol, where Ukrainians are trying to fend off a Russian advance, an ambulance raced into a city hospital Sunday carrying a 6-year-old girl mortally injured in Russian shelling.

She was pale. Her brown hair was pulled back with a rubber band. Her bloody pyjama pants were decorated with cartoon unicorns. She was brought in with her wounded father, his head bloodied and bandaged.

A medical team pumped her chest, fighting desperately to revive her. Her mother stood outside the ambulance, weeping.
read more here

SNL opened with Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York performs Prayer for Ukraine.

Ukraine Cold Open - SNL
297,516 views
Feb 26, 2022
Saturday Night Live
12.7M subscribers
Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York performs Prayer for Ukraine.