Wedding Band of Brothers
“Despite the surreal nature of Lesya Filimonova and Valeriy Filimonov’s marriage in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday, the moment in some ways offered a glimpse of normality amid the conflict. It showed, the mayor said, that ‘life continues and the people live and their love helps the war.’ Just over a week ago, the couple were ‘normal people’ with no plans to carry weapons, he noted. Now, ‘they want to defend our city together.'” WaPo Gift Article: The groom wore a helmet. The bride wore fatigues.
+ The honeymoon period was short as Putin predictably doubled down on the violence, attacked civilians, and shut off evacuation routes. Here’s the latest from CNN and BBC.
+ Russia has started recruiting Syrians mercenaries. (Two takeaways: Russian soldiers don’t like killing their cousins, aunts, and grandparents. And Putin is not going to stop until he has Ukraine or he gets stopped.)
+ “Griner, who plays for both the Phoenix Mercury and Russian basketball club UMMC Ekaterinburg, was arrested at a Moscow-area airport and accused of transporting drugs.” (What a horrifying moment to be an American in a Russian jail.)
+ “Whatever happens to Zelensky now—whether he wins or extends or loses this war, or is finally taken out by an enraged Putin, who unlike him wouldn’t dream of visiting his troops in their tents or sharing in their danger—he will be remembered as a hero of liberty and democracy in the West, perhaps the most consequential since the end of the Cold War.” Vladislav Davidzon in Tablet: Jewish Ukraine Fights Nazi Russia. “Ukrainians voted for a mixture of Benny Hill and Boris Johnson, and somehow wound up with Churchill.”
+ Some people have found a novel way to get money to Ukrainians as their country is under attack from Russia: booking immediate Airbnb stays they don’t intend to use.
+ A guy in Ireland drove his truck through the gates of the Russian embassy in Dublin. “I just done this to create a safe corridor for the Russian ambassador to leave Ireland.”
