“He says Putin’s move to conscript ‘by trickery’ hundreds of thousands of new soldiers — who Cherkaskyi says ‘are unprepared, forced and intimidated’ — does not dent Ukrainian soldiers’ morale in the least. ‘We are defending our country, our homes, our families and our children. So how can it affect us?'” Jewish Ukrainian father and son soldiers mark holy days under cloud of Russia’s war. (You can’t beat this with conscripts and bluster.)

+ WaPo: “The day after Russian President Vladimir Putin proudly proclaimed the illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, thousands of his troops withdrew from a strategic town there under Ukrainian fire.”

+ Before they run, they torture. 10 torture sites in 1 town: Russia sowed pain, fear in Izium. “The first time the Russian soldiers caught him, they tossed him bound and blindfolded into a trench covered with wooden boards for days on end. Then they beat him, over and over: Legs, arms, a hammer to the knees, all accompanied by furious diatribes against Ukraine. Before they let him go, they took away his passport and Ukrainian military ID — all he had to prove his existence — and made sure he knew exactly how worthless his life was.”