As Russia continues it’s invasion of Ukraine, the rhetoric of Russian Orthodox Church is growing even more shocking and dangerous putting at risk the fate of orthodoxy in the west, writes Religion Dispatches. According to the outlet, european parishes of Russian Orthodox Church are switching to Constantinople eccesiastical jurisdiction. Moreover, the possibility itslef of Orthodox Christianity enjoying an thriving and intellectually robust life in the modern age seems threatened by the patriarchate of Kirill.
A column on the Atlantic writes of the stand US has to take to protect own democracy from the incipient Russification. The Ukrainian resistance restored the heartbeat of western democracy showing something unprecedental – the difference between right and wrong with a clarity that most Americans were in agreement. However, as the time passes and Americans have short attention span, how long would they continue carying about Ukraine? It is crucial for USA, as a key ally to Ukraine, to keep strong and continue watch and care of the events in Ukraine. If the conflict comes to be seen as an impenetrable European mess, a war over spheres of influence and natural gas, or proof of the West’s hypocrisy, the American public will stop caring. The role of President Biden in this is crucial, he has to be very careful with his rhetorics as words are very important in this crisis. Another important thing for the US to do is to get rid of own incipient Russification, including a risk of some members of the Republican party having strong attraction to autocracy. Today, reversing America’s Russification will mean defeating own authoritarians, reducing the power of oligarchs, ridding politics of its endemic corruption, and giving Americans on the losing end of 40 years of globalization a sense of security and identity that binds them to our democracy. “If we’re true to our own ideals, then we might be worthy of Ukraine,” - ends the article.
The Times of Israel writes how dramatically prognoses about war in Ukraine have changed over more than a month into it. While In 2021 Russia spent almost 10 times as much as Ukraine on defense, as Russian forces withdraw the plan to take Kyiv, officials and observers are speaking about the possibility of a Ukrainian victory. In order for that to happen the West will have to increase its shipments of arms and other crucial supplies, including air defense systems that would ensure a kind of the “no-fly” zone. At the same time, many Israeli commentators question the very use of the term “victory in a war”. With Russia’s initial plan defeated, the conflict appears to be headed toward a drawn-out slog, with the focus moving toward the Donbas region. In order for Ukrainians to fight back, the West will have to supply Ukraine with new and heavier equipment like tanks and aircraft.
The New Yorker writes about catacombs in Odesa, being equipped to host local residents during the air raid alarms. The article depicts a local catacombs guide Roman Mauser, whose hobby became a wartime enterprise after the Russian invasion. Together with a group of civilian explorers, he has been renovating shelters in the Odesa undergrounds. As Odesa is a city well-know for its’ catacombs, there are shelters there built just after the Second world war, a hundred feet beneath street level, and able to protect hundreds of local residents in case of air strikes. The volunteers have put effort to modernize the old shelters, installing lighting and electricity, benches and cots and stockpling water.