Few places are safe in Kherson as the Russian attack drones fly over it daily, dropping explosives on anyone they can. The Russians literally call it “the human safari” on their own social media channels. This means that the closer you get to the river that stands between free and occupied Kherson, the fewer cars you see and the quieter it gets.

If war dehumanizes people, if it makes the bad even worse, I have also seen it make the good better, the once fearful resolute in their duty, and I have seen Ukrainians fight in and through terrible circumstances for their families, their cities, and their identity as a distinct people.

Remembering Operation Market Garden Part ll: Round Canopy Parachute Team

Thousands fill the streets of the Netherlands to commemorate and honor the allied troops who liberated them from Nazi occupation 80 years ago.

Testimony to EU Members of Parliament on Eastern Ukraine and Pokrovsk

My experience in Pokrovsk during some of the last days before the Russian onslaught begins

Honor Phillips spoke with Ukrainian soldiers and volunteer medics about Russian gas attacks on the frontlines.

A weekend in photos. The parachutists of Round Canopy Jump Team prepare to fill the skies over Normandy, France for the historic 80th anniversary of D-Day.

There is a toughness in the Ukrainian psyche that you have to see to really grasp. While there, our film crew spoke with Aksana, a woman in her 60s. She had lived through the months of Russian occupation, but would not leave her home. She knew people, her neighbors, who had been shot dead in the street for no apparent reason.

This peace is largely due to the so-called Rules Based International Order. A series of guidelines embraced and maintained by western powers at the end of World War Two to curb the vicious brutality that had wrecked the world twice over in a span of 40 years and in two world wars.

“Defending is very hard now. We lose every day a part of our land. Our soldiers morale is not as high as it was two years ago. They have strong characters, but when the fight is between steel and bodies, or ‘meat,’ every time steel will win.”

In one respect, it is the end of an era. Navalny, even while sometimes a controversial character, championed the hope of a Russia free from autocratic and despotic rule of the Kremlin regime.

As a woman, she could have left when the Russian tanks rolled over the border, as it was the adult males who were told to stay to defend against the invasion. But she did stay. She stayed to defend her country, protect the future of her five year old son, and fight for the very idea of living as Ukrainians. The fight continues today because of people like her who stayed.

Lieutenant Bohdan died in a last man stand in Mariupol after the civilians around him barely escaped the Russian attack. His parents described the brutal siege of the city and the moments right up to his death.

In America, the Soviet Union may just be a memory of a former opponent, but in countries all across Europe it represents torture, famine, ethnic deportation, death, and ideological oppression on a titanic scale.

This attack, while grievous, is not a surprise after more than a year of large scale land warfare and bombardment, but what is continually surprising is the Russian leadership’s ability to bully, murder, and destroy all while shamelessly lying to our faces and reversing every true narrative.

A few weeks ago, I sat down with three Ukrainian soldiers who were receiving training abroad. There are thousands of Ukrainian troops receiving specialized training by foreign governments. In February of 2023, ten thousand soldiers had completed training in England alone. Many other countries have invited Ukraine’s military for instruction to increase their combat readiness abilities as well.

Less than a year has now passed since Hendrickson and I sat in the bar. In that brief span of time, Ukraine has become recognized as the most landmine infested country in the world, surpassing even Afghanistan and Syria.