A Few Key Tech Lifelines offered to Ukraine in 2022

• Starlink provided service within days of the full-scale invasion, and donated hundred of terminals 
• By detecting samples of Russian malware before the war began, Microsoft warned Ukraine about how the impending conflict could affect the country’s information systems. 
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft migrated crucial Ukrainian government data to their cloud servers for safekeeping 
• Google and Microsoft offered cybersecurity services.
• Airbus, the U.S.-based satellite manufacturer ICEYE, and the space technology companies Capella Space, HawkEye 360, and Maxar Technologies have all been providing invaluable battlefield imaging and data. The analytics company Palantir has been aggregating this data to paint a more complete picture of the war on the ground.

"I Have Brought You Peace for Our Time"

Neville Chamberlain holds the Munich Agreement, a fateful 1938 decision to appease Hitler, who went on to seize most of Europe and murder millions of civilians.

 “It’s certainly an innovative approach to a negotiation to make very major concessions even before they have started,” stated former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, who co-chairs the European Council on Foreign Relations. "Not even Chamberlain went that low in 1938."

Ukraine War Developments: Gabbard, Russian Stocks, sanctions on oligarchs, "greatest betrayal of a European ally since Poland in 1945"

Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.

She was voted in 52-48. As DNI, she will oversee 18 intelligence agencies with a budget of approximately $100 billion, and serve as Donald Trump’s top intelligence advisor.

Gabbard has consistently opposed U.S. support for Ukraine and has repeated Russian propaganda narratives, including claims about alleged biolabs in Ukraine. She has criticized President Joe Biden’s policies, accusing Democrats of prolonging the conflict and opposing U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine.

In 2022, Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation stated that Gabbard was working for foreign audiences with Russian funding.

However, during her confirmation hearing on January 30, she called Russia a “strategic competitor” and stated that “Putin started the war against Ukraine.”

Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader, speaks in UK Parliament:

Russian stocks soared today, after today's developments

 A meeting was being prepared for Friday, 14 Feb 2025, in Munich, where Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the delegation.

In further news, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions on Ukrainian oligarchs at a meeting on February 12. Those sanctioned included Poroshenko, Kolomoisky, Bogolyubov, Zhevago and Medvedchuk. All of them are accused of carrying out activities in the interests of the Russian Federation. Criminal cases have been opened for each episode, which are being investigated by law enforcement officers.

Sanctions against Poroshenko were reportedly imposed due to:

• a criminal case of high treason, when Poroshenko, in collusion with Medvedchuk and the Russian leadership, allowed Centrenergo to buy coal from the LDN. This deprived Ukraine of any chance of energy independence from the Russian Federation for a long time.

• Poroshenko's participation in the creation of the Party of Regions and his work in Yanukovych's government, when, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he participated in the preparation of the Kharkiv Agreements.

• Cooperation with the Russian Federation: Owning assets in the Russian Federation – the Roshen factory in Lipetsk and Sevmorzavod in Crimea – Poroshenko was interested in continuing cooperation with the Russian Federation and stationing the Black Sea Fleet on the peninsula.

Sanctions against Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov were reportedly imposed because of:

• that in 2023 they were the founders and beneficiaries of the company Eclaris Group Limited. Through shell companies, it sold oil and gas to Gazprom subsidiaries, which paid taxes to the Russian budget, financing the war.

• withdrawal of UAH 750 million from Privatbank.

The grounds for imposing sanctions against Zhevago reportedly were:

• his close ties with the Russian Federation, in particular, with the sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexei Fedorychev.

• crimes in the banking sector related to the withdrawal of UAH 500 million in credit funds from the Finance and Credit Bank.

• The Ferrexpo group of companies controlled by Zhevago cooperated with the Russian Federation until recently. For example, AvtoKraz exported trucks to Russia, and Rosava and Premiori exported tires, which were supplied to the so-called "LDNR" as early as 2022.

Sanctions against Medvedchuk have been imposed indefinitely - reportedly based on several old episodes, as well as new ones:

• collecting information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the benefit of the Russian Federation,

• blocking the launch of advanced cellular radio technologies in Ukraine

• his activities in the OPZH,

• anti-Ukrainian activities of its media resources,

• involving him in anti-Ukrainian propaganda in the Russian Federation. In 2024, the SBU terminated the activities of the media structure “Voice of Europe”, which was part of the pro-Russian project “Second Ukraine”. It was headed and financed by Medvedchuk, and coordinated by the 5th Service of the Russian FSB.

Ballistic Missile Impact in Kiev

Video shows damage from an unknown type of ballistic missile, which struck Kyiv on the morning of 12 Feb 2025.

 

Ukrainian MOD launches "Contract 18-24" voluntary army recruiting program

The program offers 18- to 24-year-olds the ability to join the military under a one-year contract, and the option to either reenlist after one year or return to civilian life. 

The Ukrainian MoD will pay volunteers 200,000 UAH ($4,700) upon signing a one-year contract and an additional 800,000 UAH ($19,120) during their service in addition to a monthly salary of 120,000 UAH ($2,870). Volunteers will receive three months of training before deploying to the frontline. 

The Ukrainian government will subsidize future mortgages, education, and medical care for volunteers and will permit volunteers to travel abroad after their one year of service. 

The program also exempts volunteers from mobilization for 12 months after their one-year contract ends. 

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov stated that the "Contract 18-24" program is part of Ukraine's ongoing efforts to create a professional military. 

Ukraine: Reasons to Wear Eye Protection

 Eye injury occurs in roughly 1/4 of blast injury victims. Most eye injuries are easily preventable, by using simple polycarbonate eye protection.

Here, the blast wave from a FAB-500 aerial bomb shatters nearby windows on 9 Feb 2025, in Kramatorsk.

Video: Russian Fiberoptic Drone allegedly finds and detonates pre-rigged explosives on Ukrainian bridge

 

Elon Musk Retweets Debunked Russian Propaganda

Elon Musk has retweeted the fabricated piece of Russian propaganda below, on his X feed. The fake news story appears to have been designed by Russian disinformation network Matryoshka. 

The fact that Musk retweeted it to his 216 million followers is a major coup for Matryoshka.

The fake video is designed appear to have been published on E! news. It falsely alleges that USAID sent US celebrities, including Angelina Jolie, to Ukraine to support the Ukrainian cause. 

However, E! spokeman confirmed the video "is not authentic and did not originate from E! News". Ben Stiller, one of the actors named in the video, denied that his trip to Ukraine was funded by USAID, writing on X: "These are lies coming from Russian media. I completely self-funded my humanitarian trip to Ukraine. There was no funding from USAID and certainly no payment of any kind. 100 percent false." Darren Linvill, co-director of Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub, posted that the video has "every indication of being a Russian fabricated video planted and spread using familiar methods."

Elon Musk appears to have since deleted the post.

 

Russian SU-25 Fighter Jet is Shot Down

 

Ukraine: Mine Disguised as a Chunk of Mud

 

Chinese Lidar Drone Navigates through Forest

This new drone allegedly uses lidar and AI to create a 3D map, enabling it to navigate between trees and other obstacles at high speed. It does not require a GPS signal, making it resistant to jamming.

 

Video: Russian Drone purportedly dropping Petal Mines over Ukrainian Territory

 

POW Patients: Geneva Convention, Part 1

 

Key Points:

Prisoners of War (POWs) are combatants (regular military, organized, uniformed militia, and local residents who spontaneously resist invasion) and noncombatants (journalists, civilians, supply contractors, etc) who have fallen into the power of the enemy.

POWs must at all times be humanely treated, and protected from: 

acts or omissions that could cause death or seriously endanger health or cause mutilation

medical or scientific experiments

acts of violence or intimidation 

insults and public curiosity

Prisoners of war may not be prevented from presenting themselves to the medical authorities for examination. Medical inspections of prisoners of war shall be held at least once a month.

Prisoners of war suffering from serious disease, or whose condition necessitates special treatment, a surgical operation or hospital care, must be admitted to any military or civilian medical unit where such treatment can be given

POWs must be adequately fed and watered, and clothed and quartered appropriately for the weather conditions

POWs should be allowed to send and receive mail

Unless he be a volunteer, no prisoner of war may be employed on labour which is of an unhealthy, dangerous, or humiliating nature.

POWs should not be intentionally exposed to fire, or used as “shields”

The use of weapons against prisoners of war, especially against those who are escaping or attempting to escape, shall constitute an extreme measure, which shall always be preceded by warnings appropriate to the circumstances.

FULL TEXT, RELEVANT EXCERPTS FROM THE 1949 GENEVA CONVENTION RELATIVE TO THE TREATMENT OF POWs:

*** All text below is taken directly from the original 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War document; non-relevant portions are omitted for brevity. Full text available here: https://www.icrc.org/sites/default/files/external/doc/en/assets/files/publications/icrc-002-0173.pdf***

Prisoner of War Definition: 

A. Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy:

1. Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.

2. Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfil the following conditions:

(a) That of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;

(b) That of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;

(c) That of carrying arms openly;

(d) That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of  war.

…4. Persons who accompany the armed forces without actually being members thereof, such as civilian members of military aircraft crews, war correspondents, supply contractors, members of labour units or of services responsible for the welfare of the armed forces, provided that they have received authorization from the armed forces which they accompany, who shall provide them for that purpose with an identity card similar to the annexed model.

…6. Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.  

(1949 Geneva Convention, Part 1, Article 4)

General Treatment of Prisoners of War

Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention. In particular, no prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the prisoner concerned and carried out in his interest.

Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.

Measures of reprisal against prisoners of war are prohibited.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 13)

…All effects and articles of personal use, except arms, horses, military equipment and military documents shall remain in the possession of prisoners of war, likewise their metal helmets and gas masks and like articles issued for personal protection. Effects and articles used for their clothing or feeding shall likewise remain in their possession, even if such effects and articles belong to their regulation military equipment.

…Badges of rank and nationality, decorations and articles having above all a personal or sentimental value may not be taken from prisoners of war.

Sums of money carried by prisoners of war may not be taken away from them except by order of an officer…The Detaining Power may withdraw articles of value from prisoners of war only for reasons of security 

(1949 Geneva Convention, Article 18)

The evacuation of prisoners of war shall always be effected humanely and in conditions similar to those for the forces of the Detaining Power in their changes of station.

The Detaining Power shall supply prisoners of war who are being evacuated with sufficient food and potable water, and with the necessary clothing and medical attention. The Detaining Power shall take all suitable precautions to ensure their safety during evacuation, and shall establish as soon as possible a list of the prisoners of war who are evacuated.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 20)

No prisoner of war may at any time be sent to or detained in areas where he may be exposed to the fire of the combat zone, nor may his presence be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations…

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 23)

Prisoners of war shall be quartered under conditions as favourable as those for the forces of the Detaining Power who are billeted in the same area… 

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 25)

The basic daily food rations shall be sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to keep prisoners of war in good health and to prevent loss of weight or the development of nutritional deficiencies. Account shall also be taken of the habitual diet of the prisoners…Sufficient drinking water shall be supplied to prisoners of war. The use of tobacco shall be permitted…Collective disciplinary measures affecting food are prohibited…

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 26)

Clothing, underwear and footwear shall be supplied to prisoners of war in sufficient quantities by the Detaining Power, which shall make allowance for the climate of the region where the prisoners are detained… 

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 27)

Prisoners of war shall enjoy complete latitude in the exercise of their religious duties, including attendance at the service of their faith, on condition that they comply with the disciplinary routine prescribed by the military authorities.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 34)

The use of weapons against prisoners of war, especially against those who are escaping or attempting to escape, shall constitute an extreme measure, which shall always be preceded by warnings appropriate to the circumstances.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 42)

…The transfer of prisoners of war shall always be effected humanely and in conditions not less favourable than those under which the forces of the Detaining Power are transferred. Account shall always be taken of the climatic conditions to which the prisoners of war are accustomed and the conditions of transfer shall in no case be prejudicial to their health.

The Detaining Power shall supply prisoners of war during transfer with sufficient food and drinking water to keep them in good health, likewise with the necessary clothing, shelter and medical attention…

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 46)

Immediately upon capture, or not more than one week after arrival at a camp, even if it is a transit camp, likewise in case of sickness or transfer to hospital or another camp, every prisoner of war shall be enabled to write direct to his family, on the one hand, and to the Central Prisoners of War Agency…

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 70)

Prisoners of war shall be allowed to receive by post or by any other means individual parcels or collective shipments containing, in particular, foodstuffs, clothing, medical supplies and articles of a religious, educational or recreational character…

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 72)

Prisoners of war may not be sentenced by the military authorities and courts of the Detaining Power to any penalties except those provided for in respect of members of the armed forces of the said Power who have committed the same acts… Collective punishment for individual acts, corporal punishment, imprisonment in premises without daylight and, in general, any form of torture or cruelty, are forbidden.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 87)

Escape or attempt to escape, even if it is a repeated offence, shall not be deemed an aggravating circumstance if the prisoner of war is subjected to trial by judicial proceedings in respect of an offence committed during his escape or attempt to escape.

In conformity with the principle stated in Article 83, offences committed by prisoners of war with the sole intention of facilitating their escape and which do not entail any violence against life or limb, such as offences against public property, theft without intention of self-enrichment, the drawing up or use of false papers, or the wearing of civilian clothing, shall occasion disciplinary punishment only.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 93)

Medical Treatment of Prisoners of War

The Power detaining prisoners of war shall be bound to provide free of charge for their maintenance and for the medical attention required by their state of health.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 15)

Prisoners of war who, owing to their physical or mental condition, are unable to state their identity, shall be handed over to the medical service.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 17)

Prisoners of war shall be evacuated, as soon as possible after their capture, to camps situated in an area far enough from the combat zone for them to be out of danger.

Only those prisoners of war who, owing to wounds or sickness, would run greater risks by being evacuated than by remaining where they are, may be temporarily kept back in a danger zone.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 19)

Every camp shall have an adequate infirmary where prisoners of war may have the attention they require, as well as appropriate diet. Isolation wards shall, if necessary, be set aside for cases of contagious or mental disease.

Prisoners of war suffering from serious disease, or whose condition necessitates special treatment, a surgical operation or hospital care, must be admitted to any military or civilian medical unit where such treatment can be given, even if their repatriation is contemplated in the near future. Special facilities shall be afforded for the care to be given to the disabled, in particular to the blind, and for their rehabilitation, pending repatriation…

…Prisoners of war may not be prevented from presenting themselves to the medical authorities for examination.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 30)

Medical inspections of prisoners of war shall be held at least once a month. They shall include the checking and the recording of the weight of each prisoner of war. Their purpose shall be, in particular, to supervise the general state of health, nutrition and cleanliness of prisoners and to detect contagious diseases, especially tuberculosis, malaria and venereal disease…

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 31)

Sick or wounded prisoners of war shall not be transferred as long as their recovery may be endangered by the journey, unless their safety imperatively demands it…

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 47)

 

Duties of the Prisoner

Every prisoner of war, when questioned on the subject, is bound to give only his surname, first names and rank, date of birth, and army, regimental, personal or serial number, or failing this, equivalent information.

…No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 17)

Prisoners of war who, though not attached to the medical service of their armed forces, are physicians, surgeons, dentists, nurses or medical orderlies, may be required by the Detaining Power to exercise their medical functions in the interests of prisoners of war dependent on the same Power. In that case they shall continue to be prisoners of war, but shall receive the same treatment as corresponding medical personnel retained by the Detaining Power. They shall be exempted from any other work under Article 49.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 32)

Members of the medical personnel and chaplains while retained by the Detaining Power with a view to assisting prisoners of war, shall not be considered as prisoners of war. They shall, however, receive as a minimum the benefits and protection of the present Convention, and shall also be granted all facilities necessary to provide for the medical care of, and religious ministration to, prisoners of war.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 33)

The Detaining Power may utilize the labour of prisoners of war who are physically fit, taking into account their age, sex, rank and physical aptitude, and with a view particularly to maintaining them in a good state of physical and mental health.

 (1949 Geneva Convention, Article 49)

Unless he be a volunteer, no prisoner of war may be employed on labour which is of an unhealthy or dangerous nature.

No prisoner of war shall be assigned to labour which would be looked upon as humiliating for a member of the Detaining Power's own forces.

The removal of mines or similar devices shall be considered as dangerous labour.

(1949 Geneva Convention, Article 52)

Links

Geneva Convention, full text relating to treatment of Prisoners of War

International Committee of the Red Cross POW Website

Doctors Without Borders’ Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law

Video by Third Brigade of Capture and Interview of Russian POWs

Soldier in Traumatic Cardiac Arrest Saved by Ukrainian Medics

 

Ukrainian Army Recruiting Ad

 

Anti-Drone Cage on Russian Oil Tanks

 

"2000 Meters to Andriyivka": a film with the Third Assault Brigade at the American Sundance film festival!

This is a film from Oscar-winning Ukrainian film director Mstislav Chernov. With footage of real battles, losses, and victories of fighters of the 2nd mechanized and 2nd assault battalions of the 3rd assault brigade during a counteroffensive in the summer of 2023.

The world premiere of the film about the operation to liberate Andriyivka near Bakhmut will take place on January 23 at the SUNDANCE festival in the USA.

About the fight for every centimeter of our land, the happiness and horror of war, the fighters who take it out, and pre-premiere footage — in the video commentary!

Ukraine: The Cost in Dollars of Supporting Ukraine vs Letting Russia Win

 Elaine McCusker, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, provides a cost comparison: 

~112 billion:  Cost to the US so far, to support Ukraine with weapons and other equipment (most of this money goes to US arms manufacturers

vs 

~808 billion: Projected additional US defense spending that will be needed over the next 5 years, if Russia wins the Ukraine war, including:

    - $88 billion for 270,000 more US service members

    - $31 billion to harden US facilities

    - $109 billion to increase US air combat capabilities

    - $28 billion for drone development

    - $173 billion in air defenses

    - $63 billion to enhance munitions production capability

    - $50 in shipbuilding

    - $185 in additional training and exercises

    - $33 billion in spare parts stockpiling

    - $10 expanding special operations forces

    - $36 billion expanding space and cyber systems

The full article is available in Foreign Affairs magazine here: The Price of Russian Victory: Why Letting Putin Win Would Cost More than Supporting Ukraine

Prelude to Medic Work in Ukraine, part 2

Rule #3:  "Do Not Kill or Torture Prisoners"

- From the United States Marine Corps Common Skills Handbook, Core Principles of the Law of War

Late January 2022 

Things are mostly packed and ready for the yearly journey to Africa. More and more frequently, my daily work occurs with "Comprehensible Russian" podcasts and Ukrainian news playing in the background. 

Included in these is Bellingcat's investigative series on Flight MH17. This Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile in 2014, as it passed over a then-freshly-ignited conflict area in East Ukraine. 298 civilian passengers died in the crash. An international Joint Investigation Team found that the missile originated from the Russian Kursk-based 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade, and it was fired from Ukrainian territory held by Russian-backed rebels. Three Russians and one Ukrainian national have since been given life sentences by Dutch courts, and Holland is in the process of taking Russia to the European Court of Human Rights for its role in the downing of MH17. 

My old favorite Russian songs of my teens have been resurrected as workout tunes. Later, when the war starts, I'll come to be surprised at how many of my favorite bands make risky anti-war statements. And what about the Russian friends I danced with? Will they protest the war? This will remain a persistant mystery. Even back in 2021, my letters to Russian acquaintances had begun to go unanswered. I'm probably just writing to the FSB now.

A favorite of mine, "Prosvistela" ("Whistled by") comes on. I realize I've never paid enough attention to the lyrics to understand them. I listen now, and pick out a confusion of something falling on the table, a hug, heaven, being prisoners of the motherland. It doesn't really make sense, so I finally google the meaning. It turns out my favorite song was written by Yuri Shevchuk, after a visit to soldiers fighting in Chechnya. Scarred by the horrors he saw, Shevchuk penned an unsubtle composition about a grenade falling into an armored personnel carrier. Everyone inside is killed, but in heaven they reunite with friends, find freedom and happiness, and reflect on the meaninglessness of the war. I'm shocked that this song, which blended seamlessly with the teeny pop discoteca sounds of my youth, had such a deep and dark meaning. You can listen to it here, and a translation of the full lyrics is below: Prosvistela/ "Whistled By", DDT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inG69xYWROw

The music draws me back into memories of Russia. I'm 16 again, and it's my first week in southern Russia. My host family doesn't speak a word of English, which is tremendously exciting for me. I've chosen to learn Russian, because I believe one day Russia will cause trouble, and I'll want to know Russian very well. Complete immersion is the best way to learn. I'm constantly thumbing through the heavy Russian-English dictionary I carry everywhere in my backback (no Google Translate or Kindle app in 1998!). Communicating anything- "I'm hungry", "Good morning", "Where is the bathroom?" requires a consult with the book. Unfortunately I had an orange juice explode in my bag on the plane, and the dictionary remains decorated with tiny black mold stains for the year-long duration of my visit. Every morning I select 50 new words and write them down three times, which lets me commit them permanently to memory.

During my first few days in-country, southern Russia sees an oppressive August heat wave. My host family retreats to the beach, and I promptly become very ill with food poisoning. My host mother sees me through with a treatment of two shots of heavily salted vodka, followed by bed rest.

By the time my second week in Russia rolls around, it is time to return to school. I'll be accompanying my host sister to the equivalent of a K-12 public school. At 14, she is two years younger, and immensely more worldly than I. "Irina" (name changed for her safety) has it all planned out: on her 15th birthday, she'll try Ecstasy; on the 16th, she'll lose her virginity. At the end of her 16th year, she'll enroll in college, preparatory to Law School. I'm placed in Irina's grade, and she helps me understand the lessons, which are of course all in Russian.

The heat wave, if anything, has grown more intense on our first day back at school. The class swelters, as the teacher conducts what I come to realize is a surprisingly in-depth review of World War II history. My host sister knows far more than the average American college student about 20th century European wars. I half-follow vaguely familiar battle names and dates, thumbing through my trusty, moldy dictionary.

Before math class, I join my host sister and her friends outside, politely declining their proffered cigarettes. Sweating and swatting at flies, we seek refuge under the shade of a tree, but don't stay too long. They must not have taken out the trash since spring; the air stinks of rotting meat.

We return to class, math this time. Suddenly, a woman comes in and draws the teacher from the room. A growing wave of whispering begins: "Samo-ubitso!" I feverishly flip the pages of my moldy dictionary, seeking this new term which has caused such a stir.

It means "suicide".

In the next two hours, I will be introduced to the real Russia, and the reality that, in most of the world, the strong devour the weak. In the next week, at 16 years old, I'll build two key emotional foundations. One is for dealing with Americans who turn a willful blind eye to the evils of the world (as with many future ugly international realities, my American compatriots cope with the alien violence and ugliness of this first day of Russian school, by simply refusing to believe in it). The second foundation is for recognizing and navigating the special mix of 'anything-is-possible and nothing-is-real', which underpins every tug of the marionnette strings, by which the Russian government controls the Russian population.

Our math teacher comes back inside, and acknowledges that there's no chance of us paying attention to the lesson. He releases us, and we join the entire student body outdoors. Kids from age five up through sixteen form a ring around the shade tree, where we had smoked earlier. The body hanging in the tree was discovered shortly after we left. The next group of smoking girls looked up, after it dripped on one of them. It had probably been hanging, twenty feet up in the large oak, for the entirety of the hot weekend.

I saw my first body at age 14, when I discovered my mother had passed away from a mixture of cancer-induced hypercalcemia and pain medications. That was a peaceful and expected relief from pain, and I closed her eyes with more relief for her than grief.

This second body was much messier. The breeze spun him on the rope around his neck. At each of his slow rotations, his face was visible above us. It was plum-purple and bloated, and an impossibly swollen tongue stuck obscenely from his mouth. The military showed up with a pickup, and made a great show of obtaining his passport and reading his name out loud, then showing the passport around to the group of students. One of the soldiers then told the circle of assembled students to back up. He jabbed me in the abdomen with his AK when I was slow to respond. My host sister came to my rescue, saying I was "an Amerikanka, I didn't understand". I really wished she hadn't done more to make me stand out; even at sixteen I instinctively understood that what what happening here was outside the bounds of Rule of Law. Anything could happen. Overtly being an American here wasn't the best idea.

The soldier who had climbed the tree to get the dead man's passport proceeded to tie a rope around the waist of the corpse. The crowd of students parted to allow a pickup truck to drive in. One arm covering his nose, the soldier in the tree reached out and sawed though the rope around the corpse's neck. The circle of students, small and large, stood immobile, barely glancing at the soldiers' AKs. They gazed upward, rapt, wordless. Neck-rope severed, the dead man described a slow-motion arc backwards. His torso came to an abrupt stop at its perigee, impossibly purple face now upside down, and oriented our way. An unexpected amount of what looked like black, clotted blood gushed out of his mouth and into the pickup bed below. I felt fortunate that my parents had enrolled me in many dissection and veterinary classes in grade school. Today's scene was no way to introduce oneself to the ugly side of mammalian biology.

The soldier in the tree undid a hitch, and slowly lowered the body, now essentially hanging upside-down, into the truck. With no further formalities, the soldiers left the scene and classes resumed. Being sixteen, abroad, and not having experienced the aftermath of a grisly suicide at school before, I accepted this as the normal process here. I told my dad about it next time we talked, and otherwise went on with life, and my observations of this very-different-from-American culture. It felt odd to compare the complete lack of response from the Russian school system, to what would have happened at home in America. A scene like that on the grounds of a US school? The school would have been closed for a week, and mandatory counseling given to all students! But, this was Russia. Counseling? Compared to watching the body of one's mother slowly destroyed by cancer, this really wasn't a big deal. As long as you're lucky, healthy formative-years coping mechanisms get built, and life goes on.

Only in retrospect, listening to Bellingcat and Prosvistela, did I begin to appreciate some of the political undercurrents of that day. Even in Russia, where life can be cheap, the man in the tree, so long ago, was probably not just a suicide. The army had taken far too much care- to make sure all the students watched, and to make the name on his passport known. The man in the tree must have been someone... a political dissident, a rebel, an enemy of the mafia. He must have been someone worth making an example of. My dad, of course, believed every word of the story. The convenient denial of the other Americans- the other Exchange Program students and managers- was the first of many, many times that I would cope with this failing of my own culture. Outgoing President Obama would sum it up well in a 2015 speech: "If the American public cannot, or will not, differentiate fact from fiction, than we are in deep trouble".

Well, I'm just one member of that public. But, at sixteen, I surely appreciated my first lesson on what the breakdown of rule of law does to a society. My eyes and mind were wide open. I had expected that Russia would be challenging, romantic, sweet, and world-changing for me. It was all that. It was also ugly, corrupt, and violent.

So, twenty years later, when it came- Russia's wholesale violation of the Law of War in Ukraine, violation of "Do not kill or torture prisoners"? It was absolutely no surprise. Not after what I saw during my year in Russia.

Learning the nature and structure of Russia's ugly parts, and how to recognize their equivalents in other societies (including my own) was the greatest lesson of my time in the Russian exchange program.