Large crowds gathered outside the Russian Embassy in West London over the weekend to show their anger and opposition to the invasion of the Ukraine. Most cars that passed along Bayswater Rd also beeped their horn in support which raised cheers in the crowd. Some guy in a red Mazda drove round and round the block just so he could keep honking. The entire front wall of the embassy had been graffitied in chalk with anti-war statements. Chants of ‘Putin is a murderer’ and ‘We stand with Ukraine’ echoed across the busy street.
It was an impressive turnout yet it was highly unlikely anyone inside the building was going call up Putin to tell him to end the assault but that’s not the point. We were all there because we wanted to be seen and heard and because protest makes you feel like you are doing something as oppose to nothing, however futile it seems.
And I am putting up these photographs not in the genuine belief it’s going to stop the war but because it’s all I can do. And all the other yelllow and blue posts that are now plastered across social media in support of Ukraine are not just empty token gestures. They are there so that they can see the world does care about them, and our government’s inaction does not reflect our collective desire to see them rescued from this tyrannical psychobully.
When you watch the horror and the misery of others unfold before you very eyes on the feed of doom you feel utterly helpless. In recent times we have had to watch atrocities committed against the Syrians, the Palestinians, the Uyghurs and Yemen’s Houti Rebels and in all those situations, like now, the international community has not got involved through fear of the aggressor. (Actually I say ‘not got involved’ but the UK actually sent arms to the Saudis to help kill the rebels so there’s that) And not that anyone wants us to be dragged into more wars but can we stand by and do nothing?
The Ukraine was convinced to give up their nukes in the 90s on the promise from both the West and Russia that they would never invade. They signed a friggin treaty on it for fuck’s sake and now that it’s happening we are reneging on that promise to protect them. I know we don’t have a good track record for interference. When we do go into places (Iraq,Afghanistan, Libya) we tend to fuck shit up worse and then just walk away and leave them to deal with the mess we created but Putin must be stopped. Because he won’t.
In hunter gatherer times if anyone stepped out of line or tried to take too much of their share or try to dominate they would immediately get knocked down. In action movies and superhero films, the good guys always go and defeat the evil bad guy. In the 20th century the west used to have this role. But what happens now? The heroes have to save the day but who and where are they? Why isn’t anyone stepping up? If we won’t do it, who will?
The world seems to be constantly at the mercy of dickless dickheads like Putin who need to chuck their weight around so they can be the most powerful. I know it’s primate hierarchy in action but can’t we get past it? Can’t we evolve? I am actually sick to death of these 20th century dinosaurs who favour destruction over resolution, war over peace, profit over people, fossil fuels over renewables. We have to remove them in order to find a future we can all live in. They will be the death of us all if we don’t.
I once wrote a b movie sci-fi story called ‘Planet Arsehole’ where they had been able to identify the ‘arsehole gene’ in humans and everyone who tested positive was banished to another planet. It’s a lovely thought but even if that was scientifically possible the leaders of this world would block it because they are, in fact, the arseholes and they know it. As I have said before we are sadly represented not by the best of us but by the worst of us, mainly because anyone that wants power isn’t someone you want in power. End of.
Truth is there is terrible shit going on all over the world all the time and even though you sympathise with the plight of the persecuted everywhere you cannot carry all the conflicts with you because you wouldn’t be able to get out of bed. But you are naturally more affected by those that are closer and ones you are personally connected to. I have been to Kyiv and it’s a beautiful place and met some truly lovely people there who are now all trapped inside this war zone and it is just horrific to think of what they are going through and pray for their safety.
A very good friend of ours lives in Kharkiv right on the border. This town has been heavily bombed since the invasion started and she has been hiding out in an underground car park. The city no longer has any power and a lot of it has been reduced to rubble. Buildings are decimated all around and the Russian troops are now marching in towards her. What was she doing a week or so ago? She was living a normal life, working, looking after her son, walking her fluffy white dog and baking fucking cakes…and now she is now on the run and fleeing for her life. And she is just one of millions.
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