Many of you don’t know this since it’s not relevant to the functioning of Mobilism, but I am Ukrainian. Mobilism also has Ukrainian servers (among others), Ukrainian coders, and is obviously home to many of my fellow compatriots. You’re all currently using a Ukrainian site.

Ukraine has been invaded by a country that feels no remorse for dead civilians or human suffering, and is beholden to the whims of a tyrant and his pursuit of imperial glory. We are fighting valiantly and will continue doing so. We will not give up an inch of Ukrainian soil without a fight. We will stand as Europe’s shield against the land that for the past ten years we’ve referred to as Mordor.

To clear up misconceptions: Russia claims that they are not targeting civilians: so far, Russian shelling and bombing have hit hospitals, ambulances, kindergartens, universities, and tens of thousands of homes; a Russian tank drove over a car with the driver (an elderly civilian) still inside. So, if they are claiming they only target the military, then either their aim is even worse than we thought, or they are blatantly lying, like they have lied for weeks about their intentions for Ukraine.

Putin claims Ukrainians are Nazis and his goal is to de-nazify Ukraine. Ukraine is the only country in Europe whose head of state is Jewish (elected with 73% of the vote). In the last election, a coalition of all far-right parties won 2.15% of the popular vote, and since that didn’t meet the threshold of 5% failed to gain any parliamentary seats. What’s more, I’m Jewish, as are my wife and many of our Ukrainian friends. One of the bomb shelters a part of my family is using is a gay club in downtown Kyiv. The only likeness Ukrainians have to Nazis is that we are now at war with Russians.

Putin claims Ukrainians and the West forced him to “defend Russia”. Ukraine has never threatened Russia militarily. The only way it threatened Russia is by showing that it can thrive without it as a democracy. Russia’s claims that they are somehow provoked into attacking us is akin to this: a wife left her abusive alcoholic ex, took the children, and issued a restraining order- so he killed her cat, trashed her car, and now showed up in her new home with a gun, all while blaming this on her and the police.

“Current sanctions are enough:” In 2008, Russia annexed a piece of Georgia. The international community offered sanctions and a slap on the wrist. In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and started a bloody conflict in the east of Ukraine which had been claiming our lives for 8 years now. More sanctions followed. After Russia’s total invasion of Ukraine the West implemented its most severe sanctions. And yet, they do not deter Russia from continuing the war. We’re not looking for NATO to bring in troops, we’ll do the fighting for our own country. Thank you to all the countries that are providing us with lethal aid and defensive equipment. We will use it for as long as we are able.

Слава Україні!