The Russia Ukraine War

In this episode, Tayla and Sam review the lead up and fall out of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the ramifications for the global community. They speak to the importance to support Ukraine in this fight, and what we can do, as ordinary citizens, to contribute.

You can make a donation directly to help support Ukrainians at this website: https://toukrainewithlove.org/

Transcript

Tayla (00:11):

Welcome to the Babe. What do you know about podcast?

Sam (00:14):

Where your hosts husband and wife duo, Sam

Tayla (00:16):

And Tayla

Sam (00:17):

Air their grievances publicly for your entertainment.

Tayla (00:22):

So the most annoying part about the whole evening was when you stepped up to do your very first throw. It was like bam. Bullseye. Do you even remember that?

Sam (00:33):

I do. I do remember

Tayla (00:35):

It. I was going to say,

Sam (00:36):

For me, it

Tayla (00:36):

Wasn't if it wasn't that significant because you just hit the bullseye so many times, but it was like, are you freaking kidding me?

Sam (00:42):

I just have a natural neck for throwing axes. Apparently.

Tayla (00:46):

Apparently. I thought it was very therapeutic for me.

Sam (00:51):

<laugh>, go on.

Tayla (00:53):

It felt really good. The ninja stars were fun, but it wasn't as satisfying as the

Sam (00:58):

Ax. No, no, as fun.

Tayla (01:00):

But I definitely felt more prepared for the zombie apocalypse, which I'm constantly thinking of, especially since we've been doing our Walking Dead marathon.

Sam (01:07):

Have you thought about your zombie apocalypse team? I mean, we went through a pandemic, so hopefully you're ready now.

Tayla (01:15):

Is that a thing?

Sam (01:16):

What?

Tayla (01:17):

Having a team like of celebrities or real people? No real people. Well, I would for sure want you on my team. I'd probably want Conrad as well, just because you guys are survival E people. I would actually want, I do think I would want my brother because he's also studied outdoors and does outdoor recreation, has all the gear.

Sam (01:41):

What's his job? Recreational therapist or something?

Tayla (01:43):

Yeah, or something <laugh>, something like that. He works with troubled kids in a facility in the middle of nowhere in Missouri. So it probably, if we could make our way to middle of nowhere in Missouri, that'd be good too, because no one's there, so won't, won't be too many <laugh> dead bodies walking around trying to eat us. I'd want my sister and Kelsey because she's fast and soulful and strong. I'd probably want my mom too. She's pretty badass. I don't know. I have a lot of people that I've been, there's

Sam (02:16):

A large team I

Tayla (02:16):

Know I'd be fine with. Well, I mean, a bunch of us are going to die probably. So that's not a good team then. No, I know a lot of people that I would not be sad to have on my zombie apocalypse team, so cool. I would want me, yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty badass too. But yeah, the act storming was super fun. Also, Max's surgery went really well. Yeah, that

Sam (02:42):

Went really

Tayla (02:43):

Well. It's finally improving.

Sam (02:44):

He came out of the surgery just happy.

Tayla (02:47):

I know. It was wild. The nurses were usually babies, and Ella did when she came out of her surgery when she was like 15 months just fighting, fighting for half an hour, but they carried him back to me and he was just smiling and I was like, what did they do? The surgery? Yeah. Such a sweet kid. They're very different. Very different, but I love it. Anyway today we've got a timely episode so I'm going to give a little more background as well just because I think it'll help guide the rest of the conversation to get you and me and everyone on the same page. So there has been a long-term conflict between Ukraine and Russia, so that's kind of like a very simplistic background. So the conflict that is there right now didn't start in 2021. There's a lot of background to it, but beginning in 2021, Russia built up a large military presence near its border with Ukraine, including from within neighboring Belarus.

(03:55):

Russian officials repeatedly denied plans to attack Ukraine. Spoiler alert Russian president Vladimir Putin criticized the enlargement of NATO and demanded that Ukraine be barred from ever joining the military alliance. He also expressed Irid dentist views and questioned Ukraine's right to exist. Russia recognized the D P R and LPR as independent states in February, 2022 with Putin announcing a special military operation in Ukraine and subsequently invading the region so that the anniversary of that invasion was just, yeah. Was it yesterday or two days? Yeah, yesterday. Yeah. From the time of recording this. So the invasion was internationally condemned. Many countries imposed sanctions against Russia and ramped up existing sanctions. Russia abandoned an attempt to take kyiv in early April, 2022. Amid fierce resistance from August, Ukrainian forces began recapturing territories in the northeast and south as a result of successful counter offenses offensives. In late September, Russia declared the annexation of four partially occupied regions in the southern and eastern Ukraine, which was internationally unrecognized.

(05:11):

Of course, the ongoing full scale war has resulted in a major refugee crisis and tens of thousands of deaths. So to get into a couple, I wanted to get into some statistics of what the result of this invasion has been. So according to the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees, more than 8 million people have so far been forced to leave Ukraine since Russia's invasion on the 24th of February, 2022, while the true scale of civilian casualties as unknown, the most recent estimate by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights suggests that at least 7,199 civilians have been killed, and 11,756 injured as of the 12th of February. Russia has frequently denied targeting civilians in the face of evidence to the contrary, and has claimed that evidence of massacres and tortures in bucca after its troops retreated was a hoax, a stage production, and a provocation by Kiev.

(06:10):

So really horrific war crimes. Russia has likely suffered between 175,000 and 200,000 casualties since invading Ukraine a year ago, and in December, Ukrainian officials put the number of their own soldiers lost at 13,000. So about 20,000 citizens altogether, 13,000 of those being soldiers. Ukraine has taken retaken about 54% of the land seized by Russia. While little territory has changed hands, Moscow was believed to hold some 18% of the recognized Ukrainian territory, including Crimea allies have spent 127 billion on military aid to Ukraine, with the US being the largest contributor. And then most recently, president Joe Biden swept unannounced into Ukraine on Monday this past week to meet with President Vladimir Zelensky in a defiant display of Western solidarity with the country still fighting what he called a brutal and unjust war just days before the first anniversary of the invasion. It is very rare for a US president to travel to a conflict zone where the US or its allies did not have control over the airspace. So with all that background, babe, what do you know about the Russia Ukrainian

Sam (07:30):

War? Man, I wish I understood more because it's a lot still 100% confusing. Why? Yeah. But yeah, how about you? Besides the

Tayla (07:47):

Stuff I just

Sam (07:48):

Said? Yeah, just the beautiful intro you gave.

Tayla (07:50):

So I mean, this is something I know quite a bit about. Obviously you and I both keep up with stuff like this in general, but I did, I studied international relations and politics, and the conflict itself is really horrific. But I think what is so stressful to people is not just the conflict itself, but what it potentially represents as far as nuclear warfare or Russia's plans on, I don't know, expanding itself. I do have today I got together some news clips for us to listen to and react to. Oh, so I think that's maybe a good place for us to start. So I'm going to pull an audio. It's a report of the reasoning that Putin gave the day of the invasion. Obviously that invasion, again, he said it was, what was the exact phrasing?

Sam (09:00):

Military exercise,

Tayla (09:01):

Military exercise. But the day of the invasion, this is what he said.

News Clip of Putin (09:08):

It all began from a desk before dawn when Russian president Vladimir Putin declared a special military operation on Russian television. Russia cannot feel safe, develop and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine. He said, describing the government in Kiev as a hunter of neo-Nazis, determined to build nuclear weapons.

Tayla (09:33):

So that was the report and what he kind of said in that televised event as that invasion was happening. So what are your thoughts or reactions to that?

Sam (09:47):

My thoughts or reaction to what Putin was saying? Sure. So on when, I just remember when I was watching this unfold, I thought the whole thing was posturing. There had been just so much posturing going on. You're like, well, they're not really going to fully invade and they're not really going to do the thing. And then

Tayla (10:11):

A lot of people had the same assumption,

Sam (10:14):

And I mean, it was just lie after lie after lie after lie. And you knew, where's this actually really going? No, not war. That'd be crazy. You can't have full scale war in today's day and age with nuclear weapons and stuff. But here we are. Here we are. So, yeah, no, it's kind of surprising that we hear right now and again, so just raises all the questions for me is exactly what Putin was hoping to accomplish. Still, what is he hoping to accomplish?

Tayla (10:48):

I do think, and a lot of experts would agree that he was surprised at the united and strength that the unitedness and the strength of the international response, I mean, even Switzerland was like, nah, <laugh> do that. And I do think he has been surprised by the strength of the Ukrainian response. So perhaps part of it is he thought this was just a way to dip his toes into expanding his empire and thought it would be a lot simpler than it has been. I mean, they've lost a lot of people, and that's not even considering the amount of, they've lost in the thousands of tanks, and those are a hell of a lot of money.

Sam (11:39):

So a lot, speaking of tanks, so some of the things I do know is that Russia has had large, bloated aging military in terms of equipment. So I mean, they've got the most tanks in the entire world, but how useful is a tank in modern warfare? And we're finding out that

Tayla (12:03):

Not

Sam (12:04):

Very as great as having a bunch of drones in a bunch of missiles and anti-tank ry, I mean, almost, I'm wondering if Putin just thought that he could roll through within a week declare victory. And I think one of the things that was also surprising was yes, staying and actually,

Tayla (12:28):

And we're going to get to him, yes.

Sam (12:29):

But yes, and becoming an actual military president, I thought think at the time everyone thought like, oh, well, he's going to bail because he doesn't want to get killed. Because he was obviously,

Tayla (12:42):

He's young, he has a family,

Sam (12:44):

But the fact that he decided to stay and said, I'm going to stay and we're going to fight, was surprising. So I think maybe, I think was a miscalculation from Russia. And I mean, the only thing I can think of is that Russia was, this was the last opportunity for Russia to use all this military bloat and that Ukraine has a lot of resources that Russia could use. Yeah, sea, sea ports a, there's a number of other minerals and natural gases and fuel that's is accessible in Ukraine and also, and people. And people also, you would be able to create a little bit more of a buffer between you and nato, which still is, I don't know why Russia just doesn't want to just calm down and join the free trade of the wet rest of Europe. This is still crazy to me.

Tayla (13:39):

Yeah, it just gives really interesting insight into I guess Putin's hold on the country to carry out just whatever he wants. And I don't think that Russians really, for the most part, want the war, especially considering how long it's been. I'm sure there's a population amount that do, but when you have a grip as iron as his, because he doesn't have any contenders, he doesn't have anyone kind of waiting in the shadows to take over when he kicks it. But yeah, I feel like some of it must have been, as you said, I really do think he just thought it would be a quick thing in that NATO and the allies would be too afraid to oppose him, especially as strongly as we have because of the threat of nuclear war. He was, I think, definitely trying to call a bluff. So let's listen to some of the reporting that came out as this was happening on the day, because you kind of spoke to that. I remember just being with the rest of the world, very shocked the day that it happened. So let's listen to some of what came out.

News Clip of Ukrainian Anchor (15:01):

Actually, it is worsening in terms of the announcement that I'm being made right now by the Ukrainian government. The US president is basically taking everything to social media, trying to inform people there. The Ukrainian defense Minister says, everyone who is able to hold a weapon is basically called upon to join the defense forces. That clearly underlines what's been already analyzed over the course of the past weeks that Ukrainians military forces in inferior compared to Russia's military. Now, we do not know how the situation is going to further escalate, but let me tell you, as we woke up to the explosions this morning, that really was a shock to many here. People in Kyiv didn't think even to the last minute that actually Russia is going to go so far as a assaulting key, the Capitol city after. Also also PIR Putin pointed out in this surprised televised, surprising televised address this morning that this is a military operation in Eastern Ukraine.

Sam (16:05):

Yeah, I mean, yeah, just hearing that again, it was very surprising. In fact, the whole thing is just still bizarre very unusual to experience such a big war in our lifetime.

Tayla (16:20):

It always feels like a historical thing like World War II or whatever.

Sam (16:24):

So who knows where this goes. Always you kind of feel a little bit on edge is all of a sudden we're going to have nuclear warfare, and it's the end of the world. It's possible

Tayla (16:36):

More possible now than it was before, obviously the same page way more possible.

Sam (16:43):

And to keep speaking to that bizarre feeling of it it's been bizarre to watch the footage from it because we have the technology that we have today. You see drone footage, you would of a beautiful scenery up above, and then all of a sudden you're watching combat from a drone and you're just like, what this is, this doesn't even look real. It looks like a movie or, cause they're able to get such crazy work like camera work into the war zone

Tayla (17:13):

Without someone running for their lives because a robot is doing it

Sam (17:18):

And it's steady and it's clear. And that's why I'm saying it feels like a film.

Tayla (17:23):

It's fake. Yeah, it doesn't feel like real life, but it does, if you're willing to expose yourself to that stuff. It does. I think it can go one of two ways, and I think it really does depend on how you consume what you consume is it either really humanizes what's going on, it makes you really care because you're seeing what people on the ground are dealing with. Or it does maybe the opposite where it just doesn't feel real or you're desensitized to what you're seeing.

Sam (17:50):

For me, it kind of humanized it. It felt like I was like, man, these are just young kids. On the Ukrainian side, you've just got people that are just trying to defend their house and their home and their country. And then on the Russian side, you've got young soldiers that are uneducated and exploited by the Russian government, by Putin. So it's sad on all fronts and it really just feels so unnecessary.

Tayla (18:17):

Yeah, agreed. Actually, I want to read this for you because one of our listeners, when we were asking for thoughts or questions, she sent in kind of a long message, but I do feel like it's very important. So she says this whole thing has been very emotional for my husband and me. Basically, my husband was a missionary there in Ukraine. We visited together after we'd been married in 20 thou, 2019. It's been horrifying being in touch with people there that we know and watching it unfold. One specific family that I follow on Instagram messages back and forth with me, and they cannot leave Ukraine. They also don't want to. It's their home. The girl of the family recently got married and had a baby just a few months after the war had started. The baby is basically growing up, barely knowing her dad, who is always off fighting.

(19:04):

She says the sirens have become a way of life. She recently did some posts thanking her foreign friends for checking in and showing how much their life has changed in a year. So often another a bombing will happen, and we'll constantly check social media to wait for the update. And it's always the same. We are safe the father is safe. We hate Putin, so there's so much more of it too. At the start, social media was incredibly dangerous as Ukraine's were inadvertently giving away their army's position by posting about them and where they had seen them, et cetera. And the Russians were spying on them that way. Our friend whose husband and stepdad were both in the army, kept posting a ton at the start begging people to please stop posting on social media. She knew they meant well and were proud, but it was getting people killed.

(19:46):

There's just been so much stress but so much beauty to watching our friend have her baby and be collected by her entire family at the hospital with massive bouquets and presents was amazing. Watching them thrive despite the terror and enjoy the special moments in life was so unique. It made me want to cry. Also interesting was watching our friend watch her own daughter grow up, totally oblivious to the war around her just as a baby Max's age, so our baby's age and learning to do all the things, smiling, rolling, crawling. Life kind of goes on. She often puts about how glad she is to have that reminder how their baby daughter grounds them during this hell that's been going on this last year. Anyway, just wanted to share that. Don't know how it could help the podcast, but I wasn't sure if you had heard any direct stories from Ukraine. It's so devastating. It hurts us so badly. We want to help, but it's just hard to get people help to people directly. All they need is for Putin to just stop. So, oh, just knocked over our kids water bottle. But yeah.

Sam (20:43):

Yeah, that's devastating to hear. So one of the things we should do is, so our neighbor I'll have him nameless for now. He goes to Ukraine once a month or maybe once every two months. It's fairly frequent. He's part of a humanitarian aid that heads out there and so I'll ask him for the details and we can maybe post a link in.

Tayla (21:15):

Oh yeah, that would be amazing. That's a great

Sam (21:18):

Idea. So at my work and our business, one of, we interviewed someone recently from Ukraine, a woman, a refugee. A refugee, and she has some sort of work status now that's cleared for two years, I think, something like that. Anyway, she's been here for four months and she's living with her family that's taking care of her and her two kids and her mom.

Tayla (21:44):

Wow.

Sam (21:47):

Yeah. So she's saying her husband is he got stuck there and has to fight. So yeah,

Tayla (21:57):

That's so horrible to be separated like that.

Sam (22:00):

Yeah. So the hardest part to hear was how she is just so happy to be here because she can sleep because they're constantly going into a bomb shelter, or sorry, into the subways and areas like that to stay safe from all the bombings. And she said there would just be constant sirens and can't, you're a human being. Yes. She can't sleep and your kids can't sleep. And so she's just so grateful to be here just so that she can feel like a human being and sleep.

Tayla (22:38):

Yeah, I mean, think that's just considering that side of being in a country that's at war, and then when you throw in the war crimes that have been happening to target civilians, to target places where they know people are sheltering, civilians are sheltering schools. It really does speak to, there is just no reason for this to be happening. There's no moral high ground from the side of Russia or Putin. And that's why I think the whole world is so united against it. I think even relatively politically here in the States, at least at first it was pretty like, yes, supportive. I don't

Sam (23:23):

Know. Let me speak to that for a second, because that's actually, man, something that's really makes me pretty frustrated. So on the global scale, yeah, we have Saudi Arabia just committed. It was a few hundred million dollars to military aid to Ukraine. Wow, I missed that. And it's according to experts, mainly because of Russia's support of Iran, and Iran and Saudi Arabia are

Tayla (23:52):

Right, not buddies.

Sam (23:54):

So there's a line being drawn there, and then China's trying to

Tayla (24:00):

Tow the line.

Sam (24:01):

<laugh> plays the Russian game, so they're trying to support Russia but not support Russia. And they're just obviously being dishonest in their communication. So that's hard to trust. And then, sorry, I'm kind feel like I'm whispering today. I guess I'm just trying to hold back a lot of handcuff. And then you have countries like India that aren't not supportive on a global scale or with the rest of the global community against Russia. And then South Africa just recently was vocal about their support of Russia and are doing joint military drills with Russia. And that's because of the communist connection that they've had with Russia through the A N C. And

Tayla (24:55):

There's been dabbling in that country for a while.

Sam (25:01):

And then locally, so this is actually where it gets really frustrating to me, is that for some reason there are congen contingent parts of the Republican party that are supportive of Russia, that somehow they see Russia as a better thing than a Democrat, which is absolutely bizarre, mind boggling.

Tayla (25:27):

Well, it's very clear to see where that rhetoric comes from. One very specific and obvious source in my mind,

Sam (25:34):

Donald Trump. So man, it's just such a toxic, destructive part of our country is that contingent. And I think we have to be strong against it and not allow it to keep festering. People in the Republican party need to denounce it and loudly and continuously until it becomes very unattractive to sup support bulls*** like that.

Tayla (26:15):

Yeah. I feel like it's hard though, because the moment you're the first one to step out and kind of speak out, you're crucified for it. Like MIT Romney was during the impeachment proceedings, it's political suicide, and that's really scary and sad. I do feel like it is easier now that there's been some space between the presidency and now that more people are kind of being like, eh, yeah, let's distance ourselves from this. But yeah, I do think it needs to be a lot more unified on, we just don't accept this. This doesn't represent us. And I know it doesn't, for the most part, that behavior and that rhetoric and that extremism is not representative of most people.

Sam (27:03):

And I can't speak for Republicans obvious. Obviously

Tayla (27:10):

If you want <laugh> on this podcast,

Sam (27:12):

I'm just kidding. But I have liberal views, I have moderate views, and I have considerative views. And for the conservative side of my political spectrum f*** Russia, f*** Putin and f*** Trump, just you guys have to, we're done. I'm just done. I'm done. Being PC and political about it, this is a lot of people that are dying. And if you do it too f*** you.

Tayla (27:40):

Yeah, sorry. I'm just surprised. But you're absolutely right. It has to be at that point where, well, it's frustrating that it does. Cause you get pushed to that point where you just have to have zero tolerance for it rather than having some sort of discourse about it. But you can't

Sam (28:00):

Look, I'm totally up for always continued logic and debate and discussion around different principles on the spectrum of, hey, this is a conservative view and this is a liberal view and this is the compromise and this is how we can move forward. But

Tayla (28:15):

There's a

Sam (28:15):

Line. Yeah, there's a line and we're like, we're heading towards world war, we're heading towards a freaking civil war and we just have to stop it.

Tayla (28:29):

Agreed. Because it, it's always the most vulnerable people that pay the price. And it's frustrating that we would allow just ideas or this us versus their mentality to supersede our morality or our humanity and the ability to even find, as you said, the validity in multiple views of things and be like, oh, I don't agree, but I can understand. It just feels like that's been lost.

Sam (28:59):

Yeah. So I'm not going to apologize to the listeners, but I really hope that you understand the point that I'm trying to make here is there's a time for political games and the time is over in regards to this topic. The time's over have some, you need to have some humanity and come back to reality.

Tayla (29:20):

Yeah, agreed. I have. So when Zelensky came to the US, just I think what was a couple months ago, tops, he gave a speech and I have some of the audio from that I want to listen to because he really does, and this is part of, I think what makes him so effective right now is he has a great way of humanizing and getting people to realize the humans that are on the ground making this stand for the rest of the world, essentially against Russia. And I think it does really bring you in to be like what exactly how you feel. Yes. These people are just trying to have their home, to have their autonomy, to have their freedom and democracy. So let's listen to a little bit of that

Zelenskyy (30:10):

Against all odds and doom and gloom scenarios. Ukraine didn't fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking, and it gives me good reason to share with you. Our first joined victory, we defeated Russia in the battle for minds of the world. America Americans gain this victory, and that's why you have succeeded in uniting the global community to protect freedom and international law. Europeans gained this victory, and that's why Europe is now stronger and more independent than never. The Russian tyranny has lost control over us.

Sam (31:09):

Yeah, awesome speech. I mean, that's a brave person. I've never had to do anything like that. And he's absolutely right. I think globally you've been saying that everyone has come together for the most part against Russia, all of Europe, the United States as a collective and then now parts of the Middle East and parts of Asia. I don't think it's going to be a long time before anyone's going to look at Russia the same way ever again. Even just recently, just a few years ago, people would consider Russia as a potential trading partner and a potential part of the global community. There's going to be get to that point where, hey, we're all focusing on just tering our own countries and our people, but here we are farting over land and space. And I'm glad the aggressor has been seen as the bad guy.

Tayla (32:22):

Something that I think is important in what he says, and it's so true, is they almost have to be the hands of the rest of the global community to have this fight because it feels very much because that threat of nuclear warfare and that mutually assured destruction, it feels like to a certain extent, our hands are tied or NATO allies, their hands are tied to a point. But I do feel more and more they're pushing that line to try and be supportive. But we are all relying on Ukraine to have this victory as much by themselves as possible so that we don't have to escalate to that point. And so I think the global community, especially those that are proponents of democracy, have a debt to pay to the country for having the fight that we can't really have, but that will affect us in the long run and the rest of the way that moving forward countries interact with each other.

Sam (33:26):

It just seems like such a complex, difficult thing to resolve when you've got someone like Putin that seems so determined to accomplish whatever goals that he has set out for from this invasion.

Tayla (33:42):

I mean, at the sacrifice, I mean the statistics at the beginning of the episode, just speak to how many lives of Russians have been lost? Hundreds of thousands. Oh,

Sam (33:50):

He doesn't care about Russians at all. He clearly,

Tayla (33:54):

That's what I'm saying, is you so depressing.

Sam (33:58):

Yeah. So I mean, Russian people, you'll never obviously hear this, but I just wish that wish that people would try to take things into their own hands in Russia,

Tayla (34:15):

But

Sam (34:15):

This is only making their country worse. It's only going to make their lives worse for the next foreseeable future. And we're talking decades. They're kids, kids. Their lives are going to all suck.

Tayla (34:26):

But that's the thing is as this was happening, even there were protests, people did protest, and I think we even spoke about it when I wish I could remember the details, but where Russia imposed pretty much a law against protesting or speaking out against the war and made it codified in the law. It wasn't just this corrupt thing. It's literally their law now. So I feel like it is such a difficult situation, but it is. I mean, it's the only way I think anything will happen. That's how it's been under these authoritarian regimes, is the people on the ground that this behavior doesn't represent, eventually have to band together to make the change that is needed.

Sam (35:10):

So obviously there's been sanctions imposed, there's been pushback from the global community, but tanks

Tayla (35:19):

Donated.

Sam (35:20):

But Russia just seems to just keep throwing people at the problem. And it doesn't sit literally. And we speak with our neighbor and try to get updates, and he doesn't feel confident that it ends anytime soon.

Tayla (35:37):

And that's the horrible thing, I think, is for not only people who are there fighting or even just trying to survive in it, but families like this woman that you've interviewed that are separated with an unforeseeable reunion, how horrible to do that. And then I just remember learning about the children that were without care babies that are not only without care, but they're targeted, they're targeting civilians. It's horrific. And with this anniversary coming up very interestingly, this I think last week president Biden surprisingly went to Ukraine and actually visited Ukraine, which as I said earlier was it's one of the only times that a president has visited an active war zone where the US wasn't in control of that region themselves. And I have a couple of clips from a speech that he gave right after that visit in Poland that I'll have us listen to.

Biden (36:54):

A year ago. The world was racing for the fall of Kiev. Well, I've just come from a visit to Kiev and I can report Keve stands strong. KEVE stands proud. It stands tall, and most important, it stands free.

News Anchor (37:14):

The president hailing the NATO alliance that has only grown stronger in the face of Russia's aggression.

Biden (37:19):

There should be no doubt our support Y Ukraine will not waiver. NATA will not be divided, and we will not tire.

News Anchor (37:32):

But the President was also blunt preparing allies and Americans for a long road ahead.

Biden (37:38):

We have to be honest and clear-eyed as we look at the year ahead. There will continue to be hard and very bitter days, victories and tragedies. But Ukraine is still for the fight ahead. And the United States together with our allies and partners are going to continue to have Ukraine's back as it defends itself.

News Anchor (37:58):

Standing in Vladimir Putin's backyard, Biden called out the Russian leader by name more than 10 times declaring Putin underestimated the resolve of the free world.

Biden (38:09):

He thought autocrats like himself were tough, and leaders of democracy were soft autocrats only understand one word. No, no, no, no. You will not take my country. No, you'll not take my freedom. No, you will not take my future.

Tayla (38:31):

Yeah. I feel like he was just able to articulate pretty much what we've been saying is just that Ukraine is way more resolved than Putin assumed that they would be. And we have a duty to support them in that resolve to make sure that they come out on top. Because if they come out, when they come out on top, it's the whole free world that does. And it's really important that when, and the amount of times I heard people complain about gas prices and stuff, when stuff like that happens, it's a sacrifice that we are making that is quite small in comparison to what they're making. But we just need to, as you said, steal ourselves to be in it for the long haul because that's the only way that Ukraine will succeed, is if our resolve to assist them and support them stays the course as well as they do.

Sam (39:23):

And just to clarify what you said about the sacrifice we make and the gas processes going up is not a sacrifice that we're making because we as a collective said, Hey, we're going to be donating gas and fuel to, so it's just a consequence of the current. Yeah, yeah. It's a consequence of war, and it's a consequence of the global economy and supply issues bigger than the US president. I

Tayla (39:48):

Know, but I guess why I said that, and I'm glad you're addressing it, is because people very quickly found a way to complain and blame and misplace blame on like, oh, we shouldn't be supporting this because this affects my daily life by increasing my gas prices. So one, as you said, that's a misguided notion and it's an overly simplistic notion. But two, even if it weren't, like, come on.

Sam (40:15):

Yeah. So I'm trying to collect my thoughts here to close up that I feel like as a collective, we should continue to be vocal in our condemnation of what Putin is doing in the name of Russia and our support of the NATO and of European and America's involvement. And because it is what Zelensky was saying, which is that we have won over the hearts and minds of the global community against Russians actions. That's the first thing. And if we continue to do that, they'll continue to be a pressure on the Russian people and on Putin and on the Russian leaders to abandon whatever the hell they're trying to accomplish now. So we have to keep doing that. So in our own small, little tiny ways. And so like I mentioned earlier, I'd love to post a link in wherever we post this. <laugh>

Tayla (41:19):

Just shows up,

Sam (41:20):

<laugh>, it just shows up. And so if you want to can support, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. But yeah, we'll be making sure to give you guys an opportunity on how to support.

Tayla (41:32):

And I do think that another big thing you can do, because we are accepting refugees all over the country, and if you know of either NGOs or nonprofits that are supporting these refugees, you can sign up to help these people, not only financially, but also with assimilating, with job seeking, with just friendships and support. So that's something that you can do.

Sam (42:01):

Don't vote for people that support the Russian War. Don't vote for people that are making this a way to somehow make a contention between Republicans and Democrats. Just stop

Tayla (42:13):

It. Cause it's not,

Sam (42:13):

Yeah. Don't vote for those people. And if you know people that do, and they're close to you and you can talk to them and have a conversation, please try to talk to 'em about it. Don't support these people. We, we've got to get them out of politics,

Tayla (42:26):

Democracy above all, that should be something that we all unify around because it's the most important way of life to protect is our freedom to be able to make moral decisions as a society and for ourselves and for our families, and make sure that we're safe to do that. Yeah. So I agree. Just do what you can where you can. And if that's as simple as just having very open conversations and being willing to stand up for the moral right here, which is the side of Ukraine, then do that at least.

Sam (43:00):

Yeah. The thing is that I just want to quickly clarify. I don't support whatever crazy dirty politics that Ukraine politicians get involved with and all the stuff before the war. I don't care.

Tayla (43:12):

So there's a different world right now.

Sam (43:14):

It's a completely different place and I'm not supporting or whatever you want to label according to that. We have one country going to war with another country and trying to take their land and their resources. That's just, it's a non-starter for me.

Tayla (43:32):

Yeah, agreed. I always go back to this, and this is something that was really fascinating for me to study about, was after World War ii, when we all established our countries and our territories since that time, we've all respected it for the most part except for Russia. And we've all just been like, yeah, that's your, that's yours, that's yours, that's yours. We're all just going to respect that autonomy and do our best to work with each other. In a globalizing world, this has completely upset not just that region, but the rules of the game, so to speak, for it for international relations if this continues. Because if Russia is successful, then it calls into question for any country that wants to what the rules of the game are, whether you can just take what you want when you want to, and that's not going to work, not right. So we have to make sure that we continue to respect each other as an international community, especially as we globalize and learn how to work together rather than waste lives and money and resources on personal agendas. Yeah. So

Sam (44:34):

Agreed. Thank you for listening to

Tayla (44:43):

Babe. What do you know about,

Sam (44:46):

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