Ukraine

Don’t you love it when somebody who’s got no particular expertise or experience pontificates on a subject as if their opinion matters a great deal?

Me ‘neither.

So let’s learn something instead.

Kyiv, not Kiev

In the recent news, I noticed the spelling and pronunciation changed from what I remembered. Turns out “Kiev” was the Russian spelling/pronunciation. Kyiv is how the Ukrainians spell it and they pronounce it more like “keev”. Doing it the old way is a slight against the people of Ukraine.

Big As Texas

You know folks always joke about European nations being so tiny compared to states in the US. Well, Ukraine is about as big as Texas. And has about as many people as California. It’s a big deal. For a sense of scale, it takes about a day to drive across TX. Compared to most states being 2-4 hours to get through. From LA to Houston, El Paso is the half-way point.

Invading is Wrong

The modern world seems to have settled on keeping country borders at the status quo, that is, nobody’s allowed to take over or invade another country. Under international law, this is part of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter.

Everybody Speaks Russian

Most residents are fluent in Ukrainian and Russia, because of a number of factors that language experts could explain.

Let This Be a Lesson

I’m sure there’s tons more to learn about Ukraine and the people from there. Even though I’ve refrained from spouting my opinion, you might surmise I’ve shared these specific facts for a reason. Good luck with that. And good luck to the people of Ukraine, who didn’t ask to be invaded.