Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ukraine President

Sorry for the delay of a day in my weekly blog. I was just returning home from open heart surgery.

Given the horrendous invasion currently underway of Ukraine by the Russians, which has raised worldwide ire and response, and the courageous defense of their country by the Ukrainians, I feel compelled to draw a comparison to the plight of the Irish at the beginning of the 20^th century.

Ukraine, with its extensive arable lands and unique location bridging the chasm between the East and the West through trade routes on the Black Sea was a powerful Kievan Rus’ civilization in the Middle Ages until overrun by the Mongolians in the 13^th century. After several centuries of occupation by Ottoman and then Russian powers, it regained its independence briefly as the Ukrainian People’s Republic after the Russian revolution in 1917. That was changed by the Bolsheviks to the Ukrainian People’s Republic as founding member of the Soviet Union in 1922. They regained their independence in 1991 when the Soviet Union was dissolved. Now they stand as a barrier against further Russian aggression into Eastern Europe.

The Russian leadership has chosen to invade sovereign Ukraine. This brave country of 46 million citizens has weathered brutal occupations through the centuries. The might of the Russian military may destroy the country’s infrastructure and might even occupy it, but it will never crush its spirit for democracy, freedom, and independence.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former actor and lawyer has emerged as a strong inspirational leader at this time of great struggle. Although vastly outnumbered militarily, his citizens stand strongly behind him in their fight to save their country and ways of life.

Compare this to the Irish Easter Rising in 1916 where the British were already occupying Ireland, imposing their will, brutally. Valiant martyrs, vastly outnumbered and out gunned stood up for freedom. The British shelled their own city, leaving the central core destroyed. Civilians were caught in the crossfire. Yet, in the end, many years later, the citizens triumphed.

The Russians are attacking Ukrainian cities indiscriminately despite having smart weapons, and they are using cluster bombs and other munitions which are not allowed by the Geneva Convention. As a result, the number of civilian casualties is growing exponentially. Hospitals, childcare facilities, old age homes are not spared.

In Blog 34 I mentioned the Law of the Innocents which was enacted at the Synod of Birr in Ireland in 697 at the urging of O’Donnell St. Adomnán. Those were brutal, barbaric times yet he got the Kings of Ireland, Pictland, and England to agree to this which forbade for the first times the killing of innocent women and children in battle. There have of course been many examples where that law has been broken.

Yet here we are 15 centuries later where a tyrant is using the same brutal tactics prevalent before 700 AD. Stopping him militarily when he has nuclear weapons at his disposal is dangerous beyond reason.

At least now the world is united against him economically. In 1916 the Irish population and the world did not support the fight for freedom. Yet it won out in the end after painful revolution.

We must support the brave Ukrainians in their ongoing fight to maintain their freedom and protect Europe from further Russian aggression. Believe that liberty and justice will eventually win out as it did in Ireland.

Stephen’s novel series “The Irish Clans” can be purchased at https://amzn.to/3gQNbWi