The stated intention of the Kremlin was to demilitarize Ukraine. Now, with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stating that the United States is committed to seeing “Russia weakened,” Putin seems to have only empowered his perceived foes. Further, the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based military think tank, said the Russians were pushed back dozens of kilometers by Ukrainian counteroffensives outside Kharkiv in recent days. Russian forces have moved forward in some areas, but are still fighting to gain control of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Yet, Russia on Monday celebrated Victory Day, the annual holiday that stretches back to the end of World War II and the liberation of Europe from the Nazi regime.Īfter Russia's humiliating defeat outside Kyiv, its second offensive isn’t moving at speed, according to the Pentagon. These are just fragments of what I’ve witnessed after spending a month in Ukraine, the atrocities a result of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade this country. She and her son were eating soup after a dayslong journey from Kharkiv. “People are dying and schools, hospitals and homes are all being destroyed: no windows, no water, no electricity and constant shelling,” Natalia Ryabko, 38, said outside a refugee center at the Lviv train station. They could not see the sky, but they heard the explosions as rockets destroyed the city where they all had grown up. In Lviv, I met women and children who had lived in a Kharkiv basement for six weeks. In Odesa, one of the last free cities on Ukraine’s southern coast, missiles landed indiscriminately in neighborhoods, filling the air with loud booms, exploding in homes and killing a mother and her newborn, a teenage boy and others. In Irpin, destroyed Russian tanks were pulled to the sides of roadways to make way for Ukrainians who returned home after the invading soldiers left behind cratered roads, burned husks of houses, spent bullet casings, and booby traps for residents to discover. Families hoping to identify their loved ones looked in the unmoving eyes of dozens of corpses at varying points of decay. Public transportation may operate on different schedules than usual.KYIV, Ukraine - At the morgue in Bucha, black plastic body bags rustled as they were pulled back from the faces of the dead. Most banks are closed, but federal offices, including the United States Postal Service, are open. Since it is a state holiday, state and local government offices are closed in Rhode Island. Veteran groups and their supporters observe the holiday, and events may include a commemorative ceremony for veterans. In 1990, Rhode Island General Assembly passed a resolution stating that “Victory Day is not a day to express satisfaction in the destruction and death caused by nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”ĭespite the controversies, it is believed that such a holiday is needed in remembrance of the sacrifices that veterans made, especially those who were taken as prisoners of war. While Japanese officials stated that the holiday was harming trade between the two nations, a local Chamber of Commerce official called it “embarrassing.” But, the state of Rhode Island had its defense. In the mid-1980s, with Japan’s economic might growing, there was reportedly a lively debate about whether U.S. The continuation of the holiday is also because of the high number of veterans who retired to the state. Although there have been debates concerning this holiday, it remains observed in Rhode Island. Victory Day, changing its name to World War II Memorial Day. It is said that Rhode Island and Arkansas were the only two states that observed the holiday. Since 1966, the day has been observed on the second Monday in August. Victory Day was first observed in the state of Rhode Island on August 14, 1948.
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