NTS Kyiv Apartment Ukraine - 32sqm

I thought this apartment would be a perfect metaphor for the situation that Ukraine is currently living. This is what Ukraine is today. Not a whiff of what the Old Russia is: it's closer to what 'modern' would look compared to the stifling, colorless, homogenized underlying feeling of Vlad's idea of 'Russia' is.  If you have seen the effects Vlad's bombs have had in the vibrant modern cities in Ukraine, you may be on the same spot I was while watching this video of a beautiful neighborhood in Kyiv. I saw some pictures that showed the before and after of an apartment building after the Russians bombarded the city and I immediately had a flashback to this video.

I literally have a Poli-Sci 101 kind of knowledge of what is going on in Ukraine right now (I leave the heavy lifting to Infidel and Michael whom you can visit for a more nuanced analysis of the situation) and why Vlad wants it so bad, but I'm quite sure about a few things that really oversimplified would look like this:

• Vlad declared war on Ukraine after months of people talking about it. It was the Chronicle of a War foretold. Agolf Twitler also set the stage for it, don't forget to blame him for this, too.
• Vlad used the excuse of 'freeing' two rogue states to justify the war. It's in his playbook.
• Vlad wants to return the Russian 'empire' to what he believes is its old glory. But you know there's more to that than this, of course.
• When 15 newly independent republics emerged from the rubble that was the URSS, Russia ended up with 1/2 of the population the former united soviet union and an economy similar to Spain, a country minuscule compared with what Russia is now. POWND, bitch.
• Vlad is afraid he won't be protected from NATO if the countries that now serve as a 'buffer' are not subdued by Moscow. Only bullies are afraid a bigger dog will show up in the playground.
• Since 1991, many of the countries that were part of the Warsaw pact are now part of NATO. 
• Ukraine had remained neutral and Moscow wants it because Vlad fears NATO.
• Russia has tons of oil and gas and they represent 30% of Russia's GDP. It's a petro-state. The only in Europe. And Vlad wants to keep it that way.
• Ukraine could disrupt Russia's interactions with its oil customers in Europe. Russia built additional pipelines so they don't go through Ukraine, but Ukraine is not stupid.
• Ukraine suddenly discovered natural gas. Vlad wants it because he doesn't want Ukraine becoming Europe's second Petro state. Greed, people. Greed.
• When in 2014 Russia annexed Crimea by force (claiming historical legacy, yeah, Mexico wanna hear about the whole Southwest of the United States, Vlad). But it didn't really work well. Water is more valuable than a ruble, Vlad. 
• Vlad feels threatened by Ukraine and will never return Crimea. He needs it. If Ukraine joins NATO Vlad will see his dream of a powerful Russia die. And with it, his legacy. It's all about legacy with these strongmen.
• Crimea is great strategically but it needs water. Climate change (and Ukraine cutting the water supply) means Vlad has to invest billions to keep Crimea functioning. Their lives are WORSE after Russia annexed them, duh. Not better.
• Ukraine wants Crimea and if they both join NATO Vlad would be in trouble. 
• Russia is not a fertile country. Their birth rate is not great and the population has been shrinking more and more.  I think that's why they went all in with their anti-LGBTQ laws. If they make all the gays and lesbians procreate, Vlad thinks more babies will be made. Poor homophobic fool. 
• The potential pool of manpower for war is going to dry up, too. By occupying Crimea and by signaling to Ukraine that they're in danger, investors will be weary to put any money in Ukraine. Also, Ukraine is gonna put all of its money on military development 'cause Vlad is coming for them, duh. 
• Vlad has continuously stoked the idea of separatism in Ukraine by methods seen in America today (Cheeto was Vlad's asset in the government, put there by Russian interference with the elections) and for years has supported the separatist states. It's his 'divided we fall' strategy.
• Vlad is, as I type this, in a protracted war with Ukraine. Sources say that he won't be able to keep the war going for one more week and that he never expected it to last this long. Russians realized he sent their young to a war he did not know he was going to win. It's estimated ten thousand Russian soldiers have died. Vlad says it's only four hundred. Who do you believe?
• Vlad is pummeling main cities in Ukraine and Kyiv is one of the most important ones. I hope the city can take the attacks and is able to repeal Vlad's troops. Their president has evaded three assassination attempts. Resilient, both Ukraine and Zelinski. 
• Vlad's idea was probably to take the whole country by surprise so Ukraine could never used against Russia but he never counted in the resilience of the Ukranians or the outrage his war has awakened in the rest of the world. Sanctions are a bitch, Vlad.
• The idea of 'reuniting' Russia in Vlad's power-drunk mind was going to be his legacy. Vlad is almost seventy, mind you. And like Xi, Little Kim, and his bargain-bin mini-me, Cheeto, 'legacy' is paramount for these strongmen. He wanted to be the last great Russian head of state and human lives are not going to get on the way of his dream. But he did not count on Ukraine's fierce resistance and the response of the world at large. He thought it was going to be like a slam-dunk like Georgia and Crimea. 
• And mark my words: Moldova is next if Vlad is not stopped. First he dismembered Georgia, now he is trying to invade Ukraine with the same excuses and strategy. He won't stop here, that bitter, pencil-dicked megalomaniac. 

So that's my twenty cents in Basic Cliff Notes about the fuckery going on in Ukraine right now. And that's why I'm posted this apartment tour here. This apartment is a symbol of what Ukraine is today and it is what Vlad wants to stop. Nothing like progress and human well-being to get a tyrant on the move to kill them.

XOXO

P.S.: the people at Never Too Small wrote a note for this video:

The NTS team will be making a donation to the Red Cross. You can also help make a difference for people in Ukraine here - www.redcross.org.au/ukraine 

This episode was filmed on February 12th 2022, 12 days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We have been asked by the designer of this apartment, Olga Bondar, and our NTS team in Kyiv to share the beauty of Ukrainian design in hope that it will bring further attention and support for the people of Ukraine and the inhumanity of their situation.