I've been through some strange events in my life. There's the weird but funny stuff, like a weekend spent at Chuck Norris's house with no food. There's my car-chase escape from NewsCorp. There's three years working for an eccentric billionaire, or the one year traveling America in the former Allman Brothers tour bus as manager of a Irish-Ukrainian rock band.

But these past two years, I've been living in war, here in Ukraine, a country I first appreciated during the pandemic. Thanks to @WGNRadio for giving me 10 minutes every single weekday to report from Ukraine. Thanks to our donors for helping us bring drones, truckers, and more to the front. Thanks to @pravda_eng for our new podcast Land of the Free.

It's been a helluva week with brutal Russian attacks from Kharkiv--destroying among other things my regular coffeeshop--to Lviv, where drones and rockets fell around days ago. But even then the Ukrainians keep signing the songs of this Christmas season. Together everyone here gives each other strength.

Here's a brief look at some moments from the past two years, because years don't matter for me now. It's still February 24.

Joe Lindsley
Ukrainian Freedom News In June, the Russians destroyed the Nova Kakhova dam on the Dnipro River, killing many, perhaps stalling Ukraine's counteroffensive, and destroying the environment for decades. Many in the region still do not have running water.

These photos are from Nikopol, a city on the Kakhovka resovoir. I first visited in July 2022. We could see the russian occupants across the water, where they were ensconced in the largest nuclear plant in Europe. With brave volunteers including an American veteran chef and musicians from Ohio, we held a festival for local volunteers, soldiers, children, dancing and singing in the face of the Russians.

Weeks later the Russians began a nightly and daily bombardment of Nikopol that has continued for 18 months. And when the Russians destroyed the dam, most of that water you see behind us vanished, flooding villages and farms.

War Day 335: Fighting tyranny, with songs, jokes, and tanks… my report from #Ukraine given every weekday since February on Chicago’s @WGNRadio … 🧵 #SuzanneVega made a haunting song about #Mariupol. Some people scoff at celebrity tributes to Ukraine but here is why it matters to Ukrainians:

Although the political class might wear the Ukraine colours, they do not necessarily want Ukraine to win swiftly. Consider the impasse over tanks, with both Berlin and Washington seemingly reluctant to send offensive weapons. ... I encourage the #Davos Blob-sceptics to look more closely at Ukraine. Remember: In 2014, Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity did something more extraordinary than the Ottawa Truckers or the Dutch farmers. ...