I have a number of friends (and many QRPer readers) in Ukraine, so it’s difficult to think of much else this morning after news of the invasion. From Reuters:
Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday, assaulting by land, sea and air in the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two.
Missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities. Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders from Russia and Belarus, and landing on the coast from the Black and Azov seas.
Explosions were heard before dawn and throughout the morning in the capital Kyiv, a city of 3 million people. Gunfire rattled, sirens blared, and the highway out of the city choked with traffic as residents fled.
The assault brought a calamatous end to weeks of fruitless diplomatic efforts by Western leaders to avert war, their worst fears about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions realised.[…]
Trevor (M5AKA) shared the following message via Twiter from Anatoly Kirilenko (UT3UY) of the Ukrainian Amateur Radio League:
I’ve friends in both Ukraine and Russia and none of them want what’s happening here. My heart goes out to them. As with many of these situations, citizens have so little to do with the political, financial, and military interests of their leaders.
Devastating, my heart and prayers go out to the Ukrainian people. I know many who live there or are from there who have family there.
Wb8yxf
This is horrible. I feel so badly for the Ukrainian people.
Robin NG8S
To think, in 2022, there is an aggressive invasion of a sovereign, modern, western country within mainland Europe speaks to the ignorance of what 2 world wars during the 20th century have not taught us.
WW4 will be fought with rocks and sticks they say. May we help the innicents as we can.
My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to the Ukrainian people.
I didn’t realize that amateur radio would be banned under their martial laws. That a country would do such a mass scale invasion in the 21st century is reprehensible. Hopefully the Russian people will put a end to this rather quickly.
Back in 2008 I had a QSO with 4L4WW in Georgia the night before Russia invaded his country. My wife had a patient who was in Georgia during that time and they talked about hiding radios, aerials, and people turning in neighbors for having a radio. Bad times
This makes me very sad and , ANGRY…
I have had friends in both countries I PRAY to GOD ALMIGHTY , please stop this…
It’s all I can do , to keep from crying…
What makes me so sad , is just not those poor people, but I thank Even more today , about my PARENTS and GRANDPARENTS , GOD Rest their Soul’s , that left their COUNTRY, in the middle of the NIGHT, to avoid Nazi Germany …
What makes me Angry, is we haven’t LEARNED a Damm thing…
GOD BLESS US , and May GOD SAVE US , ALL….
As my Thai Buddhist wife just put it, “Maybe Putin thinks he will never die.”
Yes heart breaking, a large giant attacking a peaceful country, and for what, power.
I’d like to see them keep Ham Radio open so we can really know what is going on.
73, ron, n9ee/r
I suspect that this distraction will only be temporary. Putin’s accomplices are now very rich, but sanctions have started separating them from their money. So this recent unpleasantness, should, hopefully, be very very brief.
Apparently, Mr Putin is obsessed with happened with Col Muammar Gaddafi (1942–2011), and does not want to end his ‘career’ the same way. I suspect that the people who Putin has made wealthy will not be patient if it effects them.
While this sounds negative to those operators in the Ukraine, it actually makes sense with emissions sensing targeting missile systems. The Russians have shown yesterday that they are targeting radio/Radar installations, and have no compunction about destroying transmitters.
Unfortunately, modern warfare does not discriminate between hobbyists/civilian and military radio emitters.