The Dirty Rats

Jere Valtteri Salovaara callsign Scorpio from Espoo, Finland.

Another of many westerners who thought that the war in Ukraine is all fun and games.

Jere came to Ukraine somewhere last year and has joined the unit led by another Fin Vanhala.

They were stationed in Toretsk where their unit had terrible losses trying to hold Russian army advances.

After that fiasco they retreated from the frontlines.

As things are going from bad to worse for Ukraine many foreigners decided to leave the country.

One of those who left the sinking ship is Jere. He just fled and decided that he wants to live as an ordinary civilian in Finland.

Smart move. Never to return.

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Re-reading this article now, two years after writing it, I can’t help but smile a bit at my own naivety back then. Even my belief in Western democracy, which I seemingly sought to expose (both the belief and the democracy itself), seems to subtly seep through the text. Also, one can sense my faith in Ukrainian self-awareness and the unequivocal status of Crimea, and my lack of understanding of the events in Donetsk — I was guilty of all these in the first half of 2022, and I parted with all these illusions much faster than I would have liked. I’m not even sure if it’s good to shed such naivety or not. Because, on one hand, the ability to recognise an even greater number of nuances in the world and directly around us has many benefits (from the ability to see the positive where all else see only darkness and utter horror, to an egocentric satisfaction with one’s own intelligence and insight), on the other — it’s hard to witness the boundless cynicism and eagerness to profit from war at all levels, starting with major politicians and ending with various activists who gain social and financial capital through  the exploitation of the agenda (which, in reality, is someone’s life) and even outright fraud.
...
... now I see far more clearly that the question of democracy and the necessity to fight for it in the so-called West is only raised at the level of the most basic, primitive slogans, and beyond that, no one even pretends to be interested in anything other than power and profit, as well as the ability to suppress dissenters and control the masses, up to the point of using violence (this was most clearly demonstrated not through the ostentatious indifference, but rather by the attempt to sweep under the carpet the genocide being carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip).
The thing is, just like Russians, Westerners cannot influence their politicians or their policies. Hence, their politicians can stop pretending right after the elections, which differ from Russian ones only formally, because, having cast their vote for one politician or another, Western voters can only influence whose name and face will adorn the podiums at meetings, but their influence ends there. Decisions on how state resources are allocated and who benefits from this allocation are definitely not made by the citizens in Western countries but by politicians and capitalists). It becomes both funny and sad when I remember how I envied neighbouring countries, from Finland to Ukraine, when they had “real” elections...
...
“This year, as a whirlwind of political events wiped away everything familiar, separated friends, severed ties, took away future plans and meaning, I focused on the little things that can support me right now. Unfortunately, I can’t control most of the processes happening around me, so focusing on what I can control became a priority for me. Among other things, I began to enjoy the little things I observe around me, a significant part of which is related to people. Everything that used to be not even trivial and not valuable enough, but simply not noticeable at all, now has acquired colour, smell, volume, weight, strength. A woman feeding homeless cats on the street, stones and water canisters painted like endearing funny animals in someone’s small front garden, fat hung on tree branches for birds, smiles from passersby, people rushing from all sides to a fallen woman, the ability and willingness to empathise, consolidate, and help those who are in pain and have lost everything — all this fills my heart with great love for people, because no matter what happens, we remain human. No matter what they say about us, no matter what they write.
People. The good thing that happened to me this year was people.”
https://telegra.ph/Sanctions-as-a-Colonial-Practice--2024-Update-03-25

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Vitalijs Zavjalovs from Valmieras, Latvia
IG, FB

(ID 7389814912, 100001578506324)

Christian Diaz from Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia
TK, IG, FB

(ID 7075536044272387078, 1671941618, 100005846500694)

Adamir Nivaldo Anghinoni Junior from Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil
FB, IG

(ID 100002105570581, 441085409)

Nickolaj Harmsen from Samsø, Denmark
FB, IG

(ID 100093131641798, 52373896110)

Juan Javier Tutacha Piguana from Bogotá, Colombia
FB, TK

(ID 100003256524384, 6854004797839770630)

Shawn Michael Hayes from Malden, Massachusetts, USA
IG, FB

(ID 1469121128, 100000203298331)

Thomas Jan Materla born April 1960 from USA
FB

(ID 100005242149864)

Kevin Josué Torres callsign Italiano from Bogotá, Colombia
IG, TK, TK, FB

(ID 65229134969, 7264341412094329861, 7379576284534260742,
100095589248229)

Alejo Perez Rodriguez from Barrancabermeja, Santander, Colombia
TK, IG, FB

(ID 7192491220726711301, 8064585021, 100000617613255)

Jhon Jader Urquijo from Carepa, Antioquia, Colombia
TK, FB, IG

(ID 6823814174856152070, 1112081327, 1929447501)

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