File:Soul of Ukraine - Flickr - Don Komarechka.jpg

This image is an interesting mix of science and art, created on the floor of my office in a plate filled with coffee cream. It’s based on the principals often shown to children as a science experiment, where dish soap causes food colouring in milk to spread out make streaking patterns. The same physics were utilized here, but with a different set of ingredients.

I have a number of fluorescing inks, including yellow and blue. With ultraviolet lights pointed towards the plate, I used a pipette to carefully place the ink BELOW the surface of the cream. This is important, as is the use of cream instead of milk, which will create a more tumultuous reaction – so long as you have the right kind of intensely strong dish soap. I drained a few dishwasher pods of their concentrated liquids for best results.

Then comes the Tryzub, the Ukrainian coat of arms. I wanted the colour to be emanating from the emblem of Ukraine, but how? The answer was simple but tedious: I printed out the shape, taped it to a piece of felt, and used a razor to cut the shape out. I then soaked it in concentrated dish soap, dabbed it dry, and attempted to carefully place it on the surface of the cream. It sank slightly underneath, allowing for a greater mix of the shape and the colours. Adding a bit more fluorescing ink where required for dramatic effect, here we are. Here's a "behind the scenes" image: donkom.ca/bts/IMG_2707.jpg

Before I forget to mention it, I am deliberately placing this image into the Public Domain in support of Ukraine. Feel free to freely use this image.

The past week of the war in Ukraine has been intense. While the Ukrainian forces continue to liberate villages in preparation for another major offensive, we have had dramatic shifts in offensive strategies on both sides. The Kerch Bridge, connecting Crimea to Russia, was severely damaged when a truck filled with explosives detonated. This is a functional success but also one as important as sinking the Moskva (Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship). Putin claimed that the bridge was absolutely safe, secured from every possible vector of attack. So, when a truck is stopped on the Russian side of the bridge, it is barely even looked over – no real inspection given – before heading forward. The corrupt / inept / kleptocratic culture in Russia allowed for this to happen. And it deeply angered Putin.

Yesterday, Russia fired at least 80 cruise missiles to civilian targets all over Ukraine, as far west as Lviv and many aimed at Kyiv. The Ukrainian forces shot down more than 40 of them, but the tactic was to overwhelm the defences. It worked, sadly. Ukraine destroyed a bridge that was transporting tanks, ammunition and all manner of military equipment. Russia targeted schools, apartments, energy infrastructure, even Kyiv’s Glass Bridge, designed for scenic pedestrian strolls: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyUqrFEsU3k

Thankfully, they just barely missed the bridge and the damage is minimal. Many of their strikes have been alarmingly accurate, leading experts to believe that the very expensive guided cruise missiles were mostly used; some estimates put the cost at USD$700,000,000 (seven hundred million US dollars). These are missiles that Russia will have a limited ability to replenish over a long period of time. They are running out of steam, so much so that a battalion of T72 tanks are currently being moved from Belarus to Russian territory, presumably some sort of “gift” to Putin.

Reports have said Russian conscripts are appearing on the front lines already, and they have no preparations for the coming winter weather. Temperatures dip to nearly the freezing point in the recently liberated city of Lyman. November will be a crippling month for both morale and mortal losses for Russia. On the other hand, Ukrainian morale high from the strike on the Kerch bridge, fused with a desire for revenge for the October 10th attack.

There are more little things that when unpacked, are quite large. Germany has finally given IRIS-T SLM systems to Ukraine, their most advanced surface-to-air missile system. They have also allocated over 90,000 units winter weather equipment to Ukraine. Germany had close ties to Russia due to the gas pipelines, but those dependencies have literally been eroded by saltwater inside the pipelines, rendering them irreparable.

Russia claims to currently have 2500 Ukrainian prisoners of war, and likely a large contingent of them are civilians. As the Ukrainian forces continue liberate villages and towns, more mass graves are uncovered. Most people show signs of a violent death. Children continue to be among the dead. Russia has kidnapped the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant deputy head, torturing him for information about the plant’s staff – so that they can be found and forced to work for Russia’s Rosatom nuclear energy corporation. All of these are war crimes, if proven in court. And I hope they will be.

And just an aside, I have been taking flack for these posts, likely from Russian trolls. I need to delete a lot of unsavory comments, but I also have daily hacking attempts on many of my social media accounts; I have two-factor authentication turned on, but I still get password reset e-mails and evidence on my websites of intrusion attempts. None of this happened before I started this series in support for Ukraine. It’s a small stress to deal with, but it’s there.