Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · 24d

This is funny & uncanny at the same time. Russia unveiling a monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky, one of the worst murderers of Christians from the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution - to the tune of “Jesus Christ, superstar!”

#StandWithUkraine

9 40 150

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · 29d

Remember that night when Iran attacked Israel and when NATO jets were collectively shooting the drones and missiles down? It’s every night in Ukraine.

Only more drones.
And no NATO jets.

#StandWithUkraine

3 57 150

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · 29d

Volodymyr Mykolayenko, former mayor of Kherson who refused to be exchanged in favour of other 🇺🇦 PoW and who was released only now, 3 years later, tells his story. How he was beaten “almost daily, except on Easter”.

And that’s all you need to know about Russia’s “Christianity”.

1 23 91

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Sep 7

The more you shake Putin’s hand, the more trigger-happy it gets.

3 15 88

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Sep 4

Finally these two found where they belong.

3 6 47

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Aug 24

Dictator putin and his clique judging Ukraine’s government legitimacy is like bats opining on a sunrise. Stick to what you know, night dwellers!

4 48

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Aug 10

11 years ago, 🇺🇦 Olena Kulish & Volodymyr Alyokhin got executed mafia-style in #Donbas. “Guilty” of supplying 🇺🇦 soldiers with food.

He was in IT. She was a popular radio host & animal rights activist. Russians killed her 6 dogs too. Just for the fun of it.

#RussianWarCrimes

7 91 190

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Aug 9

You give me huge chunk of your territory, including major cities. And I will graciously stop killing you. Maybe. For now.

Sincerely,

Russian Federation
Permanent member of the UN Security Council

16 110 350

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Jul 22

Thank you! So glad you are ok. Missed you on Twitter.

1

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Jul 22

My sincere gratitude to President @ZelenskyyUA for appointing me Ukraine’s new ambassador to South Africa. It’s an honour & challenge in so many ways.

Diplomacy is my life-long passion & the world’s best job which I gladly embrace again.

#StandWithUkraine

8 11 130

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Jul 3

This a-cappella rendition of a popular Ukrainian love song became an instant hit.

In all my years on this earth I haven’t seen 🇺🇦 culture as vibrant as it is now.

#StandWithUkraine

15 110 390

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Jun 29

It seemed like a good idea - very Christian and (musically) very Austrian. Yet Russian “Christians” smugly refused. They didn’t want to hear anything Ukrainian.

I think of this story every time someone says “Russia got provoked”.

#StandWithUkraine

5 75

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Jun 29

🇷🇺 delegation was headed by Bishop Ilarion Alfeyev, their chief diplomat, a known theologian, and a hobby composer. During the visit the Catholic Church had an idea: why not surprise the guest with rendition of one of his musical pieces performed by the choir of 🇺🇦 Greek Catholic Church in Vienna.
⬇️

1 3 47

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Jun 29

An illustration to put russian smugness in perspective. Somewhere around 2018, during my time as 🇺🇦ambassador in Austria, I was informed of contacts between Catholic Church & 🇷🇺 Orthodoxy. Catholics were doing the Christian thing: reaching out a friendly hand, trying to smooth out existing problems.
⬇️

2 19 77

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · Jun 14

Without too many words.

🇷🇺: You kill PoWs, don’t you?

🇺🇦: We ain’t you.

#StandWithUkraine

1 55 240

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

Watching them, I wonder if each one charges into the assault thinking they’ll be the one to survive and get rich. But then our guys hit them, and the stats report: another five down, dead.”

2 3 38

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him!) gave an interesting take on human stupidity & greed: “The Day of Judgment won’t come until the Euphrates parts, revealing a mountain of gold. People will fight over it, & out of every hundred, 99 will die. Yet each will think: Maybe I’ll be the one to survive!

1 4 38

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

They come to take and devour our resources, to populate our land with themselves. While the swarm’s leaders try to explain why they attack & kill us, the lower ranks just want to enrich themselves by murdering & looting.

1 7 37

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

Their authorities gave them permission, so it’s fine. Without hesitation, they’d wear your dress and eat from your plate because their czar and church blessed it.

1 8 41

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

You came to kill our children to raise yours? Silence. Eyes down. But that’s the reality. They’d calmly kill us and our children, take our homes, sleep in our beds, even wear our clothes. They don’t see it as repulsive or wrong.

1 12 44

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

When I spoke to 🇷🇺 PoWs, they all said they wanted money from Putin’s regime to improve their financial situation. Not one mentioned ideological motives, belief in higher values, or a lofty goal. Just loans, debts, mortgages, poverty, the need to raise kids.

2 14 40

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

For what? What’s the motivation? What do they hope to gain?

1 4 34

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

My philosophical and theological training pushes my mind to make sense of why this conditional Homo erectus (because I can’t organically call them Homo sapiens, seeing no rationality in their actions) climbs over the corpses of their swarm to certain death, amid ruins resembling a Martian landscape.

1 6 37

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

My philosophical education stops me from seeing this routine through a mathematician’s eyes, simply noting: minus one, minus five, minus forty.

2 4 37

Olexander Scherba @olexscherba.bsky.social · May 19

But with some insane persistence. The individual dissolves, becoming part of the swarm, where the death of a few doesn’t even register. I can’t explain why they keep coming, even knowing we’ll kill them.

1 5 36