<
https://www.politico.eu/article/save-ukraine-children-russia-war-camps-return-home/>
"As the sky began to darken, Vladyslav Rudenko slid a pair of underwear into
his hoodie and pretended to go for a walk. The 16-year-old Ukrainian boy had to
hurry. He only had a slim window of time before the lanterns lit up the
campgrounds of the reeducation camp, potentially exposing him to the Russian
counselors.
He left his dorm alone around 6 p.m. and wound through the campus enclosed by a
two-meter-high fence topped with barbed wire. He arrived at an outdoor stage
overlooking an open square where the camp’s children were required to gather
every morning to sing the Russian national anthem. Vlad climbed up the stairs
of the stage, dodging the security camera pointed right at it, and turned right
toward a row of flag poles: a rainbow flag for the camp; another for occupied
Crimea; and the blue, red and white flag of Russia.
“Why should that be hanging there?” he thought to himself. The Russian flag
didn’t represent him, a boy from the Ukrainian city of Kherson. It represented
the armed men who took him from his home in balaclavas. What really belonged
there, if not the Ukrainian flag, was his underwear.
Vlad did one last scan to ensure no one was around and then grabbed the rope on
the flagpole. He untied it and tugged, lowering the Russian flag as fast as he
could. Once it reached the ground he unhooked it, fastened his underwear and
hoisted it up the 4-meter pole. He felt his eyes popping out, his heart
dropping to his stomach — the flagpole was so high — and then, a resistance.
Vlad looked up and saw his blue and white checkered boxers hanging in the
twilight.
“Yep,” he thought. “That’ll do.”"
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
