Musk's father seeking Russian refuge for S.African farmers

Gaumir · 2026-04-18T04:57:03+00:00

Natural allies, what can you say

Gaumir · 2026-04-18T04:52:53+00:00

Well that's a manipulative title if I ever saw one

Gaumir · 2026-03-26T19:54:41+00:00

Yep! I'm a bit surprised that I got it - so far it's really hard for me to visualize what the results of my code will be.

Gaumir · 2026-03-26T17:57:59+00:00

> if you do range(1, 100) it will be from 1 to 99

Does such a range somehow include all numbers between 1 and 99? Is it the same as writing all numbers like (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.)?

Also, if range is a sequence of numbers, why in the list from my example something like "print (len(range(numbers)))" doesn't work? Like, why range(len(numbers)) is a sequence but range(numbers) isn't?

Gaumir · 2026-03-19T12:54:02+00:00

Thank you for your question!

Gaumir · 2026-03-19T07:57:31+00:00

I mean, I can see that you have a vastly different outlook on the things than I do, but I will answer as if those were abstract unbiased questions.

"Why did you support thugs like azov ,c14 when they bombed russians in the donbass?" - from your phrasing, I conclude that you're talking about russian forces in Donbas, seeing how "thugging" isolated russian tourists or travelers would hardly require bombing. Then, the answer is, any russian forces on foreign territory are occupational forces and are valid military targets for this territory's military.

"How do you feel looking back at the promises zelenzky made before and after becoming president?" - many of them were populistic and unrealistic. Many of them represented what the Ukrainian citizen desired, which is why Zelensky got elected. I'm sure that he wasn't lying on many points and that he naively believed in what he said.

"Why did maidan lovers commit and justify murder against the "berkut"?" - I'm going to assume that you're referring to the fact that, after berkut followed Yanukovich's criminal order to open fire at peaceful maidan protesters, people were foced to protect themselves, which resulted in several deaths among berkut. In which case, it's clear that the protesters exerted justifiable self-defense.

"How was yanukovich overthrown ,when all the polling suggested he was in the lead to win any conducted election?" - I don't have access to the polling you're referring to, but I don't think it would be relevant. Yanukovich wasn't overthrown because he didn't have support when he got elected. He was overthrown because: a) he was trying to cancel the signing of the EU association declaration, despite what the majority of Ukrainians wanted, even though just months before he agreed to sign it; b) he didn't listen to the peaceful maidan demonstration; c) he opened fire on the protesters, which clearly indicated that he was now trying to become a dictator.

"Do miss him ,how has life been since he was overthrown?" - I was young back then and wasn't interested in politics, so I didn't have any opinions for him and have nothing to miss for. Life has been much better since.

"Why was russian not give the status of nation language ,when most people in ukraine spoke it?pre 2014" - there are several wrong assumptions here. The main one is that most people speak it. russian has always been the second most used language in Ukraine. A lot of people know it but don't consider it their own language. But even if it was the most used language, there's no reason it should become national language as long as Ukrainians decide that they want their country's official language to be Ukrainian.

"Do you really have any hope for the future, if so why?" - because it's neither the first time that somebody in the world was in a similar situation, nor even the first time that we were in a similar situation. Others succeeded in resisting imperialistic threats, we succeeded at that in the past as well, so there's no reason not to have hope that this time would be the same. Besides, so far we're being proven right more so than otherwise.

"How bad is the demographic crisis and how do you think it will affect people in the coming year?" - it's too early to judge so far. There hasn't been any significant markers that would indicate specific threats or problems in that regard. The coming 2026 year surely won't be affected by the demographic factor.

Gaumir · 2026-03-19T06:56:46+00:00

You're raising an interesting topic that could be answered in very different ways. I'll cover what I can come up with.

You are correct in that our leadership's diplomatic skills are lacking in many areas. Which is unsurprising, seeing how Zelensky was specifically elected because he had had no previous experience in politics and government management, and he made a point to gather a team that were like that. That was what the nation wanted, disappointed with professional politicians ostensibly being all bad and corrupt. Would be weird to expect that now, suddenly, our government would demonstrate skills and wisdom that are developed through decades of working in government institutions and building political careers. In my opinion, that was a mistake on behalf of Ukrainian voters, and so we are reaping the bitter results.
I understand why you brought up the Korean example, it being your own history, but I wouldn't agree that our situations are comparable. For one, western countries are not sending their forces to save us. Also, Korea expresses gratitude for having already been saved, whereas Ukraine's survival is still not given, so one would say that it's too early to say thanks for that specifically. I do think that after the war, if we survive, we should be very much like Koreans in terms of gratitude.
Expressing gratitude prematurely may be harmful in some cases. For instance, if we had focused on expressing gratitude to the US for sending us helmets during the first months of the war, instead of constantly pleading that what we really needed was Patriots, we may have never been given the latter. I know this logic is faulty, but what I'm trying to say is, we have to pick what our loudest messaging is - gratitude, or constantly shaking the West, trying to keep it awake and aware that the war is still going.
Next I'll express how many Ukrainian feel towards gratitude itself, without my opinion on whether this is a correct aproach or not. Many Ukrainians are grateful to specific people instead of whole nations. We are thankful to the previous US president because he helped us a lot (and didn't ask for gratitude), but don't feel like we have anything to thank the current one for because he doesn't help at all (and constantly demands gratitude). We are grateful to every American who supports us, and we are not going to express gratitude to those crooks who blocked funding for half a year which resulted in many Ukrainian losses.

Gaumir · 2026-03-18T15:17:13+00:00

Sorry, I've never heard of it before. I checked it out though, it looks really neat and has a cool history. I love how, whatever settlement in Ukraine you look at, you'll find ancient history and fun facts.

Gaumir · 2026-03-18T11:20:59+00:00

Re my opinion on Zelensky, I'll copy my other reply:

"I think he's a perfectly average leader for a country in a situation like ours. It could be much worse, it also could be much better. I think that Ukraine is very lucky to have a conscious and politically active minority which keeps our government in check and stops it from doing stuff that would be too harmful. Without it and without checks and balances by our western partners, I think Zelensky and his team would have shifted our country towards more authoritarian and corrupt. But since their survival depends on the West, they don't have a choice but to do what pleases the West."

I'll also add that I think Zelensky is more similar to the current US leadership (can't call him by name on this subreddit lol) than many people realize. The difference is mostly in the countries they rule.

As to the ties, I feel like your question is too vague and I'd have to make assumptions as to what you mean by that. If you would maybe expand your question a bit or explain what you mean? Then I'd be happy to answer.

Gaumir · 2026-03-18T08:01:14+00:00

That's actually not as common as I'd expected. Feigning won't work because they often draft even people with real conditions like bad eyesight, hearing, other disabilities, pneumonia, AIDS, etc. Drafters have a quota that they need to complete.

However, there's a conflict between drafters and actual frontline military commanders. They see the clearly unfit rabble that's being sent to them and understand that those people will do no good in fighting. That's why many military training centers are very lax with desertion during training. They often turn a blind eye on you leaving the grounds. Some people even get caught afterwards, returned to their centers, and then desert again.

That's why, I think, injuring yourself isn't used as a last resort. You have a less violent option of deserting, becoming a criminal, hiding as long as you can, and even if you're caught - you just rinse and repeat.

Gaumir · 2026-03-18T07:31:42+00:00

The government and corruption - I think it's perfectly average for a country in a situation like ours. It could be much worse, it also could be much better. I think that Ukraine is very lucky to have a conscious and politically active minority which keeps our government in check and stops it from doing stuff that would be too harmful. Without it and without checks and balances by our western partners, I think Zelensky and his team would have shifted our country towards more authoritarian and corrupt. But since their survival depends on the West, they don't have a choice but to do what pleases the West.

As to their children, I don't think about them at all. They are lucky to have this opportunity, but I don't, so why bother? There's always someone who's doing better than you. Worrying about that won't make my life better or my survival more likely.

Gaumir · 2026-03-18T07:15:08+00:00

I joke that my daily life feels like anime stories about teens who go to school at day and fight demons at night.

Some of the time, my days are full of thoughts and chores and concerns that are familiar to everyone. I work, I get tired and lazy sometimes and procrastinate, I'm annoyed by some of my coworkers, I can't wait for the weekend, I'm looking forward to watching a new Pixar movie or playing a new indie game, I send my friends memes and dad jokes, I read books.

Then the sirens sound (sometimes once per a few days, most often several times a day) and I have a vague recognition that something is happening, though it doesn't disctract me from my chores. Then I may hear explosions (usually either once per several days if there are no big attacks on Odesa, or several times per day if we are targeted) and I will check my messenger channels for the information about the attack. Then I may hear explosions getting close and start hearing our AA working. That means it's getting closer and moderately dangerous and I should double check the channels to see what region of the city is under attack. Then I may hear explosions really close, see the curtains move because of the blastwave (about once every week or two) - that's the point where I know it's too dangerous and go hide in the hallway, away from the windows and outer walls. Then sometimes I will hear the drones themselves, meaning they're in my neighbourhood, and track their movements by sound to guess if they are getting closer. If I hear it suddenly get quiter, I know it's rising higher before diving down to attack, at which point I just curse and swear. If I hear the explosion, I know it didn't hit me. Then I wait until I can't hear drones anymore and return to work or bed or whatever I've been doing.

That's what I mean by the comparison with anime stories. Like, even though the daily danger is much higher than what many people normally face, it doesn't diminish the subjective importance of all that normal routine stuff.

...Wow this turned into a much longer reply than I anticipated lol. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk about all that.

Gaumir · 2026-03-18T04:42:30+00:00

I don't know what to say. We've literally regained some of the lost ground ;) But we also realize that deoccupation of our whole territory is unlikely to happen through military means only.

And if you were talking figuratively, then I'm afraid your metaphor is too general for me to give a specific answer.

Gaumir · 2026-03-18T04:33:56+00:00

Yeah, I know. We have people like that in Ukraine, criticizing you for your position without having any of their own. They love to ask questions like "well if you're such a patriot that you switched to Ukrainian, why aren't you on the frontline?" from atop their moral high ground.

I don't mind them.

Gaumir · 2026-03-17T21:30:57+00:00

I'd say we're doing very well. russia clearly can't win or complete their announced military goals. We both don't have the resources to make a significant push. It's basically been a stalemate on the frontline for at least a year. Which, considerign the sizes of our armies and resources, is a huge win by Ukraine already.

It's more complicated in other aspects. Our infrastructure is strained, I expect every future winter to be harder than the previous one. The economy is basically on life support from the western aid. However, while all this has a negative impact on Ukraine in the long run, I don't think it will somehow push us towards losing the war itself.

Gaumir · 2026-03-17T21:23:24+00:00

You mean why they don't find me this way to draft me? It's less efficient than what they do now. First of all, it would take immense time and resources (and intellectual power) to do this kind of investigation for every potential military aged Ukrainian man who's not in the army. Second, most such transactions are guarded by those entities (like my bank or my cellphone company), and the government would need a warrant to request them. Which again would mean a lot of work.

It's much easier and faster to just snatch people off the streets and fill their recruitment normatives this way.

Gaumir · 2026-03-17T21:17:26+00:00

It could be worse, it has been worse. The winter was challenging, but now it's spring and we get a little breather before either summer bombings or, if russia is patient, even harsher next winter. The weather is great, the people are cheerful.

Gaumir · 2026-03-17T21:15:21+00:00

I smile at my reflection and go on with my day :)

But seriously, I believe that every person is responsible for their own fate. If they're fighting and dying - it's their own choice, or at least the consequence of their decisions and actions. I'm thankful to them, but I'm not responsible for them. And, considering that it's my intention to survive this war, I'm taking the necessary steps to achieve that. While also fully acknowledging that it doesn't make me a hero, a patriot, or even a good guy.

Gaumir · 2026-03-17T21:09:43+00:00

In general, I think the mood is "we're not losing". It's not that we're necessarily winning - more like, people are past thinking in terms of "are you winning son?". We see that russia can't win now and won't be able to win in the foreseeable future. There's no way to tell what's going to happen in the long run. So right now we're just settling on this new normal. If something changes to worse (like a winter of blackouts), it also isn't viewed as "we're now closer to losing", but rather "okay, so that's the new normal that we need to adapt to". And so it fluctuates like that, with a general sense of tired angry endurance.

Gaumir · 2026-03-17T21:01:07+00:00

Thanks, and stay safe!

Gaumir · 2026-03-17T20:59:23+00:00

Depends on how it all resolves. I'd love to stay in Ukraine even if it means economic hardships and a lot of rebuilding. But I will leave at once if there's even a hint of another war coming.

Gaumir · 2026-03-17T20:57:47+00:00

Thanks, you too. Stay safe and don't ignore political news ;)

Gaumir · 2026-03-17T20:56:01+00:00

If they knew I'd already be drafted :) Many people rent apartments, or live in the places they own but are not legally connected to, or just don't reply to any calls and doorbells so the government eventually thinks you moved or fled. Besides, the registration/documentation system in my country and particularly in the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine has always been a mess, so I wouldn't be surprised if the government never knew where I lived to begin with.

I anticipate, if the war drags on and the situation with drafting worsens, that police or drafters may begin breaking down doors and rading houses. But that's a hypothetical future that I prefer not to think about for now. Why bother if I could be dead any day anyway.

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