There have obviously been a ton of gut-wrenching photos and videos that have come out of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over the past few days, but one I keep finding myself coming back to is the one that has become known in English as “russian warship, go fuck yourself”. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a snippet of radio communications between 13 Ukrainian border guards on a small, inconsequential island and a Russian warship that has come to lay claim to the island. The Russian ship broadcasts a fairly boilerplate exhortation to surrender or be fired upon, which is met with brief deliberation on the part of the Ukrainians, followed by simply a radio communication that essentially translates to “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” (Here’s a link to the video version.)
I think this has stuck with me as the Ukrainians’ behavior is borderline incomprehensible to me and likely many Westerners. As far as I know, they have no reason to believe they’re not being offered their lives in return for the surrender of a totally inconsequential island about the size of the park by my house. They’d realistically be causing their country no practical harm whatsoever by surrendering the island — it’s not like it has any strategic importance. They must be acting purely out of pride in their country and spite for those invading it without cause.
Now, I’d consider myself no less patriotic than the average American — I’m proud to be a citizen of the first modern liberal democracy and the primary acceptor of immigrants and refugees for hundreds of years — but if I’m being honest, there’s very little chance I’m sacrificing my life simply so I can say I didn’t surrender a tiny American island to a foreign aggressor. I would prefer to live, and I really don’t think anyone would fault me — it’s not like the US military has any kind of Stalin-esque “never surrender” policy.
These Ukrainians, however, do not hesitate to actively invite certain death when pressed to surrender a small parcel of their country’s territory. I really can’t get over it. On paper, it’s profoundly irrational behavior, especially if you don’t believe in anything resembling an afterlife. You’d be relinquishing your existence — ultimately the only thing ever guaranteed to you — for no personal gain whatsoever. It seems to me that you’d absolutely have to believe in an afterlife in order for the behavior of the border guards to be rational, right? Otherwise, their behavior is truly incomprehensible to me. Certainly, if there is an afterlife and if the term “hero” has any meaning there, these border guards are being treated as such right now.
Anyway, there are certain photos that have become emblematic of most historical moments — wars included — since cameras have been a thing. The photo of the Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima has become emblematic of the Second World War; the photo of the girl with green eyes has become emblematic of the war(s) in Afghanistan; the photo of the student blocking the advance of a tank column became emblematic of the Tiаnаnmen Squarе mаssacrе. I think this is an early candidate for the equivalent piece of media from this war. I certainly doubt I’ll be moved to an equivalent extent by any other photo or video yet to come.
I’m a huge fan of Lord of the Rings. I’ve read the books straight through maybe 5 times, seen the movies about as many times, and even read The Silmarillion, which functions as a sort of tedious, wonderful Old Testament to the more readable LotR and Hobbit books. Tolkien’s writing is by no means without grounding in the realities of war, since he fought in the First World War and based his writing on Old English and Germanic texts, many of which are martial in nature. The behavior of these 13 Ukrainian border guards therefore feels at once familiar and foreign to me. Their absurd bravery reminds me of Tolkien-esque fights to the last against a hopelessly superior foe; but their nonchalance and simple vulgarity is like nothing from fiction. They behave like you might if someone cut you off in traffic — “go fuck yourself” — but the consequences for them are not getting home from work 10 seconds later but their lives. I of course have very limited real-world experience with bravery in the face of real consequences, but I wonder if this doesn’t illustrate a difference between bravery in fiction and bravery in reality. In fiction, bravery is attacking your foes to reclaim your land after a rousing speech by a charismatic leader. In reality, bravery may be standing your ground for no rational reason in the face of certain death while telling someone with missiles aimed at you to go fuck themselves. I’m truly glad that we Westerners don’t come face to face with such questions very often these days because while I think I could do the former, I’m not sure I could do the latter. 🇺🇦