🇺🇦 Constance CraigSmith 🇮🇱

The Embassy of Iran in South Africa sent a message to the Embassy of Ukraine informing us about the opening of a book of condolences for the deceased ayatollah and his associates. Ukrainian Ambassador Dr. Olexander Scherba sent them a response. Your Excellency, Mr. Ambassador, Since you notified the Embassy of Ukraine of the book of condolences for the deceased Ayatollah Khamenei and Iran’s military leadership, I feel compelled to remind you of the following. As military allies of the Russian Federation, the deceased leaders of Iran had on their hands the blood of thousands of Ukrainian citizens – men and women, children and elderly – killed with the help of the infamous Iran-made “Shahed” drones and other military know-how so eagerly provided to Russia by your government. Your leaders were complicit in bringing endless grief to Ukrainian civilians. Being a person of faith, I try not to rejoice in the death of other people, even those who chose to be tormentors of my country, who did nothing bad to theirs. But as someone who has spent three years to the tune of Iran-created machines of death howling every night in the sky over Kyiv and other peaceful Ukrainian cities, I cannot help but wish for every culprit to meet the justice they deserve. If not by human law, then in the face of God Almighty. Ambassador, I do not know you personally and have no grudge against you. Sometimes, good diplomats must speak for bad leaders and their policies. But I hope you understand that I won’t express condolences for someone whose death I do not mourn. Sincerely, Dr. Olexander Scherba Ambassador

While the world is glued to events in the Middle East, russian terrorists hit a passenger train in Mykolaiv this morning with an Iranian Shahed drone. An entire carriage is on fire. Nothing about military targets. Only pure terror.

The record levels of taxation in Britain are damaging incentives to work, save and invest, the OBR says    Professor David Miles, part of the OBR’s budget responsibility committee:  ‘We have been assessing this for some years already. We have a view that it is to some extent eroding productive capacity   ‘Having to raise taxes faster than GDP, it’s very difficult to do that without having some knock on effects which are probably on balance negative on employment (and) the productive potential of the UK economy’

the next ayatollah should be a woman of color

Wars are only ever resolved through negotiation. It’s tragic that calm heads did not prevail in the US when the Omani Foreign Minister said, just hours before the bombing started, that a peace deal was within reach. And now hotheads in Iran think it’s a good idea to bomb Oman.

A genocide against Ukrainians is unfolding right now. It already has a name: "Kholodomor" (exhaustion through cold) This crime is being deliberately committed by Russia. In legal terms, it has a clear definition - genocide. Under Article II of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, one of the defining acts of genocide is: "Deliberately inflicting on a group of people conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." Many Ukrainian cities - Kyiv foremost among them - have been without electricity, heating, and water for the second week in a row, amid severe frosts. What does this mean? It means people are being condemned to death by Russia. This is what is happening: ▪️ Elderly people cannot leave their apartments to buy food or water because elevators do not work - or because they are physically unable to walk down the stairs; ▪️ No communication: mobile phones are dead, there is no way to call for help or an ambulance; ▪️ Sick people cannot use life-sustaining medical equipment because there is no electricity at home; ▪️ Mothers of small kids carry their children and strollers up staircases in high-rise buildings - along with water and food; ▪️ No hot meals and no possibility to cook food at home; ▪️ Sewer system failures, creating critical and dangerous conditions; ▪️ Illness caused by extreme cold and the inability to stay warm; ▪️ Children cannot attend schools because there is no heating. Distance learning is also impossible without electricity; ▪️ Kindergartens are closed, mothers cannot work, earn money to feed their children; ▪️ Stray animals are freezing to death on the streets; ▪️ Even pets are dying from the cold - parrots, aquarium fish, animals kept in terrariums; ▪️ Animals in zoos are freezing; ▪️ Collections of rare plants in Kyiv’s botanical gardens have frozen and died; ▪️ Small businesses are earning nothing, forced to spend money on generators and fuel - causing direct losses to the economy; ▪️ Severe harm to the environment and public health due to the constant operation of massive numbers of generators; ▪️ Public transport functions far worse due to power outages; electric transport does not operate at all, leaving people unable to reach work, doctors, or essential services; ▪️ Burst pipes and freezing temperatures are destroying homes, making them uninhabitable; ▪️ Hospitals are forced to cancel planned surgeries, operating in emergency mode and at full capacity; ▪️ Rates of depression, anxiety disorders, and burnout are sharply increasing. Russia wants to make large Ukrainian cities uninhabitable. This is a humanitarian catastrophe deliberately caused by Russia.