War is terrible and awful. Most every American in my age group has known nothing but peacetime for the majority of our lives. War has not been on our shores in decades and so a choice to fight or cower has never truly been presented to us.
I would like to think that I would respond like this. Though, I probably would not.
A group of Ukrainian border guards’ final words have been recorded and shared virally — moments before they faced death from Russian sailors — they simply told aggressors that they could fvck off.
“This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary victims. Otherwise you will be bombed.”
Ukraine soldier: “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”
According to the audio recording, the 13 Ukrainian soldiers who were killed Thursday while defending Zmiinyi — or Snake Island — gave the powerful final message as the Russian aggressors on a warship threatened to open fire.
Russia ended up following through with its threat on the 42-acre island from the warship, and also deployed an air attack.
Ukraine is reporting nearly 150 deaths and more than 300 injured after the first day of war.