Drawing Down the Year
A dozen favorite William L. Brown drawings of 2022
2022 was a horror that touched me personally as I submitted my weekly news-related drawings to the Tribune media syndicate. I fled Ukraine mere hours before Russia’s February 24th attack. I spent much of the year agonizing over my Ukrainian friends and students as I bounced around Europe, helping where I could. Visa restrictions forced me back to the US in June, but I was able to visit Ukraine in October and November.
January, 2022: russia threatens Ukraine with a massive military buildup on the border.
February, 2022: Pre-attack, Putin claims Ukraine belongs to russia.
March, 2022: russians destroy a museum containing works by beloved folk artist Maria Primachenko.
March, 2022: Millions of refugees flee Ukraine.
March, 2022: Madonna of the Train.
May, 2022: The refugee experience in foreign cultures.
June, 2023: Ukraine needs arms - allies slow to deliver weapons.
June, 2022: russia abducts Ukrainian children.
August, 2022: Those who suggest negotiating with russia are blind to what Russia does. Primachenko-influenced artwork.
September, 2022: Frustrated by battlefield and territorial losses russia mobilizes, thousands of russian men of military age flee the country.
October, 2022: Schizophrenic russian rhetoric.
October, 2022: russia deploys Iranian-supplied kamikaze drones along with missiles in concentrated weekly attacks. The slow-moving drones can be shot down by small-arms fire. Civilians are asked to refrain from attempting this themselves.
October/November, 2022: Ukraine blackout life, as rocket/drone attacks knock out energy infrastructure.
November, 2022: Head for the shelter! Bring a stool.
January, 2023: Happy New Year! We started 2022 with smug thug Putin threatening Ukraine with bombs. May this year bring victory and peace, allowing millions to return to homes, families, friends, work and communities. May russia pay dearly for all its pointless, cruel murder, destruction, torture, rape, trauma and disruption.
I’ll close with an (edited for length) quote from writer/activist Larissa Babij (see below), who posted it on social media.
I wish people abroad would put the time and energy they spend imagining what Ukrainians are suffering …. into thinking about how to increase and speed up the shipment of weapons to Ukraine.
"We can't defeat them in all directions comprehensively. Neither can they," Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency, told the BBC. "We're very much looking forward to new weapons supplies, and to the arrival of more advanced weapons."
The West has resources that could shift the balance of power in favor of Ukraine defeating the invading army and regaining control over its territory.
"We need tanks, we need APCs [armoured personnel carriers], infantry fighting vehicles. And we need ammunition." said General Valery Zaluzhny, Commander in Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces in a recent interview with the Economist.
My point is: Ukraine is saying what it needs from you….
Your decision about where to direct your attention and energy affects how many Ukrainian civilians and soldiers are being killed as this war drags on.
Do you have the courage to imagine defeating russia?
Readers, I have turned on the “pledge” feature on Native Cpeaker. This does not affect the free subscriptions. All pledges in response to this article will be donated to Ukrainian, grassroots volunteer groups, refugees or individuals in need. Unfortunately, it’s not tax deductible.
Again I highly recommend A Kind of Refugee by Larissa Babij, an American-Ukrainian living in Kyiv. She articulates the experience far better than I can.
What an excellent chronicle of last year through images and energy, Bill! And thanks for the "shout-out"!
If artwork could instigate Peace, this speaks to it. All the money spend on New Years fireworks could have started Ukraine redevelopment efforts. End War, prosecute the perpetrators.