A Ukrainian City Under Assault By The Russian Military Or An American City Besieged By ICE: Which Is Worse? - Above the Law

"Hundreds of explosions rocked the city for hours. Machine guns churned in the distance. Some locals, particularly those with children, heeded the air raid sirens and took refuge in the nearest bomb shelter, these provided by the Ukrainian government and the owners of any structures sturdy enough to withstand a cruise missile strike. My cousin and I, probably foolishly, did not join the others in relative safety. We watched, awed, senses heightened, adrenaline coursing through our veins. I felt no fear."

"Traffic, the crunch of snow and ice beneath my boots, the occasional distant siren; everything sounded normal. It did not feel normal though. People were on edge. Lines of palpable anxiety were etched into every face. The recognition of distress in another was married to suspicion: was this one worried that ICE would kidnap and shoot more people, or worried that ICE was not kidnapping and shooting enough people? There was desperation, hopelessness."

"Many more lost their homes. These losses were felt universally, even by relative newcomers like me. Still, that day - the bombing took place early in the morning - was the most collectively joyous one I've ever been a part of. Lviv's coffee shops were abuzz in the morning. Later, crowds of people packed themselves into bars and restaurants, drinking toasts to the fallen, shouting with eyes ablaze, "Slava Ukraini!" Teens gathered around boomboxes in public spaces and danced."

In Lviv, intensive Russian bombardment produced hundreds of explosions and distant machine-gun fire that sent many residents, especially those with children, into government and private bomb shelters. Some observers remained outside, watching with heightened senses and adrenaline and reporting no fear. Months later in the United States, coordinated ICE raids in a city created a veneer of normal sounds while provoking pervasive tension, visible anxiety, and mutual suspicion among locals. In Lviv, despite fatalities and widespread displacement, public spaces later filled with communal revelry, dancing, toasts to the fallen, and unified cries of "Slava Ukraini!"

Read at Above the Law