Victory Day

May 9th is victory day here in Ukraine. Victory from who? Everybody really. May 8th and 9th mark the end of World War 2. The history of Ukraine in this war, as I've learned from reading today, is pretty incredible. I won't even try to explain it, but I will mention this. Hitler, yes that Hitler, and his army was welcomed into parts of Ukraine because they were viewed as a favorable alternative to Stalin. Ultimately this didn't work out too well for the country which ultimately served as the battleground between the two, and was the eventual recipient of Stalin's "Scorched Earch" policy. Essentially a policy of, "if we're going to retreat, burn and destroy everything in the process so those damned Germans don't get anything." While the numbers vary, Ukraine lost around 10,000,000 people during the war.

So, ...you can imagine why they are partying their assess off today. There are fireworks, festivals, parties and more planned for this entire weekend.