“`html
In the wake of another week marked by intensified and devastating Russian bombardments of Ukrainian cities, a poignant composite image has gained traction on Ukrainian social media platforms.
The image juxtaposes an old, black-and-white photograph of Londoners queuing at a fruit and vegetable stall amidst the wreckage of the Blitz with a more recent, color photograph.
The contemporary image, captured on Saturday, depicts shoppers congregating at similar stalls in a northern suburb of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, with a column of dark smoke rising ominously in the distance.
“Bombs can’t stop markets,” the caption accompanying the image declares, underscoring the message of resilience.
The preceding night, the city’s slumber was once again shattered by the now-familiar sounds of missile and drone strikes, resulting in two fatalities and nine injuries.
The underlying message is clear: rather than crushing public morale, Russia’s intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities are fostering a spirit of resilience reminiscent of wartime Britain in the 1940s.
During a visit to the market, with the black fumes still emanating from the missile strike on a nearby warehouse, this sense of fortitude was palpable.
However, an undercurrent of fear was also evident.
Halyna, a vendor selling dried prunes and mushrooms, expressed a lack of optimism.
“In my opinion, according to the scriptures of the saints, this war hasn’t even started yet.”
“It will get worse,” she warned. “Way worse.”
A shopper recounted feeling her house tremble from the force of the blast and remained visibly shaken by the experience.
While inspiring memes about the “blitz spirit” may be uplifting, the more pressing question for Ukraine is not how to endure the war, but how to bring it to an end.
With President Donald Trump asserting his capacity as a peacemaker, the specter of “appeasement,” another term from the same historical period, looms large on the global stage.
The debate over whether Ukraine should resist or negotiate with the aggressor has persisted since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Now, more than three years after the commencement of the full-scale invasion, the war is entering a new phase, and the concept of appeasement has re-entered the global discourse.
On the battlefield, fighting has reached a brutal stalemate, and Russia is increasingly targeting Ukrainian cities far removed from the front lines.
Its aerial attacks, employing ballistic missiles, explosive drones, and glide bombs, have escalated from an average of a few dozen per day last year to nightly occurrences, often numbering in the hundreds.
What the Kremlin insists are “military and quasi-military” targets now routinely include Ukraine’s civilian rail stations, passenger trains, gas and electricity supplies, and residential and commercial properties.
According to UN figures, nearly 2,000 civilians have been killed this year alone, bringing the total since the start of the war to over 14,000.
In addition to the human cost, the financial burden is escalating exponentially, with the expense of air defense systems far exceeding that of the waves of inexpensive drones deployed to overwhelm them.
Just over a week ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky embarked on his meeting in Washington with President Donald Trump with a sense of optimism.
He believed that the US was growing increasingly impatient with Russia.
However, he was caught off guard by a surprise phone call between Trump and Putin en route, followed by discussions of a potential summit between the two leaders in Budapest.
Zelensky’s own exchange with Trump at the White House was reportedly strained, with the US president reiterating familiar talking points.
Framing the conflict as a personal dispute between two individuals, Trump insisted that they needed to resolve the war along the existing front line.
Citing the risks of escalation, he also denied Ukraine the use of long-range Tomahawk missiles to strike deep within Russia.
Gregory Meeks, a senior Democrat on the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, characterized Trump’s strategy as “weakness through appeasement.”
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk asserted on X that “appeasement never was a road to a just and lasting peace.”
While the Ukrainian president’s comments were more circumspect, reflecting his awareness of the potential repercussions of criticizing Trump too harshly, they conveyed a similar sentiment.
“Ukraine will never grant terrorists any bounty for their crimes, and we count on our partners to take the same position,” Zelensky wrote on social media upon his return to Kyiv.
With Russia demonstrating that it was not as amenable to ending the conflict as the US president had hoped, and vowing to advance further into Ukrainian territory, the planned summit was shelved.
Washington promptly imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, signaling growing impatience with Putin.
While the economic impact on Russia is likely to be limited, this action represents a notable shift in Trump’s foreign policy, as he had previously stated that he would not impose sanctions until European nations ceased purchasing Russian oil.
Even so, a significant divergence remains between the US and European perspectives on how to resolve the conflict.
Zelensky found himself on firmer ground a few days later during meetings with European leaders in Brussels and London.
Additional sanctions packages were agreed upon, and progress was made towards utilizing Russia’s frozen assets to finance Ukraine’s war objectives, although no definitive agreement was reached.
Speaking alongside Zelensky in Downing Street on Friday, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pledged to collaborate with European partners to provide more long-range weapons to enable Ukraine to strike Russian territory.
In retrospect, it is easy to criticize Britain’s policy of appeasement during the 1930s. Indeed, some did so even at the time.
“You could always appease lions by throwing Christians to them,” Harold Macmillan, a future prime minister and opponent of the policy, once remarked.
“But the Christians had another word for it.”
However, it is often forgotten that Neville Chamberlain, the prime minister most associated with the policy, enjoyed considerable support from the US, which shared his deep-seated fear of a repeat of the horrors of World War One.
President Trump appears to harbor similar concerns today.
The risk of a broader war with a nuclear-armed state is not to be dismissed lightly, particularly as Ukraine intensifies its strikes on Russian oil depots and, in some cases, its power grid.
The Russian leader is aware of this, having recently warned that the use of foreign-supplied Tomahawk missiles could elicit a response that was “serious, if not staggering.”
However, few Ukrainians interviewed this week doubt the enduring relevance of history.
“Russia only stops when it’s washed in its own blood,” asserted Yevhen Mahda, a professor at Kyiv’s National Aviation University.
“Ukraine has proven this. The sooner the West understands, the better for us all.”
At the market, surrounded by gourds and carrots from his garden, Fedir recounted being jolted awake by the nearby missile strike.
“Putin understands only force,” he stated. “We need to destroy their airfields and their factories that produce these shells, bombs, and missiles.”
He suggested that the greater danger lies in concessions, negotiations, or appeasement – whatever term is used – which, however well-intentioned, only serve to embolden an authoritarian power.
“Does Europe think he will calm down after Ukraine,” he questioned. “If he takes Ukraine, he’ll carry on.”
Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.
The experimental weapon is hailed as having a potentially unlimited range – though Western experts have questioned its value.
Struggling to broker a peace deal in Ukraine, Trump hopes Xi Jinping could influence Vladimir Putin.
Ringleader Dylan Earl, 21, was recruited by Russian mercenary group Wagner to attack a London warehouse sending aid to Ukraine.
A “coalition of the willing” meeting in London seeks to increase pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
The three men, aged 48, 45, and 44, were arrested at addresses in west and central London.
“`