Edwardian,

all humans make mistakes. Every day. All the time. Regardless of our national origin or of our cultural heritage, we fail on a regular basis, to uphold our own moral values, and to treat others in the same way that we would like to be treated ourselves.

The tragic loss of our beloved Strelets sculptor is still very painful for me, and I cannot help but mourn, whenever I look at my Strelets figurines. I do not want any more people to die, no matter if those people are Ukrainian, Russian, or holders of other countries' passports.

Committing ethnic cleansing to drive out millions of pro-Russian (former) Ukrainians from the disputed territories in Crimea and the Donbass would not be any better than committing mass killings of Civilians at any other point in time in history. I oppose such actions strongly.

Looking at the role of Britain in the Ukraine conflict, I cannot help but being sad and disappointed, as the UK seems to promote aggressive nationalism, interethnic violence and intercultural hatred in Eastern Europe. Look at Crimea, for instance. Historically a part of Russia for many hundreds of years, it was given as a 'gift' to Ukraine in 1954 by the Communist Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, himself a Ukrainian, a bolshevik terrorist, and a mass murderer. Now we see British soldiers in Ukraine, training Ukrainians to kill their neighbors, to 'take back' Crimea, in support of Nikita Khrushchev's political decisions. I am surprised to see that the UK acts as enforcer of Soviet political doctrine, but this is what is happening in 2023. Mr. Krushchev would have loved it!!!

In the 21st Century, we should strive to coexist in harmony with those who don't share our values, instead of killing them to take their land, and we should certainly not spend our tax money on enforcing the will of cruel communist dictators.

Please correct me, if you feel that what I write is wrong.

The tragic loss of our beloved Strelets sculptor is a focus for the sadness many of us feel.

However, I believe it necessary to respect his sacrifice and respect the decision of his country to resist invasion, repression and genocide. You should too. Sadly, as I have said, they are things even worse than war and there will be no peace or freedom until Russia is defeated and driven back within its borders.

Alas I see you merely doing the Kremlin's job for it and if I have not convinced you of the error of your naive and dangerous views by now, I never will, so will waste no further time.

Better, I think, to read the spoof adds. Despite the somewhat po faced reaction - which shows that this community is, inter alia, just too humourless for me - I have found them hilarious. Well done to the poster(s), who I think does better than I have with my earnest essays, because they have realised that the one thing tyranny cannot stand is mockery.

Truly, this community never fails to dissappoint me. You fiddle with toy soldiers while the world burns and live in denial, impatience when reality has the temerity to intrude into your cosy delusions. I was right to leave you sad ostriches.

Dear Edwardian,

on the 'other side' of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict we have civilized human beings as well. Needless suffering, unnecessary killing, destruction and devastation of human life is never ok.

As toy soldier collectors, we too have a shared responsibility towards our fellow humans. And I do believe that many of us have a very thorough understanding of global politics, warfare and its impact on humanity. Personally, I believe that most of us are much better human beings than the average guy on the street.

Of course the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation was wrong. Nobody disputes that. That is not the point, and we cannot turn back in time to reverse that.

Now it is about making peace, and to avoid greater destruction, greater suffering and greater loss of human life. Setting realistic expectations and looking at all aspects of the truth can only be helpful. The truth is not usually determined by only looking from one single perspective.

As for you, I do hope that you stay. I value you as an honorable fellow toy soldier friend. No matter some minor differences that we may have on ONE subject, we probably agree on many others. So Cheers to you, and THANK YOU for entertaining us with your perspective of events. Our hobby is going through rough times, due to a horrible war, and analyzing those events helps to heal our wounds, which will hopefully help us to get us back to better times.

Dear Edwardian,

Your posts are well written and extremely articulate. Thank you for writing them.
It is true that sometimes in life we need to choose sides. As they say, for evil to succeed, it is enough that good men do nothing. Thankfully people and governments are standing up and supporting Ukraine. I pray for peace, but peace can only come with a Ukrainian victory. If Putin's invasion of Crimea had been opposed, maybe he wouldn't have invaded Donbas. If the world had done more to punish him after Donbas, maybe he wouldn't have invaded Ukraine in 2022. Whether or not Crimea was Russian in the past, Ukrainian, Turkish, Tatar, etc, is irrelevant. It belonged (and still legally belongs) to the nation of Ukraine. If countries feel that they can just redraw borders by invasion and force then it will not end well. Glory to Ukraine and glory to the heroes.

It is clear Edwardian that we will not change each others minds, but I did appreciate hearing your side of the argument. I simply think that there are far too many societal issues at hand right now, to blindly support the “victory at all costs” camp in Ukraine. You would also be correct that I am incredibly suspicious of the federal government, but I have absolutely no reason not to be. And lastly, the Bible makes it quite clear to us the Lords thoughts on homosexuality. You can read the entire book of Leviticus if you think it’s all “being taken out of context.” One verse states “If man lies with another man as he would lie with a woman, both men have committed an abomination and should be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” But I take the same stance on all sexual sin. Hookup culture, adultery, premarital sex… it’s all the same. We can’t simply let people be “who they actually are.” At some point we have to draw a line with logic and reason on what is normal and what isn’t. And things such as changing your gender are quite literally impossible. It’s time we stop pretending like it is.

I don't like black people. What's a Strelet?