In our October 14th Kotok Report we discussed a planned October 28th showing of 20 Days in Mariupol. I attended and some local Sarasota readers did as well. The showing was followed by a panel of speakers with established credentials in Ukraine matters. Many had been to Ukraine multiple times. There was also an exhibit of some photos from Ukraine taken by Canadian photojournalist Allan Mestel ( www.allanmestel.com).
The event sponsors were able to obtain permission to show the documentary to a group. I heartily commend others who are motivated to do that, too.
Readers can watch the trailer for 20 Days in Mariupol at this link:
The entire award-winning film can be streamed online through PBS at this link:
“‘20 Days in Mariupol’: Where to Watch the Oscar-Winning Documentary” | PBS Frontline, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/academy-award-best-documentary-feature-oscar-watch-20-days-in-mariupol/
Warning: This is a tough film to watch. Directed by Mstyslav Chernov, it is a full multi-award-winning documentary that chronicles the 20 days that Associated Press and other photojournalists were in Mariupol when the Russians launched their attack. The film offers unfiltered footage of civilian suffering, infrastructure destruction, and the chaos of war. It has received widespread acclaim and is hailed as a landmark in war journalism. Perhaps most importantly, it verifies atrocities committed by Putin and his army, and it doesn’t hold anything back. Much of the footage is raw, and the dangers the journalists faced are obvious. Also shown are the Russian propagandists and spokespersons. Of note is the outright falsehood uttered by Lavrov. You will recognize him and know the lie for what it is.
20 Days in Mariupol stands as a powerful counterpoint to propaganda and denial. Despite the film’s prominence, Russian media have ignored it. Their broader strategy of deflection and disinformation continues to shape perceptions. Meanwhile, the film affirms the value of courageous journalism. It demonstrates how essential it is to preserve factual memory in the face of orchestrated falsehoods. In the battle between truth and propaganda, 20 Days in Mariupol demolishes lies with evidence.
Russia is Ruthless
Putin and his ilk manipulate media in the West while they are guilty of horrendous war crimes including mass murder, kidnapping of children, attacking civilians, targeting schools, hospitals, and childcare facilities, raping women and then murdering them, torture, and more. I have heard of these crimes directly from Ukrainian eyewitnesses. Putin’s war of aggression is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths and casualties, including Russian citizens who were duped (bribed) into signing “volunteer” military contracts. Casualties have included others such as the thousands in the North Korean contingent that were used as “cannon fodder.” I do not have casualty data on Cuban or other country-sourced “mercenaries” used by Russia. We do know that anecdotes have been recorded.
I have now personally talked with Ukrainians who witnessed Russian atrocities. As longtime readers know, I hosted a Ukrainian soldier and his wife in Maine at the annual Camp Kotok gathering. Here’s a link to video of the session they participated in.
“Voices of Resilience: American & Ukrainian Veterans Panel Discussion at Camp Kotok 2025,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad7Q5WswpFY
Ukraine Resists
The course of the war has shown that Ukraine has the will to fight and win. Russian conscripts don’t. At the Sarasota film screening, photographer Allan Mestel characterized life today in Ukraine in both the east, where the war grinds on, and in the west, where life is far more normal; and he pointed out that Russia has not made appreciable gains of territory in quite some time:
The fear of Putin marching through the country that was very prevalent in the early days of the war, that’s evaporated. The front lines are pretty stable. I think I saw, in Putin’s summer offensive, he’s gained 0.04% more territory than he had at the beginning. So even though they talk about Putin making slow, steady progress, they are talking about a village here and a village there…. [The Russians] have not captured any major cities since ’22, right? Any progress that’s being made is incremental.
The educational website History and Headlines has shared an animated map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine up through September 2025. To see the war map change day by day takes about 12 minutes and reinforces Allan Mestel’s point: Russia is not winning.
Russia “Reprograms” Ukrainian Children
One of the ugliest facets of Russia’s assault on Ukraine, however, involves the kidnapping of Ukrainian children. Those Ukrainian children are being treated to psychological “therapy” and being converted to Russified mercenaries for deployment in the war against Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is reporting regularly on these details. Here’s an example excerpt from October 30th:
Active duty Russian servicemembers are directly contributing to the militarization and re-education of Ukrainian children. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) stated that paratroopers from the 98th Airborne (VDV) Division conducted so-called “lessons in courage” for children at the Novokyivka Social Rehabilitation Center in occupied Kherson Oblast on October 24. Russian paratroopers demonstrated modern weapons to children and shared personal stories and experiences from military service. Photo evidence from the event shows paratroopers training children to assemble and use assault rifles. The Russian MoD claimed that older teenagers expressed interest in enrolling in Russian higher military educational institutions after the event. The Novokyivka Social Rehabilitation Center hosts 58 children aged sthe children with whom the Russian paratroopers were interacting were particularly vulnerable.
(“Russian Occupation Update, October 30, 2025” | ISW, https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-october-30-2025)
See also
“Russian Occupation Update, November 6, 2025” | ISW, https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-november-6-2025/
“Russia Is Turning Deported Ukrainian Children Into Bargaining Chips” | ISW, https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russia-is-turning-deported-ukrainian-children-into-bargaining-chips/
The Russian Propaganda Fog Machine Adds to Atmosphere of Distrust in the US
Pew Research has shown how there is, in the US, growing distrust in media of all types. Ask yourself how much of this trend is induced by America’s enemies, including Russia (alongside US political figures who can similarly be counted upon to cry “Fake news!” whenever facts are inconvenient). How bad is it? We thank TLR Analytics for permission to excerpt from the October 29 edition of TLRWire, “Trust in news sources erodes further, many report trouble telling fact from fiction”:
A fresh Pew Research poll reports forty-two percent of adult Americans say they often or extremely often encounter news they believe to be inaccurate. Overall, 51% of those responding say it’s difficult to distinguish what’s true from what’s false, while 49% find it easy. The 42% who report they often come across suspicious pieces are more likely, 59%, to note that it’s hard to tell the difference, compared to those who rarely or never see questionable reports, 31%. Another Pew Research poll shows Americans’ trust in news organizations is down since as recently as March. Fifty-six percent of Americans have some or a lot of trust in national news services, down from 67% in March, and 76% when Pew first included the question in 2016. Trust in local sources, 70%, is down from 80% in March, and 82% in 2026.
It is now well established that Russia lies internally through its controlled domestic media while using the open societies of the West to attack and undermine America’s policies and nearly all other nations’ freedoms. We can counter this only by seeing the hard facts like those which are laid out in this documentary film. And then we need to share that fact set with others and with all the political and governmental forces we can. Ukraine is a front line for Europe and, by extension, the Western alliance, and that includes the United States.
How to Help Ukrainian Veterans
I have personally committed to help wounded Ukrainian veterans who need medical treatment and resources available in the US in order to advance their recoveries. Many are amputees. As I have mentioned in the past, Revived Soldiers Ukraine is a nonprofit focused on this work. The organization accepts donations online at their website: https://www.rsukraine.org. The stories and stats about what they are doing are moving and inspiring.
For those local to the Sarasota, FL, area, where I live, Revived Soldiers Ukraine is holding a fundraiser dance in Sarasota on Nov 15 from 4pm to 7pm EST. Guests will enjoy an evening of dancing, a group class, refreshments, and a silent auction. Proceeds from the event will fund treatment for Ukraine’s brave veterans. Tickets are available at this link:
A donation is $60 per person is suggested.
References
PBS Frontline – 20 Days in Mariupol
Associated Press – Inside Mariupol
Wikipedia – 20 Days in Mariupol
