The Russia-Ukraine war is coming to you live, on all screens

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko pointing out a residential building damaged by shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. The image was taken from a social media video that he released to international news agencies on March 18. Many of the images being distributed by agencies originate on social media, uploaded by Ukrainians in what commentators are calling the first ‘social media-covered war’. — Via Reuters

I'm sure I’m not the only one shocked by the images coming out of Ukraine. Images of apartment blocks, shopping centres and, ultimately, people’s lives being destroyed. Images of civilians fleeing. It’s like looking at photos from the history books. Photos of a horrible time that passed long ago. But it’s happening now.

And let’s be fair. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategy of targeting civilians while his military seems stuck in place is like if he lost a bar fight but instead of giving up, he goes to the other guy’s home to beat up the guy’s grandmother. It’s brutal and stupid and shows a complete lack of better tactics. And the whole world knows it.