Every war brings surprises. But in Russia's war against Ukraine, and at the same time against the entire democratic West, the most surprising thing is how many unpleasant surprises there have been for Vladimir Putin so far and how many good unexpected turns there have been for Kyiv and its allies around the world..

\? Well, I think that when Putin planned this war, he expected that in three weeks he would already be delivering a victory speech in the Ukrainian parliament, welcoming the return of Ukraine to the bosom of mother Russia. He probably also expected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be hiding somewhere on a Polish Airbnb.. And Russian troops will drop a bunch of flowers from their tanks, which are thrown by joyful Ukrainians. And at that time, Putin himself will “high-five” Xi Jinping for how they together showed NATO and sleepy Joe who set the rules for the international system,” writes three-time Pulitzer laureate Thomas Friedman in the New York Times..

“How can it be that one day the leader calls Ukraine and its people an integral part of the soul of Russia, and the next time he immediately proceeds to turn it into ruins without any explanation for the Ukrainians, the world or his own people.? It's that kind of sinister madness inherent in trampled lovers or so-called " And it's terrible to see how the leader of the state resorts to this with 6 thousand nuclear warheads. There is something about this man that portends even more sinister surprises..

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Friedman also cites extraordinary acts of kindness as an amazing surprise.. At the height of the war, some came up with a completely unexpected way to use the Airbnb service.. The management of the system says that they actually woke up one morning in March and learned that members of their community were spontaneously using the platform to transfer aid directly to people in need.. Two weeks later, according to the company, people from 165 countries booked 430,000 nights in Ukrainian houses and apartments on Airbnb with no real intention of settling in.. The goal was simply to donate money to Ukrainian hosts they had never heard of.. Airbnb has temporarily canceled the commission for all bookings in Ukraine. Thus, 17 million dollars were transferred directly to the apartment owners.. Guests from the USA, Great Britain, Canada are the largest customers. Australia, Germany and several European countries are in the top ten. In addition, about 36,000 people from 160 countries signed up on Airbnb’s charity platform on Sunday.. org, agreeing to accept refugees from Ukraine who were forced to leave home.

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Many Ukrainian hosts who received donations wrote to their donors of gratitude. Thus a new friendship was born.. Foreigners were able to understand the consequences of the war more deeply.

“Nothing compares to talking to people in Ukraine who are forced to hide in a basement while you explain why you are happy to rent this basement, but you will never go there.. This creates a community of kindness, which, although it cannot defeat Putin's tanks, is able to help support those fighting them, reminding them that they are not alone.. And Putin is alone,” the author writes..

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He adds that all this is not such a miracle.. After all, globalization has always been something sicker than just trade. It allows countries, companies and now individuals to come together and act globally.. Humans tend to want to unite.. And today they can do it easier and cheaper..

“After all, all these pleasant surprises of the war are even more amazing because they were a surprise even for the people who embodied them.. However, it is worth mentioning. There will be more surprises. And not all of them will be pleasant,” Friedman warned..

But instead, the Ukrainians showed the Russians what it means to fight and die for freedom and self-determination.. Putin appears to have closed himself in a sterile bunker, fearing that one of the Russian military officers would shoot him as he passed. Zelensky addressed Congress via video link. And instead of burying globalization, people around the world are using global networks to monitor and influence war in completely unexpected ways.. With a few clicks of the mouse, they send money to support Ukrainians. And by pressing a few more keys, they are demanding that everyone, from McDonald's to Goldman Sachs, leave Russia until Russian soldiers leave Ukraine..

“And here is another surprise that no one expected, especially Beijing and Moscow. China has relied on its own vaccines in the fight against COVID-19, as well as a policy of zero tolerance and immediate quarantine to prevent the spread of coronavirus. In the end, it turned out that Chinese vaccines were less effective than other drugs.. And as tight lockdowns left China without the immunity it gained from infections before, the virus is now spreading like wildfire across its territory..

The New York Times, in turn, wrote on Tuesday: “Tens of millions of residents of Chinese provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen under quarantine due to an outbreak of the Omicron strain. Travel between cities has been halted, production lines as well, and shopping malls closed.”.

And what does it mean?

And the fact that the demand for oil is falling, greatly lowering prices. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, oil cost $130 per barrel. On Tuesday, the price tag fell below $100.

What country desperately needs high oil prices because it can no longer sell to the world to finance its war? Putin's Russia. So China's COVID strategy blew up Putin's oil strategy. And this probably hit Moscow no less than any US sanctions.. We are all much more connected to each other than we think,” the author writes..