Thread by @timkmak

Morning to those in the U.S. from Ukraine, where Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

One week ago at around 5 a.m., and like many Ukrainians, I received the rudest wakeup call of my life.

The Russians were invading, and a bombardment had begun.

Our in-country team at NPR was scattered all across Ukraine. We rallied a few hours outside of Kyiv, focused on talking only rural roads for safety, and spent the next few days driving to relative safety -- a trip that pre-war would have only taken a few hours.

We did Morning Edition as we evacuated the city, and then ATC that night with no power. We met up with our colleagues and saw the panic when a gas station employee came on the PA and said there was an air strike in bound

Like some others, I'm feeling some sadness at the week mark. And that's okay, it's a healthy part of processing the experience. I think it's natural to reflect on what's happened, and positive to feel what you need to.

https://twitter.com/terrelljstarr/status/1498561453359616003

I don't mean to compare my feelings with those of Ukrainians, who of course are the ones who feel it most. It's their dreams that were abruptly interrupted -- and in some case permanently.

I'm seeing all over Ukrainians talking about what a week it's been.

An eternity.

But, the Ukrainians who were most alarmed on day one are feeling better after a week, given how their country is fighting well above initial expectations.

Let's not forget the dreams of many Russians, who in a flash saw their dreams extinguished as well by the war initiated by their government.

My friend Julia makes this eloquent point:

https://twitter.com/juliaioffe/status/1499236313534545920

When it comes to extinguished dreams, some have been extinguished permanently.

Some were civilians. And many of those were soldiers.

Russia announced 498 of its soldiers killed. US estimates couple thousands ea. on both sides. Ukraine says ~9K killed on the Russian side.

I spoke to Bohdana, a doctor in Ternopil who is teaching civilians medicine.

We started talking about her work, and then, the war. She said Russians were "like, neighbors, like brothers," and that the week's events were a "knife in the back," a "sin from the Russian government"

I'm really passionate about emergency medicine, esp tactical medicine, and I have to say I've been super impressed by the training done here in Ternopil.

See this video of the training underway and a Ukrainian IFAK (more on that later)

They also showed me a Soviet-era tourniquet, which I'm pretty sure I can say you should only use as an absolute last resort. They're still being made, and still being carried on the front lines.

(To me it’s a sign of how far behind Russian military gear is compared to US)

The Ukrainian IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) is basically identical to the American military version. Here you see TQ, chest seals, Israeli bandages and pressure dressings, NPA, and so on

But medical supplies like this, and prescription drugs, are dwindling. The doctor we spoke to about the IFAK in Ternopil warned that within seven days, the stocks of life-saving drugs would be diminished.

There's a brewing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. While some of the fighting has not reached the west, the whole country is affected by war.

I spoke to Ivan Palchevskiy, the spokesperson for Fozzy Group, a supermarket chain in the country....

With so many men and women enlisting a shortage of personnel has been a major obstacle, the supermarket spox said.

"we have enough goods and products in our warehouses, but we do not have enough manpower such as drivers, loaders, sorters..." he told NPR

One million refugees have left Ukraine since war broke out a week ago.

The flow of migrants has overwhelmed border infrastructure; and those urgently seeking to get supplies INTO Ukraine.

I spoke to Dale Perry, a U.S. businessman who has spent eight years working in Ukraine:

Perry put a brick of $100,000 on the desk of a medical supplies company.

He has cash, but even bricks of money can’t solve the problems he’s facing in Polish border towns, where everything is sold out.

Including medical supplies and necessities he’s trying to get into Ukraine.

Perry is using innovative means to get the supplies in.

He's purchasing drones, which "will be used by truck passengers to give visual out ahead, so drivers feel more confident to get to depots," he said.

But there's a limit to what is AVAILABLE to be brought in. Perry said bare shelves on the Polish side may portend even more dramatic shortages in Ukraine -- and soon.

"The Ukrainian people need help," Perry said, getting choked up. "Help put humanitarian aid at every freakin border town and let the Ukrainians and the Poles take it across...

I can get a pizza in 20 minutes. Amazon Prime in New York City will deliver an hour."

You can hear more of these voices on All Things Considered, in my story about the potential coming food, drug and gas shortages in Western Ukraine -- a place not yet seriously touched by fighting, but still deeply affected by war.

npr.org/2022/03/02/108…

On another note, Ukrainians LOVE their dogs/cats. @ElBeardsley said it spoke well of Ukrainian people that every stray dog we saw was well fed.

I walked past one in western Ukraine, which was positively bulked up!

So on Russians-becoming-isolated news:

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499289953443930113

In other Ukraine dog news, a puppy named Bayraktar was born at the Police Canine Center in Kyiv a few months before the war

They say he is “capable of predicting enemy attacks” and have an inside joke that every victory they have locally has part of Bayraktar’s hand in it

Here’s a photo of @ElBeardsley who insisted on halting our evacuation from Kyiv to pet every dog we saw along the way

I'm in a city in Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of people.

I'm some number of stories up above the ground.

I looked out the window and it's PITCH BLACK, except for two or three cars far off in the distance.

People are on edge.

Some random residents saw me in a car, raced ahead of us, cut us off, and jumped out, demanding documents and questioning who I was

I watched police officers hold a man for 30 minutes, b/c he was whistling, and they thought it was code.

I spoke to some humanitarian workers this evening who got "proned out" -- put face first on the ground -- because local cops were suspicious.

There is a real paranoia about saboteurs among the population.

One of those aid workers predicted that we’ve only seen the first wave of refugees from Ukraine

When the Russians cut off power, comms, and running water to central Ukraine, he predicted, there will be a second wave. And the conditions of that second wave will be far nastier