Thread by @timkmak

Good Morning from Ukraine to the US.

Kyiv is still in Ukrainian hands.

Overnight, Russian/Ukrainian militaries signaled an agreement on a temporary ceasefire and humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians from the embattled towns of Mariupol and Volnovakha.

BUT...

Skeptics will note: Russia has long history of breaking ceasefires....

"Since intervening in [Syria in Sept 2015] to save Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Moscow brokered a number of de-escalation agreements, only to shore up its position on the ground" washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysi…

If you were asleep, you would have missed both the ceasefire and its immediate collapse.

Just hours into the evacuation of civilians, the effort was halted due to claims of the Russian mil firing on the corridor:

https://twitter.com/natashabertrand/status/1500067373918871556?s=21

Ukrainian deputy PM Iryna Vereshchuk also said Russian shelling has resumed, reports NPR's @lfrayer.

“Please stop firing,” Vereshchuk said.

Mariupol residents told to shelter in place, frustrating hopes that they would be able to leave a city without power/running water.

Russia's long history: proposal for humanitarian corridor from Damascus suburb "a joke," Trump-appointed State Dept spox said in 2018, re Syria.

"They are continuing to kill innocent civilians. We have seen more than 100 people die since Saturday alone.” voanews.com/a/russia-human…

Before we continue: I ran into some Free Burma Rangers here in Ukraine who are helping with humanitarian aid.

They implore the world to watch Myanmar as well, where massacres, razing and torture are commonplace methods used by the Myanmar military.

npr.org/2021/12/30/106…

Let's talk about mood: Ukrainians everywhere seem buoyed by stalling of Russia's troops around Kyiv.

"The first day was shocking. The second day was a little bit less shocking. And then on the third day, I felt sure. We are sure right now in the victory. And we're going to win."

But the information environment in Ukraine may be too optimistic.

Bill Roggio, of @FDD and @LongWarJournal, warns that the situation is precarious AT BEST, and that if the Russians grind it out, things will be a lot more dire for Kyiv:

https://twitter.com/billroggio/status/1499954583174590464

Roggio also points out that this war has now become existential for Putin.

He has no choice but to "win"

https://twitter.com/billroggio/status/1499957383866507270

Meanwhile I did a story on ATC about the sudden change of the civilian economy into the war economy.

Plants made for combines now working on anti-tank obstacles. Schools -> camo net manufacturing. You can hear it here:

npr.org/2022/03/04/108…

Reporting for radio is a big asset here.

Police/territorial defense have become increasingly hostile about photos and videos of anything. They are on a sharp lookout for Russian saboteurs.

We have been stopped and questioned nearly everywhere we go.

But audio only, a press pass, and a U.S. passport will settle things down. My puzzling ethnicity also helps.

Remarkable what the phrase "американський журналіст" -- "American journalist" -- will do to calm nerves.

Another plus: the disarming baby blue murse:

We passed through this town in western Ukraine, where at the train stations we saw the conditions of the Ukrainians fleeing.

One older man, from Kharkiv, said he didn't want to talk. He had just dealt with an arduous EIGHTEEN HOUR trip from a city which has seen heavy shelling

We saw panic as the train's doors froze closed while in the station, the train's cabin was packing to the brim with fleeing Ukrainians.

Desperate men, women children screamed as they tried to push their way out.

One woman, sensing her opportunity with a train door open, immediately leaned out and began puffing on a cigarette as mayhem erupted around her.

I can only imagine what the last 18 hours have been like on that packed train car

Another family, led by Ludmila, explained why she had fled from Kyiv.

"Because it got worse. We decided to escape Kyiv," she told us. "The sirens got more intense almost all the time, and they intensified a lot with the shootings, with the bombing."

And, like we've seen all over Ukraine, we saw well-fed stray dogs here. Look at this chonky pup:

Ukrainians simply will not leave their animals behind. Here's Monty, evacuated from Kyiv.

And it's not just dogs:

Sophia, wearing a Tik Tok toque, holds her rabbit Rebecca, who has endured an 15 hour trip from Kyiv.

They (and the rabbit) are looking to stay with friends in the city.

Taras Demkura is setting up a refuge for internally displaced Ukrainians:

"The scariest part of all of this is that the children that you see in these pictures, they're basically living in the new reality.”

I spoke to a bunch of teenagers, not much older than Sophia, who have joined a volunteer rear detachment of a unit now fighting in Kyiv. They're in good spirits, canning foods and preparing medications for the front lines.

I spoke to one of them, who you can hear in my All Things Considered piece:

"My name is Volodymyr," he said.
"Volody-- just like the president?"
The teenagers all laughed.
"Yeah," he said.

This is what’s on the other side of that door in case you were wondering:

Preserved food for the front lines:

It’s 230am in Ukraine and I’m still grinding!

Here’s another pup, blissfully unaware at least for now that his/her country is at war: