Thread by @timkmak

Good morning — or доброго ранку — from Ukraine to our friends waking up in the U.S.

Kyiv remains under Ukrainian control.

There are signs that routes west of the city are open for medical evacuation t/w Kyiv. While still dangerous, it is a positive sign for Ukrainian military.

Russia fired 8 missiles at Vinnytsia, destroying airport, Zelensky said.

That city in central Ukraine was one of several NPR correspondents stayed while evacuating from Kyiv.

We were taken in by a kind family, who had left Kyiv just a few days earlier.

pravda.com.ua/news/2022/03/6…

Meanwhile, a second ceasefire attempt for a humanitarian corridor near Mariupol appears to have failed due to Russian bombardment:

https://twitter.com/AP/status/1500459786223116288

You can see my thread from Saturday for more about Russia's history of using ceasefires for the purposes of strategic advantage:

https://twitter.com/timkmak/status/1500103096155918338

Ukraine twitter thread a little later today because of travel and interviews. We've been criss-crossing the country, staying on the move, in order to try and tell unique stories about the situation on the ground.

Here's what we're seeing:

The building of checkpoints appears complete. Concrete with firing positions set up.

In the days since I’ve been through they’ve added one finishing touch: graffiti.

“Putin is a d**khead,” reads one.

We're also seeing a lot more anti-tank obstacles -- hedgehogs -- now assembled and staged at checkpoints.

Also too: tires lined up on the side of the road, presumably to light on fire in case of a Russian advance to the area.

Fewer photos today because we're trying to keep my location concealed until after we leave this area.

Continuing to travel through rural Ukraine. In the larger towns and cities we are seeing very professional checkpoints

However, among smaller towns we are seeing not great trigger discipline among checkpoint guards… less training and less competence w guns.

One had AK slung in such a way that it pointed down through the driver’s door, for example

A woman with a Ukrainian headscarf was biking by as stopped to admire a beautiful Ukrainian church in a very small town.

Good day, we said.

She half-grinned, half-grimaced, as she pointed to the church.

“That’s a Russian church," she said.

Then she pedaled away.

Yesterday I featured @billroggio's analysis of the precariousness of the situation outside Kyiv.

As someone w/a geography degree, I have to also share @MaxCRoser's rebuttal on the map used to support Roggio's take:

https://twitter.com/maxcroser/status/1500113886070071303?s=21

Maps like these are meant to give general impressions of the on-the-ground situation, which is always changing, with imperfect information.

The truth is somewhere in between large areas of shading and just coloring in various roads.

A quick anecdote: I offered to tip at breakfast today, and the manager of the restaurant seemed almost offended at the offer.

Even in a time of war, and short supplies, she offered this: "we have enough money."

My insistence did not seem to move her in the slightest.

Armies march on their stomach, the saying goes. So I visited a milk factory in Ternopil earlier this week.

The co-owner is rushing dairy products to Kyiv and handing it out to whoever needs it:

“If you are asking about the business, currently, there is no business. So the mission number one is to save our country – and business, we will figure it out later,” said Vitaliy Kovalchuk, the co-owner of Molokai, a large Ukrainian dairy producer

For many Ukrainians, simply working at the factories and production lines that feed this country is their contribution to the war effort — trying to fight the looming food shortages

“There is no combat, active combat [in this area] yet, but everybody's in the war. People who are driving the trucks, people who are working volunteers, everybody's involved,” Kovalchuk said in his dairy-white office.

It also featured a Belarusian cow statue

In case you are wondering yes I was willing to look foolish in order to get these milk factory shots

I asked Kovalchuk if Ukrainian farmers had kinship w/their cows and:

Q: How are the cows doing?

A: Just like people, because they see everything. They might not everything that is going on, but they feel the atmosphere, because they also live and think.. so they feel everything

I’ve been featuring lots of dogs in wartime, so today I am featuring a feline: meet Pusya, an internally displaced Ukrainian cat

Another cat, with a member of Ukrainian territorial defense, in the city of Chernihiv which is under siege by Russian forces.

Photo via an aide to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs:

And to round out a Zoo-minded thread filled with talk of cows and cats, here's the latest Ukrainian lemur news:

A lemur born in Kyiv Zoo was named Bayraktar, the unmanned Turkish drones the Ukrainian military is using.

t.me/pravdaGerashch…

As we drive throughout Ukraine, my car has been playing rap: Method Man, 50 Cent, Common.

I've been trying to chill out more, so I'm relying on @MEPFuller's Hawaii-themed Spotify playlist, Kona Golden Ale.

(Related: Spotify closed its offices in Russia)

open.spotify.com/playlist/5Bs5I…

Fave band at the moment (and quite cathartic) is @PinegroveBand

I was supposed to see them in Washington, DC, but got caught up reporting in Ukraine instead.

Hopefully will catch Evan Stephens Hall, Zack Levin, @HalfWaif later on in the tour (and I did catch them in Baltimore!)

I’ve spoken to dozens upon dozens of Ukrainians in recent days.

None have said anything remotely aligned with what this retired U.S. mil officer said, and quite a few would have some choice words for him, to put it mildly.

This man seems to have no sense of Ukrainian history.

https://twitter.com/liz_cheney/status/1500225329595617286

There were concerns that Russian troops stationed there might be part of the initial invasion.

Not sure what the senator is getting at:

https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1500475577383497731

Tom Bowman and his reporting from the Pentagon have been absolutely stellar, and a guiding star for us on the ground in Ukraine

https://twitter.com/TBowmanNPR/status/1500515150478155781

A great thread on the symbology of 'Z' -- the letter that the Russian military began putting on vehicles headed to Ukraine -- and how it's been adopted by Russians who support the war.

https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1500495309595725831

Gen. Petraeus on CNN re: Ukrainian resistance:

"equivalent or better than what we saw in France... in World War II. They're amazingly resourceful, creative... jammed the Russian frequencies... They have singled out the vehicles that are carrying fuel and... destroyed them."

"Their kit has been failing... their rear echelon, some of their logistics, has been attacked... that is impacting their morale... they're stuck there."

Russia acknowledges 500 dead soldiers, which is more in 1 wk than UK lost in Afghanistan over 20 years

https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1500412340323430405