Thread by @timkmak

Good morning to American readers waking up, and to everyone else, good day.

Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

Let's start with a different track today: it's International Women's Day in Ukraine (and everywhere else).

Long lines of civilians and soldiers alike at the florist.

Near the florist, the air is thick with the saccharine smell of flowers

Across the street, down the road, throughout the Oblast and all of Ukraine, women are serving during a time of war.

Women make up 20.1% of the total Armed Forces of Ukraine, incl military and civilian staff

That's some 50K women involved in military defense, per the Ukrainian Women's Congress.

They continue to fight for respect. Last year, the Ukrainian military sparked controversy when they planned to have women march in high heels rather than Army boots

bbc.com/news/world-eur…

All of across this country, in a time of war, women are prepping Molotov cocktails, volunteering to support the Army, or serving in the military.

Many have experienced severe loss. The number of refugees leaving Ukraine has now reached 2 million.

I took this photo some time ago. The train had arrived in that city but the doors were frozen shut. Desperate fleeing civilians were trying to get before the train moved on.

The purple stuffed animal jumps out to me the most

I spoke to Olha, a resident from Kyiv and a waitress, earlier this week.

I asked her, what do you hope for the future?

"Victory, only victory," she said.

Since the invasion began, 479 children have been born in Kyiv, according to the mayor.

251 boys and 228 girls.

Many more women will give birth in coming weeks, and some will face inadequate health care for their needs.

ukrinform.ua/rubric-kyiv/34…

"International Women's Day for me is about recognizing women [as] equally capable, skillful, and smart, especially when it comes to national security and defense," said @yana_andyol, who wrote to me from western Ukraine, having left her home in Kyiv.

Onto the battlefield: I want to make to feature this, because of course healthy skepticism of government claims is always warranted

https://twitter.com/billroggio/status/1501180667752861702

US intelligence was right about Russian invasion of Ukraine, but western intel was wrong about how easily the Ukrainians would be overrun.

Overall, American assessments right this minute about the Russian military stalling appear to match with facts on the ground

I want to zoom in on one big topic today, and that's nuclear power in Ukraine.

The world looked in horror as a fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia power plant, and the Russians took it over. They also control the decommissioned Chernobyl site.

There are only three nuclear power plants still under Ukrainian control.

Yesterday I became the first reporter to visit the Rivne nuclear power plant since the invasion began.

Rivne is the largest power plant the Ukrainians still hold.

(Photo is handout)

The northern part of Rivne Oblast, near the Belarusian border, is a harsh place in winter.

A light snow was falling as we entered the town of Varash, past concrete checkpoints and guards – some jumpier than others.

Densely wooded areas crowd the road on both sides, until – after a turn, these enormous structures appear on the horizon.

If you've ever seen these gargantuan cooling towers for nuclear reactors, billowing steam into the sky, you'll never forget the sight.

I interviewed Pavlo Pavlyshyn, the director general of the power station.

I asked him whether he could assure the public of the safety and security of his nuclear power plant.

His answer was not exactly what you want to hear from a nuclear scientist.

"I can assure the public that it's safe here in peaceful times," he said. "We follow regulations... have very good staff... follow security protocols."

"But in times of war, everything is uncertain... because any military actions near nuclear power plants are very dangerous."

Pavlyshyn said they were taking steps to secure the Rivne plant, and were "ready for anything."

But he also added, when I pressed him on this point, that, "if more sophisticated weapons will be used against us, I think no one can assure the safety."

Nuclear plant director said Russians were targeting nuclear facilities, and this constituted "nuclear terrorism."

He’s deeply worried about the Zaporizhzhia plant.

"You have to understand, working under conditions when the guards are pointing guns at you is very stressful"

Pavlyshyn said something very impt: I asked him if Ukrainians would militarily fight to keep Rivne nuclear plant

This raises prospect of another fierce firefight around a nuclear plant, which is obv really dangerous

He said it's not even an option to have Russian mil nearby

He started the interview quietly – but the emotion, the toll of the last days of war, appears to have been grinding on him as he talks about Russian nuclear scientists, people he considered his friends….

"They do't have to keep silent. Why do they keep silent?" he asked of his Russian counterparts. "Why do they keep just watching us? ... the war is really happening. Kids are really dying."

Pictured: the Chernobyl memorial in nearby Varash, Ukraine.

Ihor Voronchenko, the former head of the Ukrainian Navy and now an even more senior Ukrainian official, rolled into the room I was having breakfast yesterday.

A member of his entourage was the one I referred to here.

https://twitter.com/timkmak/status/1500820221543829510

Voronchenko agreed the Russians are strategically targeting nuclear sites:

"This is a means for blackmailing and threatening us… Putin will threaten us with these nuclear plants, they won’t use the nuclear weapon, but... will threaten to turn Zaporizhia into the next Chernobyl"

Voronchenko knows a little something about Russian blackmail. He was detained for four days in Crimea during the 2014 Russian annexation.

"They started threatening me with my family," he told me. The Russians asked if his wife worked in a military hospital (the answer was yes).

Just before I left the Rivne nuclear power plant, I asked the director what he's telling his son, who is 26 yo.

He was soft-spoken and quiet the entire interview, with the only exception flashes of anger when talking about the Russian military or nuclear scientists...

Here's what Pavlyshyn told his son:

"To run somewhere or to hide is just meaningless... I don't want to go back where I was. I want to live freely, for my kids, for my grandkids. I want them to be able to travel to Europe... get an education... speak freely."

As our conversation ends, he emphasizes to us that he’s not a political person – he’s a nuclear scientist, he’s never been political.

But right now, in the perilous situation he faces -- that Ukrainians face – he says he cannot keep silent.

War dog of the day:

Benjamin, named after Benjamin Button, on the road leading away from the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant

Linking these threads because they were accidentally not linked properly!

https://twitter.com/timkmak/status/1501206586064359432

"[The] Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of" the US:

gov.pl/web/diplomacy/…

One more photo from International Women’s Day in Ukraine, now that I am nowhere near this florist shop