Thread by @timkmak

Morning from Ukraine to all those reading.

Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

However, tensions are high along the Ukraine-Belarus border. On Friday afternoon, Ukrainian officials accused Russia of staging a false flag attack...

Ukrainian officials told NPR that two Russian fighters conducted three airstrikes on a Belarusian border village named Kopany.

I spoke to a Ukrainian military official who is in that region, and he said the odds of a Belarusian invasions were about "50/50"

No invasion by Belarusian troops yet.

Belarus has been used as a staging ground for Russian air/land attacks...

But there are signs Belarusian public would not support actively taking part in an invasion, as I discuss on Morning Edition:

npr.org/2022/03/12/108…

I spoke with Vitaliy Koval, the governor of Rivne Oblast in northwestern Ukraine:

He says he's heard anecdotes of Belarusian troops cutting their own tires and damaging their own machinery not to invade Ukraine

Oleksandr Tretyak, mayor of Rivne, a NW city near the Belarusian border, said the Belarusians are in effect occupied by Russia.

"They have to wake up and stop Putin. Putin is a terrorist," he said, adding that his town and region "is a frontline of Europe right now."

Of particular concern is whether Russian/Belarusian troops would take over the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, near the border.

In fact the power plant was built there to provide energy to Ukrainians and Belarusians

One thing I noticed when I visited the area near the Belarusian border was how bad the terrain would be for a military offensive

Swamps, very poor and narrow roads, thick thick mud, and dense forests on either sides of the road -- good for defenders to ambush advancing troops

Here’s a photo of some of the woods along the roads near the Belarusian borders.

Plus a bonus billboard I will let you translate yourself

Rivne mayor Oleksandr Tretyak's message to Russian soldiers:

"Guys, go back home. Go back to your mothers and your families. Putin is a liar," he said.

I also spoke w/ Ihor Voronchenko, a Sr. Ukrainian military officer:

"I very much love [that] nation and respect them. They are alike us, Ukrainians and Belarusians... it will be on the conscience of those commanders & soldiers if they do decide to cross the border with Ukraine"

Voronchenko, Ukrainian mil officer, also highlighted the terrain advantages over Belarus:

"If they go through these roads its gonna be hell. Left, right it's mud. Wanna [get stuck] in the mud, please very welcome. But this is our land -- we are never gonna let you have it."

Voronchenko, Ukrainian mil officer, continued:

"Who wants to come to hell? [they're] very welcome [to]... Stay at your borders... raise your children, live in peace. But don't touch our sovereignty, our territory... you are not going stop us."

Meanwhile, spotted:

Ukrainian soldier leaving guard post to run out to the street, AK and helmet in hand, to pick up the Ukrainian Ubereats equivalent

View of many Ukrainians on U.S. position:

Senate passed bill w/$13.6 bil in Ukraine aid, which they're grateful for, but Ukrainians are upset with Biden for taking a direct conflict between U.S./Russia off the table.

https://twitter.com/olgatokariuk/status/1502398585505255424?s=21

Meanwhile Russia is upping the threat level to those shipping weapons into Ukraine, calling them "legitimate targets" for the Russian military:

https://twitter.com/christopherjm/status/1502608363456237570?s=21

Places in Kyiv oblast continued to be bombarded -- in this case: a building that affects the area food supply:

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1502523473570189314?s=21

And, due to martial law, the people in Kyiv oblast still can't get a drink -- sale of alcohol is prohibited in most/all of Ukraine

(Although I heard a rumor of one Oblast that is opening back up...)

https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1502271012829904906

I ran into Bohdan, 27 yo crypto trader from Kyiv.

He was wearing a blue hoodie with the word 'Montreal' on it, so I said I had lived in Montreal and went to college there.

He asked me what I did, and where. I said I was a reporter from Washington

Him: Washington Post?
Me: 😑

It's uncommon to use or find much hot sauce in Ukraine.

Thankfully I managed to find a single bottle of the pride of Irwindale, California: Sriracha.

Stumbled on a speciality store that had the import!

Looking forward to using the sriracha in a bowl of Ukrainian pho (I hear there’s a decent spot in Lviv)

The hot sauce expired in January 2022, but in the words of Homer Simpson...
"It's still good, it's still good!"

Today’s war dog of the day is Aliavtina, who I met while we were trying to find lunch (nothing was open, so we searched for the better part of an hour before finding something)