There have been a few unkind (and false) remarks from certain quarters who claim that I am only in Kyiv reporting via tweets and not regularly filing, so here is a thread containing just a few examples of dispatches & reports I have filed since arriving here:
Here is my front page splash for Jewish News UK on the damage done to the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial site from a Russian missile strike.
Here is an expansive piece I worked on for New York Magazine alongside several other reporters on the ground gathering firsthand testimonies from young Ukrainians on how the invasion upended their lives.
Here is my exclusive dispatch from a frontline on the outskirts of Kyiv for New Lines Magazine newlinesmag.com/reportage/defe…
Here is another exclusive dispatch I filed for New Lines Magazine, on the bridge of death in Irpin and the civilians fleeing from Russia's devastating bombardment. newlinesmag.com/reportage/irpi…
Aside from multiple print articles, I have also appeared across several British and North American TV channels reporting live on the ground, here is the last hit I had on ITV's Good Morning Britain.
I have also done the same across English-language radio stations across the world. Here is one I did for LBC.
I'm not going to list everything I have published , but I just wanted to put a collection together to dispel some of the baseless attacks on my work here.
Some of the attacks have focused on the fact that I have also crowdfunded. I am a freelancer with no outlet covering my costs, and that's why I'm also asking my followers to support my work with small contributions.
I am proud of the work I'm doing here & intend to continue reporting from the ground in Ukraine for as long as feasibly possible. If you have found any of my coverage useful or informative, and want to support me, you can do so with the link below. Thanks. paypal.com/paypalme/ozkat…
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I published a thread today detailing & disclosing that I had met far right individuals during the course of my reporting, confirming their presence & contextualising it. I am being trolled as a result by people accusing me of trying to hide this in some way. Bizarre 🤷🏽♂️
Literally the first moment I discovered the politics of one of the individuals I was in a room with, who I did not even talk to, I added it to the thread. I’m not sure what more I can do besides that, I’m not omniscient, but I am disclosing the facts as soon as I learn them.
Covering & contextualising the existence of far right elements in Ukraine is an important part of the job here, just as it was/is in Syria, and I’m going to continue to do it, regardless of what narrative trolls try and come up with.
A small thread on my firsthand experiences on the ground in Kyiv and the presence of the far right here:
I have been in Ukraine for exactly one month, and so far I have seen precisely one far right foreign volunteer, 3 individuals wearing Azov patches, and one small unit of about 8-10 guys heading to a frontline. I can definitely corroborate their existence here on the ground.
In that time though I have seen hundreds of armed men and women, I have spoken to dozens of them, I have met & interviewed people on Kyiv’s barricades from all walks of life with a wide spectrum of political beliefs.
As someone who has been a fierce critic of Boris Johnson for a long time, it must be said, as far as Ukrainians I speak to are concerned, he is the best ally Ukraine has. I honestly take no pleasure in reporting this but it’s indisputably true. Come here & ask people yourself.
On a personal level, I am still extremely critical of his policies both towards Ukraine and on the domestic sanctions push. But people here see Britain as being a more reliable ally now than the US and the EU. I can only speak anecdotally of course, but it’s still my experience.
Britain’s treatment of refugees in particular remains a global disgrace, and I think if people here understood the extent of it, it would definitely change their perspective.
Devastation surrounds us in Irpin, just northwest of Kyiv, the scene of heavy fighting this morning as civilians continue to flee across the river on foot
Civilians make their way across the destroyed bridge in Irpin assisted by Ukrainian soldiers and Territorial Defence Volunteers. A few brave drivers are driving back into the fighting to shuttle IDPs to safety
Many women & children among those forced to make the perilously dangerous journey on foot across an active frontline while shelling erupts across the town.
Just re-reading @CalibreObscura's interview with @suheilhammoud (AKA Abu Tow) and wondering if any military historians know the record for most targets destroyed with anti-tank weapons? Suheil's 133 must surely be up there.
Judging by the lack of responses I’m going to go out on a limb and say he probably holds the record for most confirmed anti-tank kills. Very few wars in modern history have been fought as hard or as long as in Syria.