Good morning from Ukraine.
Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands, and this morning is emerging from a multi-day curfew.
It coincided with a Ukrainian mil counteroffensive; and such curfews have been implemented in part to root out saboteurs, which is the topic I want to start with...
Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands, and this morning is emerging from a multi-day curfew.
It coincided with a Ukrainian mil counteroffensive; and such curfews have been implemented in part to root out saboteurs, which is the topic I want to start with...
Our All Things Considered story showed saboteur hunting efforts in W Ukraine, along Belausian border, and central Ukraine.
We began in a small village outside Lviv, W Ukraine, where territorial defense members were taking reports of suspicious activity
Pictured: A Ukr village
We began in a small village outside Lviv, W Ukraine, where territorial defense members were taking reports of suspicious activity
Pictured: A Ukr village
In NW Ukraine, along the border with Belarus, in Rivne Oblast, the deputy police chief tells us they are detaining around 16 people per day suspected of passing on information to the Russian government/military:
The police in Rivne Oblast told me they've compiled information on suspected saboteurs -- collecting evidence on phone logs, and chats via Viber, Telegram, Whatsapp, etc
And in central Ukraine, in the city of Vinnytsia, where Ukrainian Air Force HQ is based, a four star general tells me they've caught saboteurs who have been trying to tamper with Air Force comms
Of course, in a time of war, gossip can get out of hand.
We spoke to one woman who was certain her uncle had caught a saboteur!
Oh, give us details, we said.
It turns out he had just gotten into a fight with someone who had (to him suspiciously) cursed him out in Russian
We spoke to one woman who was certain her uncle had caught a saboteur!
Oh, give us details, we said.
It turns out he had just gotten into a fight with someone who had (to him suspiciously) cursed him out in Russian
Since the war began, there have been spray paint markings, ultraviolet markings, stickers popping up all across Ukraine.
Rivne police told me it's part of the psychological warfare that the Russian government is trying to play.
For more, take a listen:
npr.org/2022/03/15/108…
Rivne police told me it's part of the psychological warfare that the Russian government is trying to play.
For more, take a listen:
npr.org/2022/03/15/108…
I saw an elderly woman on a swing set at sunset, and asked to take her photo.
She refused, saying that she’s not happy, so we let her be.
Not five minutes later, we turn a corner and see her again.
"I can't get away from you," she said, allowing a slight grin.
She refused, saying that she’s not happy, so we let her be.
Not five minutes later, we turn a corner and see her again.
"I can't get away from you," she said, allowing a slight grin.
In address to the Bundestag, President Zelenskyy criticized Germany for prioritizing business over democracy.
He called on German politicians to "tear down their wall," and to stop "dragging your feet on Ukraine's admission to the EU. Frankly... that is a brick in the new wall."
He called on German politicians to "tear down their wall," and to stop "dragging your feet on Ukraine's admission to the EU. Frankly... that is a brick in the new wall."
Zelenskyy added that from the Germans, Ukraininans "felt the delay, the resistance. We understood: you want business, business, business."
The big news this morning is the bombing of the drama center in embattled Mariupol.
Hundreds of thousands remain trapped in the city in deteriorating conditions as the city continues to be encircled by Russian forces.
Hundreds of thousands remain trapped in the city in deteriorating conditions as the city continues to be encircled by Russian forces.
https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1504141027879313412
In 20 days, U.S. estimates that Russia has lost 7K troops.
That's as many as U.S. Marines that were killed in 36 days on Iwo Jima during WWII... "A staggering number," says NYT
nytimes.com/2022/03/16/us/…
That's as many as U.S. Marines that were killed in 36 days on Iwo Jima during WWII... "A staggering number," says NYT
nytimes.com/2022/03/16/us/…
Last night, I had dinner with a number of 20-somethings in the city I'm at in central Ukraine right now.
“We love that phrase ‘Russian troops,’ because in Ukrainian ‘troop’ means corpse," said Ivan, a 24 yo video editor, while eating a burger.
“We love that phrase ‘Russian troops,’ because in Ukrainian ‘troop’ means corpse," said Ivan, a 24 yo video editor, while eating a burger.
Ivan noted that the missiles that hit an airport nearby would have been enough to build hospitals.
His friend Serhii, pictured, says it’s a reflection of Putin’s priories: he would rather destroy Ukraine than to build Russia.
His friend Serhii, pictured, says it’s a reflection of Putin’s priories: he would rather destroy Ukraine than to build Russia.
Valerie (left) with Max (right), are 23 & 24 yo... They worked on a Ukrainian cryptocurrency website before the war. Max likes car racing and esp drifting.
Valerie didn’t believe that the war would start until she saw a rocket fly over her head on the first day of the war...
Valerie didn’t believe that the war would start until she saw a rocket fly over her head on the first day of the war...
Ivan’s father is a soldier who has been deployed to Donetsk.
It is his father's fifth deployment in eight years, and Ivan is nervous.
“I’m not religious,” Ivan said. “But I pray.”
It is his father's fifth deployment in eight years, and Ivan is nervous.
“I’m not religious,” Ivan said. “But I pray.”
They started talking about whether a silver lining might come out of the war…
They thought the sense of national pride was higher than ever...
And people returning to Ukraine to help rebuild after leaving for other opportunities might be a net positive
They thought the sense of national pride was higher than ever...
And people returning to Ukraine to help rebuild after leaving for other opportunities might be a net positive
And then they all realized that... huh, the very fact that they're having this kind of conversation -- it is light-years away from the first or second week of the war, when everything seemed lost and brutal and shocking
Here is my latest update on my hunt for soup noodles in Ukraine.
This is what I could dig up in central Ukraine: some miso soup and some miso soup noodles... (Forgot my Sriracha at home!)
This is what I could dig up in central Ukraine: some miso soup and some miso soup noodles... (Forgot my Sriracha at home!)
By popular demand, here are the war CATs of the day: being lovingly chided by a woman in central Ukraine, off screen
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