Tim Mak Profile picture
Mar 21, 2022 22 tweets 8 min read Read on X
Morning from Ukraine.

Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands, while the city of Mariupol refuses to surrender.

The Russian military said it had until this morning to do so.

An advisor to the Mariupol mayor responded on Facebook with an expletive.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the southeastern port city of Mariupol.

They face dwindling supplies of food and water, and no electricity. On top of that, the shelling and the bombings:

The deputy prime minister of Ukraine told a Ukrainian newspaper that the Russian demands were eight pages of quote “delusions”...

...that the Russians have taken the people of Mariupol hostage

...and that a surrender would not happen.

nv.ua/ukr/ukraine/ev…
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy continues his personalized appeals to various countries for help... here, to Germany:

VIDEO: This here in Kyiv used to be a shopping mall called 'Retroville':
Michael Kofman walks us through the stalled fronts in the Russian invasion, and what could be called the end of the beginning.

The next part could see a lot more devastation and killing:

This is Eugene, a combat veteran who is in Odesa.

His family is in besieged Mariupol, and he hasn't heard from them in more than two weeks.
Photo: A pensioner sweeping in Odesa, near a barricade...

And other scenes in Odesa, which in normal times would be a bustling tourism hotspot
NPR visited military positions in the southern part of Ukraine in the last 24 hours...

...Will share the details in the next couple hours, but standby, I need to run to an interview...
This is the south of Ukraine, along the Black Sea.

It in this region that Ukrainian officials say that they are prepared for the Russian military if they try an amphibious landing
If the Russian military were to do an amphibious landing near Odesa, this is one of the places they might do it
We observed armored vehicles, mined beaches, and entrenched fighting positions meant to fight off any potential Russian amphibious landing in southwestern Ukraine.
We also observed the sign posts that Ukrainians have taken down and replaced with new messages.

This one tells the Russians where they can go… I’ll let you do the translation yourself.
Scenes across southern Ukraine: wind turbines near the Black Sea, a tower with the a Ukrainian flag, if you look closely
Two weeks ago, and 30km away, a downed Russian pilot was captured in this region… and handed over to the Ukrainian authorities, the UKR military says.
There’s a similarity between the badges I see on Ukrainian kit, and those I've seen in the United States, where ‘Molon Labe’ is very popular
Along the way we met another Eugene, who said that he got this suppressor for his rifle eight years ago when the war broke out, and that it's nearly impossible to find that sort of thing for sale now:
Here I am trying to do a stand-up on an armored vehicle that Ukrainian marines use, when they started it up suddenly
Today’s dog of war is Louie, who accosted me as I was trying to get some reporting done
Neither Louie nor Gilza seem to understand the meaning of "I'm on deadline!"
Senior U.S. defense official: Russian forces have shown almost no signs of advancing over past week.

Artillery shelling, air missions, naval shelling in the Black Sea all up, though no momentum and no imminent landing around Odesa
Senior U.S. defense official, cont.:
Russian mil are continuing to have logistics issues, said the official, and a significant # of their precision-guided weapons are failing to launch/not exploding on impact.

But Russia still has close to 90% of their combat power available.

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More from @timkmak

Apr 21
Today, along with my friend @KlasfeldReports, I’m launching a new publication.

Introducing @allrisenews.

Our current system of journalism is flawed.

It omits what WE CAN DO about the terrible things we read about. Image
We’ll report news, then show you how to turn it into action.

We will bring you fearless journalism that won’t treat you like passive spectators to Donald Trump’s assault on democracy.

Reporting that guides you through your rights and powers in the law.
From Ukraine, the number one feeling I got from reading American news was helplessness.

Every day brings more scandals and challenges to the constitution.

No one was talking about what we could do to make a difference.
Read 8 tweets
Apr 20
Scoop: Trump’s special envoy for Russia Steve Witkoff has a serious conflict of interest: business dealings with a man sanctioned by Ukraine as a threat to its national security.

Len Blavatnik is a longtime business partner of Witkoff’s, and made his money in post-Soviet Russia. Image
Steve Witkoff, appointed as Trump’s special envoy, has repeatedly shown not just an affinity for Moscow but has openly stated that he “spent a lot of time talking and developing a friendship and relationship” with Putin — a dictator responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians. Image
After a meeting with Putin, he told Trump that the fastest way to a ceasefire would be to give four Ukrainian territories to Russia, Reuters reported – views that drew direct condemnation from Ukraine’s president this week.
Read 11 tweets
Feb 22
Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

Tomorrow Germany will vote. Will it stand by Ukraine or give power to the pro-Russian far right?

Kirill, a Ukrainian in Hungary, warns voters about ‘Orbanization’ of Germany. Image
Kiril Demchenko has lived in Hungary for four years, so he knows how a country changes when its authorities flirt with the Kremlin, as Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban has done.
Kiril says after the start of the full-scale invasion, Hungarians began to treat Ukrainians badly, especially older people who see Russia as an ally, not an aggressor.
Read 15 tweets
Jan 28
Here's what we're reading today:

Trump’s suspension of U.S. foreign aid has left numerous Ukraine-based humanitarian projects w/o funding.

USAID is supporting veterans groups, local media, critical infrastructure among other vital areas. Image
Russian intelligence contact relatives of Ukrainian POWs immediately after capture, trying to manipulate them into sending money or sensitive information.

They also promise prisoner exchanges or better treatment for their POW relatives while in captivity. Image
EU may ban selling video game consoles to Russia, as Russia is using them to operate attack drones.

Following Western sanctions, Russia's military has been known to use non-military tech for military purposes, like refrigerator parts which are used in missiles and drones. Image
Read 6 tweets
Dec 30, 2024
Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

War doesn’t stop, even on Christmas Eve. Nastia and I spent the night at a medical stabilization point near the frontline, where medics were working around the clock to save Ukrainian soldiers. Image
We had barely started eating Kutya – the sweet Ukrainian Christmas dish you’re obliged to eat first, and with a spoon – when the first call came in for an emergency evacuation.
At the forward headquarters of MOAS, an NGO dedicated to spiriting critical patients away from the frontlines, Christmas Eve dinner was marked with a couple hearty toasts and camaraderie.
Read 10 tweets
Oct 24, 2024
Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

For years I thought I was done with Maria Butina, the Russian agent linked with the NRA that I uncovered.

But after she was released from prison, she went back to Russia to become a legislator with Putin’s party... Image
… and I became a resident of Kyiv, a city being relentlessly attacked by the forces she so vigorously supports.

This is the inside story of how I came to unmask Maria Butina.
Every great investigative story starts with an unlikely tip.

Usually it sounds just a little too wild to be true.

Oftentimes, these claims are impossible to prove.
Read 14 tweets

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