Thread by @timkmak

Good morning from Warsaw.

Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

A personal note: I will pause the daily Ukraine updates for a break after a month in Ukraine.

Will expand, but first let's start with the news...

POTUS is in Poland now, and is expected to be in Warsaw this evening.

Biden will travel to near the Ukrainian border today, where he will meet with troops in the 82nd Airborne (identifiable by their 'AA' patch, which stands for All-American!)

The unit sent troops to Poland in anticipation of war breaking out in February.

npr.org/live-updates/u…

And an update from Mariupol:

300 people are believed to have been killed in last week's bombing of a drama theater

Civilians were sheltering from bombardment there, and the Russian word for 'children' was spelled out in white outside

npr.org/live-updates/u…

If you haven't seen this NYT visual investigations video, they have an amazing story:

Intercepted unencrypted Russian comms, which show potential Russian war crimes, Ukrainians jamming/ disrupting them, & logistical problems plaguing the Russian advance

nytimes.com/video/world/eu…

This animation, by the Institute for the Study of War, shows their assessment of the developments of the last weeks.

Note Russian forces being pushed back around Mykolaiv in the south and the announced counteroffensive around Kyiv.

https://twitter.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1507152851214254085

I recently left Ukraine for Poland: we expected a massive wait at the border, what had been the case for the initial weeks after the invasion.

Instead we arrived first thing at the border -- and saw no line at all. We breezed through and drove to Warsaw.

Video: western Ukraine

There are hints of the war's fallout even in downtown Warsaw -- spotted soldiers from the 82nd Airborne in maroon berets (indicating airborne troops) walking down the street... Polish soldiers with rifles... a Polish soldier with a camo backpack kissing a woman goodbye

And all over Warsaw: indications that Poland and Ukraine were united.

Ukrainian and Polish flags twinned everywhere.

You can even 'Uber for Ukraine' here (with the proceeds going to humanitarian aid).

As I entered Warsaw I saw a big Zelenskyy poster covering an entire building on the freeway.

And then, there's this, a message to Putin. You may be familiar with what that means by now:

Yes, I'll be cycling out of Ukraine after a month in the country. Hope to be back soon. In the meantime, please follow my colleagues still in:
@seekyivcom
@IMatviyishyn
@LeilaFadel
@lmigaki
@becsully
@jasonbnpr
@JulianHayda
@ElissaNadworny
@NathanRott

https://twitter.com/heather99332498/status/1507093221507153936?s=21

@seekyivcom @IMatviyishyn @LeilaFadel @lmigaki @becsully @jasonbnpr @JulianHayda @ElissaNadworny @NathanRott I took a seven month break from Twitter in 2017, and for literally years after, the search term 'what happened to Tim Mak' was associated w/my name on Google, even after I returned to reporting

Not sure whether to be touched or insulted ;)

https://twitter.com/lyledal/status/1507353097479274497

It's been an honor to share some of these war stories with you.

I wouldn't be able to do it without a huge support team of editors, producers, security, translators.

I didn't expect to be covering this war.

I landed in Kyiv the night before the invasion, on one of the last commercial flights.

Had a drink with a friend, went to bed...

... and then the first of my daily letters home started out this way:

https://twitter.com/timkmak/status/1496694604204331012

Since then, we did broadcasts live in Ukraine without power and in the dark; in fields...

Peep the headlamp I wore for thirty days straight:

We did a story on Ukraine's transition to a war economy, taking you to a milk factory, an industrial warehouse now making anti-tank hedgehogs, civilians in a school gym making camo nets...

npr.org/2022/03/04/108…

We brought you into a Ukrainian nuclear power complex during a time of war, and interviewed the director who said he couldn't guarantee safety if the Russian military attacked:

npr.org/2022/03/08/108…

We took you to the Ukrainian north and told you about Ukrainian fears of a new front opening, after what they called a 'false-flag' attack along the Belarusian border

npr.org/2022/03/12/108…

We took you on the hunt for Russian saboteurs, with reporting from Vinnytsia (central Ukraine), Rivne (Northern Ukraine) and Lviv (Western Ukraine):

npr.org/2022/03/15/108…

We told you about the human side too: like this story about Ukrainian civilians who missed the yoga and American football that marked normal life before the war. npr.org/2022/03/19/108…

And we brought you to the southern port city of Odesa, which is preparing for a potential Russian amphibious landing or a breakthrough that could encircle the city.

We toured their defenses and profiled that here:

npr.org/2022/03/22/108…

All in all, our team traveled to Kyiv, Uman, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne and Odesa in four weeks, trying to give you a mix of the military situation on the battlefield, and the stories of regular people on the ground.

I remember the morning of the invasion, we went to the basement for shelter.

One hotel staff member, who wasn't aware of the invasion, yelled at us journalists, who he blamed for overhyping the prospect of war and suppressing the tourist $ that makes the hotel run.

Later that morning, amid a few booms and bangs and the frantic early information of the war, the same staff member brought us a bench...

He didn't apologize, exactly, for what he said and how he said it... but I took it as his way of saying, 'my bad, I shouldn't have said that.'

And to close a loop: here in Warsaw I finally got that bowl of pho. Nearly wept in joy. It may have been the longest time I've gone without pho since... I went to Army basic training.

Some of you may know that I'm a former U.S. Army combat medic, and an EMT-B

I'm a certified Stop the Bleed instructor, and this war is just the latest reminder of how important it is to learn how to stop severe bleeding. You could save a life. Learn here: stopthebleed.org

I'm also an investigative reporter that covers many other issues other than Ukraine.

I'm the author of 'Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA,' about the inner workings and corruption inside that group. Go take a read if you're interested in that work!

https://twitter.com/lpjamison/status/1507097653494042624?s=21

Some people have asked how they can contribute to the work we're doing in Ukraine, and what my talented colleagues are doing all over the world.

You can! Please donate to your local NPR member station: npr.org/stations/

There aren't any journalism awards for dog and cat pics...

... but, like, shouldn't there be? @darth for chairman of that board!

Today's cat of war is Kit Richards... named after Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

A Ukrainian told me he was sleeping, and dreamt that someone had banged up his beloved classic American car.

He awoke in a sweat, to air raid sirens in his native Ukraine.

"Thank god," he said. "It was just a nightmare."

Stay safe out there, everybody!