It's been a long day. We finally reached #Kherson and start arranging our return with a regular train there. But that's a long story. Take a sit. 🧵
Once our army fought #russians out of #Kherson, I knew I have to go there and arrange our service ASAP. Boots on the ground is our way.
Days like this one start very early. And today we had a magic morning.
I got used to walking on the tracks. Otherwise you just don’t get there.
Sometimes you have to travel like this. No matter how, but you have to move on.
Damaged tracks and derailed railcars on the way. #russians bring devastation.
Meanwhile, everyone in our #IronTeam knows what to do. Like @Pertsovskyi_O, who makes things happen over the phone, from the middle of nowhere, neverminding the smash around him.
Once derailed railcars a pushed out from the track, and track is fixed, we give way to the train to move forward. And again, and again. Will pick those thrown railcars slightly later. People first.
At some point we understood that we forgot to have breakfast. So we made it right there, near the track. It happened that it was our lunch and dinner as well :) But it was delicious! Only one way it could be better - if my friend @chefjoseandres would make it for us!
We always strongly coordinate with local governors. Like @vitalij_kim, the Governor of #Mykolaiv. Governors know the territory and provide us strong support. Always.
Rusty rails. So many of them I’ve seen in retaken territories after being idle for months. So happy to bring them back to life and polish them with train wheels to shine again.
I’ll remember forever the feeling when we got to the train station. Incredible. #KhersonIsUkraine.
#russians painted over Ukrainian logos at our railcars in #Kherson. And that’s it. #denazification of railcars. What a miserable people they are.
But then we met young local Ukrainians. They where very patriotic, and expecting the regular train of course. The future of Ukraine is alive.
Many cats and dogs everywhere. Like this kitty. Looks like they wait for arrival of my friend and huge cat lover @natemook. I promised them you’ll come, Nate. Hurry up, my friend.
My takes from day 1/2 of the @fide_chess General Assembly in Budapest.
Danger: long 🧵 ahead :)
Spoiler: russians will not get back to chess competitions with their bloody flags.
Spoiler 2: russian mangement breaks down @fide_chess.
So, main point.
There is no legal way to vote at GA neither Kyrgyz request nor russian complaint on restoring full rights for russian and belarus federations.
So neither russian nor belarus teams don’t get back to a civilized world under their bloody flags and anthems.
That was officially stated loud from the stage, at the very beginning of GA, by Roberto Rivello, the chairman of the Constitutional Commission of @fide_chess.
I am starting my work at the Ukrainian Chess Federation @uachessfed with a challenging and important battle on the international front.
Yes, it’s again about russia.
And no, we will not let them prevail, as we don’t let it on the battlefield.
#NoBloodyRussianFlagBackInChess
On September 22, a meeting of the @FIDE_chess General Assembly is scheduled in Budapest, where the agenda includes the issue of "restoring the full rights of the national chess federations of russia and belarus."
It’s about the return of the right for the teams of aggressor countries to participate in international competitions under their own flags and anthems. russia and belarus also want to regain the right to host international tournaments under the flag of FIDE on their territory.
534 days ago I was appointed as the Minister. My task was clear: to restart the ministry’s operations according to wartime realities. Today I am stepping down. In 2023, production tripled, and by September 2024, it doubled again.
🧵
Drones, ammunition, armored vehicles, the missile program – current capabilities allow to scale production rapidly, provided there are procurement contracts.
We’ve launched serial production of the full range of mortar and artillery rounds. We manufacture more self-propelled artillery systems than any other country of a free world. We've made significant progress in the missile program.
So, here is the story of defense industrial base conference #DFNC1: US edition in Washington DC, 6-7 Dec.
Danger: long 🧵 ahead!
Looking back to September when we hosted the first-ever defense industry forum #DFNC1 in Kyiv, I must say the US edition is a logical next step. We had 13 US companies visiting Kyiv in September.
Now we brought 38 Ukrainian companies to the US. State-owned, led by @ukroboronprom and @HermanSmetanin personally, and private. B2B dialogue is crucial for further development of joint collaboration.
First time since the beginning of the #RussiaUkraineWar we brought together 67 factory managers of @ukroboronprom, our state-owned defense industry holding.
And here is why it's important.
Danger! Mid-size 🧵 here! :)
Here in Ukraine we work hard on increasing local production of weapons and ammunition. Manufacturing more #IronThings that help our armed forces fight #russians out of my land.
Therefore our factories and factory managers become important. Being neglected for decades, our factories return to life and start growing production volumes.
It happened after 3 people died in front of a closed shelter in Kyiv during another shelling by #russians.
Danger: long 🧵 ahead.
Yes, it's #russsians who are responsible for those deaths. No argue.
But it’s we, who could save those lives. If our shelters were properly functioning. And actually they should on 464th day of the war.
After finishing my day work in the ministry, I started digging in the shelters issue. I read reports and met people. And I must say the issue seems to be complicated.