Good evening. Day 5 after the latest Russian attack on Kyiv. Day 277 of the war. I am president of the Kyiv School of Economics, a former minister of economy of Ukraine, and a professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh. I left the US for Kyiv 4 days before the war 1/
and stayed there, with some short trips outside of Ukraine for fundraising. Officially, I am on sabbatical leave from Pittsburgh this year. I guess not many people have field sabbaticals, here the field is a war. I left the US because I must lead the Kyiv School of 2/
Economics through the war. I hold a green card and can leave Ukraine at any moment. But I do not want to and will not do it. Now, back to my day. It was busy and I am tired. Shopping, looking and assembling things. In short, preparing for another likely Russian attack tomorrow 3/
We got our super warm winter hiking clothing out. Many people suggested that we can sleep in a tent in our bedroom. So we dug out sleeping bags and went to buy a tent. 4/
The shops were open and it was Black Friday. Everything on sale. But when we were about to pay, the electricity went off. The shop had a battery and continued to run. They used Xmas lights to save electricity instead of their regular ones. It was very cozy. Here is a pic. 5/
Many people suggested that when the electricity and heating go out, we use candles or gas / kerosine heaters to warm the apartment. We decided against it. First, it is not too safe for novices. Second, none are on the market or we could find. So, we drove to 6/
another store to get at least some wood and coal. The plan is to use an simple and small firewood oven that we can set up on our balcony if all else fails. How do you drive when there is no lights in the city, that is, no traffic lights? Traffic police come out! My respect! 7/
We wanted to try the firewood idea, just to practice, when we get home. But we got exhausted bringing all this stuff to the 8th floor. So, we will try it another time. Will post the picture. Yet, my wife wanted some tea anyway. And also she wanted to get hot water 8/
for the morning. She asked me to start the generator so she can use electric tea pot. I did and discovered another problem. The snow on the balcony has melted. And the generator was sliding towards the windows because of vibration. I need a way to fix it in place, but that’s 9/
for tomorrow. Anyway, the water is boiled and stored in thermoses. We have two, one liter each. Perhaps, we should get more. We can probably order them delivered. Here is a pic of a delivery man on a bike 90 mins before the curfew. 10/
That’s a private service. Public services work too. Here is a tractor shoveling snow on a sidewalk. All pictures taken when we were driving back from a mall. 11/ twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
The mall looked normal too except for occasionally blinking light, shortage of products in electrical and heating departments, and occasional assignments by managers to their staff to remember to start generators for the night. There was even a sushi restaurant. A good one. 12/
In the morning, we checked out a center of “nezlamnost”. These are shelters when people can get warm, get some tea, access internet, and power their devices. Here is a Starlinks set up for you :). Very cute! 13/
The center is run by a charity organization “solomenski cats”. Solomenski is the place. Here is their logo. We proposed to them to equip 10 more centers like that and KSE Foundation will match / provide 50% of funding. The rest they should raise themselves 14/
The centers are set up officially at the request / initiative of the president and mayors. There is some funding. For basics. They are set up in hospitals and schools. The problem is that often money is not enough. You should have organizational and procurement capability 15/
This is where we will try to help. Finally, I posted separately about our students spending the last night at the university building (we have one, no dorm). Here are some pics. 16/ twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
We are ready for another attack. Russians often hit on Monday. That’s tomorrow. Every time damages get worse. No water and heat for days. But people are adapting. You can donate to KSE here. Thank you so much for your support!!!
Gen. Petraeus: The US military performed brilliantly in the Gulf. But the real war of the 21st century is happening right now in Ukraine — a war of drones, constant innovation, and near-equal armies — WSJ. 1/
The Gulf was fought under permissive conditions. US and Israeli forces controlled the electromagnetic spectrum. Iran had limited ability to contest operations at scale.
Ukraine is different — drones get jammed, spoofed, destroyed and replaced within days. 2/
Ukraine produces millions of unmanned systems annually. Manufacturers predict seven million units this year. The US will not come anywhere close to that scale. 3/
Ukraine has 900,000 active soldiers. Drones kill and robots advance.
But the most valuable asset on the battlefield is still a human being who is willing to fight, writes Luke McGee in Foreign Policy. 1/
When people saw what unmanned vehicles could achieve, some suggested wars could be fought without personnel. It is a nice idea.
But to hold territory and operate UAVs and ground robots, you need people physically there. 2/
The problem is motivation in practice.
Pavlo Zaichenko, 59th Brigade: “When there is no clear understanding of where one will serve, how the service will look, and how long it will last, this becomes a significant barrier for potential volunteers.” 3/
Q: Vance said that he is proud U.S. is cutting its aids to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy: Considering situation in Iran, the US might really do that.
But I think the U.S. aid to Ukraine is important for the US as well. Showing the unity with European allies.
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Zelenskyy: Unfortunately, Ukraine must remind everyone of its situation so we aren’t forgotten.
Everyone knows we lack PAC-3 missiles, but other countries also have domestic problems. So we must work on reminding allies every day. We must fight for survival every day.
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Q: Russia is threatening the countries and the companies that support Ukraine with weapons. Do you take it seriously?
PM of Netherlands Rob Jetten: Russia is intimidating. We must not be scared. Russia is loosing, their economy is in a very bad shape.
Russian troops turned Oleshky into a sealed pocket.
2,000 civilians remain trapped in occupied city. No safe exit routes after Russian troops mined roads.
At least 47 children are still inside, with no regular food or water supplies. People die of hunger, Kyiv Independent. 1/
“If the situation doesn’t improve, people will just die there from hunger. There’s no way out, no food coming in,” a resident who escaped says.
Out of 24,000 pre-war population, only about 2,000 remain, mostly elderly, ill, or alone. 2/
Russian forces placed mortars, guns, and mines inside residential areas.
Civilians live among military positions, which also shield Russian troops from Ukrainian strikes, forcing residents to remain inside active combat zones. 3/