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!!!
Stubb: Russia failed on every front — Ukraine became European, NATO gained Finland and Sweden.
In WWII the Soviets marched 1,600km in four years. Russia has moved 60km in four years now. They won't test Article 5 — they'll hit us below it. That's already happening.
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Stubb: Ukraine kills or wounds 30–35,000 Russian soldiers per month since December.
Ukraine now fires more drones and missiles into Russia than Russia can answer. In April, Ukraine took back more territory than Russia gained. Ukraine holds all the cards.
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Stubb: Russians ask: why are we in this war? Why are we losing this many young men?
Russia closed Telegram, WhatsApp, the internet — and people noticed. Ukraine negotiates from strength.
Serhii Kernytskyi spent 346 days at a position near Chasiv Yar, killed 23 Russians and took 6 prisoner.
He deliberately let them close to 20 meters before throwing a grenade. He has been nominated for the title of Hero of Ukraine — 24th Brigade. 1/
Throughout that year Kernytskyi kept a video diary — filming attacks, trophies and daily life on his phone. There was no signal, but the phone worked.
Hundreds of short videos survived: a dugout burning after an incendiary device, him counting trophy rifles, frying ribs and cooking soup. 2/
Before the army he was a construction worker from Khmelnytskyi Oblast. He mobilized on November 3, 2024. He expected to stay three months, then maybe six.
It turned into almost a year. When he asked his commander why they weren't rotating him out, the answer was: there are no people, no one to send. 3/
Madyar, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Force Commander: Putin hits his own people hardest — drains their money, kills their social media. Every dictator needs to know the limit.
This one has no brakes and breaks himself.
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Madyar: Ending the war? Stopping it — maybe, under pressure. But Russia demands we leave Donetsk.
That won't happen. No deal without third parties. Even a frozen line buys time — they rearm in years, then push again: Ukraine, then NATO members.
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Madyar: Don't get emotional about Hungary's new leader. Let it settle. Hungary bans me — I couldn't care less.
My father is Hungarian, my kids born there. But I'm Ukrainian, I live this war. What the new leaders do — time will tell.
63 nations in Brussels backed returning Ukrainian children Russia abducted.
Sybiha, Ukraine's FM: "Russians are afraid of this topic. They demand to remove it from the agenda, because they understand that they are committing a crime and fear justice" — United24 Media. 1/
Ukraine has returned 2,000+ children so far. Russia still holds tens of thousands.
The EU, Ukraine, and Canada convened the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children on May 11, on the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. 2/
The EU pledged €50M to strengthen child protection systems in Ukraine.
Lithuania committed €10M to counter forced deportations, and Germany added €1.4M for social and psychological aid. 3/
Miroslav Simonov, a Russian drone operator from an elite unit defected to Ukraine, walking six miles through the front line at night, dodging sentries and minefields.
He carried drone secrets and intelligence on Russia's Rubicon Centre. — The Times.
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Miroslav Simonov, 24, was an estate agent in Novosibirsk. He arrived in Moscow for a prestigious course — and was immediately arrested for not completing national service.
Officers watched him sign a military contract. Within weeks, he was at the front.
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In his drone unit, Simonov watched his commander joke in a chat after a strike hit a residential building — a 20-year-old girl in intensive care, grandmothers and children wounded.
"This is war. War will write everything off, will forgive everything," an officer told him.
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