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!!!
57-year-old Ukrainian soldier Valery Zelensky died 22 days after his release from Russian captivity.
Kyiv Independent: Doctors found his organs shredded, his shoulder and arm non-functional. “The torture was inhuman,” his daughter said. He spent 39 months in Russian prison. 1/
Valery served near Mariupol in 2022. When the Russian assault began, his unit was asked for volunteers to go on the offensive. Out of 40 men, 8 stepped forward. He was one of them. 2/
For months, his family didn’t know he was alive. He was listed as missing in action.
His family received only one letter in 1,187 days. He was finally released in the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange on May 25. 3/
Gen Z scraps the old script: spend $200K on college, get a desk job, buy a house. That pipeline broke. Tuition exploded. AI erased the degree bonus. First-time homebuyer age jumped from 34 in 1980s to 54 today, writes Ezra Klein for New York Times.
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Gen Z shows up tired. College tours feel like group therapy. Students talk more about fear and burnout than ambition or plans.
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Two escape routes:
Tool-belt path — learn a trade, become a plumber, electrician, or HVAC tech.
YOLO path — bet on meme coins, fantasy sports, or crypto.
Trump promised Zelenskyy to send 10 Patriot missiles to Ukraine during their Friday call, Axios reports.
That’s fewer than the 30 interceptors paused in Poland. But he also pledged to help Ukraine find additional supplies. 1/
The day before, Merz asked Trump to release the paused Patriots. Merz offered to buy systems from the U.S. and send them to Ukraine.
Trump suggested Germany send one of its own batteries, with costs split. 2/
They reached no agreement, but talks are ongoing. German officials say they’ve already transferred a larger share of their Patriot systems to Ukraine than the U.S. has, in relative terms. 3/
The NYPost wrote an appeal to President Trump: Putin has rejected peace, Mr. President, we must rearm Ukraine.
Putin only understands strength. Don’t walk away. 1/
Putin insisted he was unwilling to commit to a ceasefire until the “root causes” of the conflict were addressed. For Putin, the “root cause” is the existence of Ukraine.
He followed Trump's call with the largest drone and missile strike of the war. 2/
So why is the Trump administration punishing Ukraine?
The Pentagon has halted the anti-missile and drone weapons needed to protect the civilians of Kyiv. 3/
Bessent: For 20 years, U.S. was told immigration didn’t hurt workers. Now economists admit it does.
I call for parallel prosperity: Wall Street has done well, now Main Street should too. Big Beautiful Bill helps both. 1/
Bessent: Trump's trade and tax deals are going to bring back working class jobs with good wages, with good health care. 2/
Bessent: I disagree with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. The data shows no inflation so far. What we are seeing is Southeast Asian producers absorbing tariff costs in their margins. 3/
Ukraine isn’t just waiting to join NATO. It already fulfills its core mission - degrading Russia as the most direct threat to allied security, Andriy Yermak in The Hill.
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Right after the NATO Summit in The Hague, Russia launched one of its biggest strikes on Kyiv. Zelenskyy spoke to Trump.
They agreed to boost air defense, expand drone production, and strengthen joint defense tech efforts. 2/
Yermak: Trump was well-informed and attentive.
Protecting cities from Russian missile and drone terror was a top issue. 3/