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.
These are the lessons I learned. 1/
1. We owe our survival to unity and ingenuity 2. Empathy holds more power than rationality. 3. Understanding is out of reach without personal experience 4. War can forge you into a better person, tuned into the world's real problems
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5. Our Ukrainian success hinges on knowledge and continual learning 6. The harshness and monotony of war quickly become the norm 7. Life's singular purpose is to persist and advance towards victory for Ukraine; all else is secondary.
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Let me expand on each of this points.
1. Unity and ingenuity.
Russia was hoping that a politically polarized Ukrainian society won't be able to provide a quick and unified response to the invasion. They expected that Ukrainians will be slow to react. 4/
And surrender its state and government. After all, in the Russia view, people don't have agency. Russian people are no one for the Kremlin, why should Ukrainians be any different.
But we are. The war has shown unprecedented unity, willpower, and innovation by the Ukrainians 5/
2. Empathy holds more power than rationality.
This one is difficult to explain. Because it is irrational. People sacrifice their lives so that others can survive. On the individual level, to a rational person, educated in the West, or living in Russia, it might not make sense 6/
But when you are in the war, you are not doing careful rational calculus. You are often driven by emotions, a much more powerful motivator. In the case of Ukraine, these are primal emotions. Ukraine has been attacked, people are tortured and killed. 7/
This is the biggest injustice there could be in the world, and it must be corrected. This is what drives people. While it might not be rational, it saves Ukraine and it will ensure our independence and safety from Russia in the future. At the unbelievable high cost of lives 8/
Now I understand that it must be how nations are created and that not any tribe or people could be a nation. Independence and freedom are not free. I just wish fewer people would have to die. 9/
3. Understanding is out of reach without personal experience
The war is covered in fog. Literally and through disinformation. Also, most of our cognitive and learning frameworks that we are humans and societies have developed - fail. They are not adequate for this environment.10
So, unless you see and experience it, you don't really know what to believe. This is why it is critically important to visit the front lines, to speak with the soldiers, to interact with the survivors of occupation, and visit all kinds of places in Ukraine. 11/
Ukraine is large and the war is diverse. Sometimes two villages a couple of miles apart have had very different experiences and now have different attitudes and culture. So, I have learned to be humble and try to learn first from eyewitness to form my own opinion. 12/
4. War can forge you into a better person, tuned into the world's real problems
This one is simple. War makes you a better person because it cleans you of all secondary thoughts and ambitions. The human life, dignity, freedom become key for me. 12/
Now I truly understand the meaning of the human rights. They are not an abstraction for me anymore. Yes, they can be taken away. They can disappear from your life without warning. You can wake up occupied. But human rights must be defended at all costs. 13/
5. Our Ukrainian success hinges on knowledge and continual learning
Russia is powerful, bigger, has a lot of weapons and people willing to fight or too afraid to desert.
So, we need to be smarter, better educated, more tech savvy. We have to deploy technology to win. 14/
And we have to be educated to continue to run our society and economy, during and post war. 15/
6. The harshness and monotony of war quickly become the norm
Before the war I was afraid of the war. I was not sure whether I would behave in a decent way. Would I run away from Ukraine? Would I be afraid to be at the frontlines?
Clearly, people are differently programmed 16/
But what I learned about the fear of war is that it also comes from ignorance, from the loss of control over your life. Over time one get used to the war, one learns how to live through. Humans are amazing at adapting. The war shows it to you. 17/
7. Life's singular purpose is to persist and advance towards victory for Ukraine; all else is secondary.
That's for me. And for most Ukrainians. We want to survive. So, while I miss my academic career in the US and regret that I might not be a good economist as a result of 18/
coming back to Ukraine before the war, I think I have made the right choices as a human. I have one life and I want to liver it true. So, Ukraine must win, and the rest can wait.
Thank you for reading this. I feel we are not alone in this. It will be over one day. X
My main purpose in life is to build KSE university! This is especially important during the war. If you want to support KSE, you can do it here
Russian officers train abducted Ukrainian children from occupied regions.
Teens from Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Donetsk learn drones, trenches, mines, grenades, weapons at "Voin" center in Volgograd.
1,289 children were militarized there in 2024 — UP. 1/
Center headman — State Duma deputy Vodolatskiy with Crimea medal who called to destroy Ukrainian forces.
Centre Commander — Col. Gasparyan led brigade capturing south Ukraine. His troops face war crime charges: beatings, kidnappings, murders, mock executions, rape of minor. 2/
Kyiv Independent identified 25 instructors training Ukrainian children in Volgograd; most fought against Ukraine.
Branch head Lt. Col. Vorobyov volunteered in 2022 with 20th Guards Division, fought in Mariinka, was wounded, returned to lead center. 3/
Q: What was your takeaway from leaders' meeting in London?
Me: The pressure on Russia could've been much stronger.
Putin always manages to pull some kind of trick and slow down the process. Ukraine didn't get Tomahawks, but the sanctions were imposed. 1/
Me: Sanctions are hurting Russian economy. Structurally it's not doing well. Sanctions are creating conditions to force Russia to stop. It should be more. It should've been done before. Putin will only stop if he understands that the US will not be on sidelines on this. 2/
Q: When will Trump decide to send Tomahawks?
Me: The trend is not in Russia’s favor. Pressure will grow, Ukraine will get weapons. Putin tries to weaken Ukraine for winter, hitting infrastructure. Trump will act when Ukraine’s situation is dire or Russia insults him. 3/
For two years, Russians have tortured and hidden Ukrainian journalist Anastasiia Hlukhovska. She’s still somewhere in their prisons.
Witnesses say guards electrocuted her in a basement chamber. Her screams echoed through the cells — . 1/ Slidstvo.Info
On August 20, 2023, FSB agents burst into Hlukhovska’s apartment in occupied Melitopol.
They beat her, seized her laptop and phone, handcuffed her, and dragged her away. Russian propaganda later showed the raid on TV, while the FSB told her family they never detained her. 2/
Russians locked her in the basement of the “Ruslan-Komplekt” factory — turned into a torture site.
A woman imprisoned with her said, “They shocked Nastia with electricity. She couldn’t stand. The guard told me, ‘If she stops breathing — knock.’” 3/
Zelenskyy: We have never used long-range American weapons in Russia. 1/
Zelenskyy about the results of his last meeting with Trump: We have sanctions on Russian energy. We don’t have a meeting in Hungary without Ukraine. We don’t have Tomahawks yet. 2/
Zelenskyy about Tomahawks: We will see. I don’t know, really. Every day something comes up.
Ukrainian ground drone forced a Russian surrender for the 1st time, The WP.
In June in Kharkiv region, a 3rd Assault Brigade land robot packed with 63 kg of explosives cornered a dugout.
Russians raised a sign: “WE WANT TO SURRENDER.” 1/
The $1,500 wheeled drone rolled to the position under overwatch from an aerial drone.
After a 1st blast into the dugout, a 2nd robot waited outside while 2 unarmed Russians emerged with the sign and followed the quadcopter to Ukrainian lines. 2/
No Ukrainian infantry were lost in the operation. The brigade used aerial FPV for the initial strike, then sent the land drone to finish the job and hold the position at risk.
Ground troops advanced only to accept the POWs and secure the tree line. 3/