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
Ukrainians have adapted marine drones to carry air to air Soviet missiles.
Many believe this to be impossible until today, when Russian channels showed evidence 1/
In the video, you can see a Russian helicopter shooting at the Ukrainian marine drone and eventually resorting it. The drone explodes suggesting that it also carried its regular suicide payload.
The drone has one missile missing, which indicates it has fired once 2/
We now should expect a rapid evolution of Ukrainian marine drones to carry other drones, ship missiles, and more air defense. 3/
But first let’s admit the obvious: The US deescalation doctrine doesn’t work.
Think about it! There hasn’t been a single instance of Russia deescalating in response to any action by Ukraine or the West. 2/
The Black Sea gain deal, partial easing of sanctions on energy and agriculture, the U.S. restrictions on Ukraine to strike deep in Russia, delays in supply Ukraine with weapons that it asked for - none of it resulted in deescalation by Russia 5/
Recently, there’ve been reports of the U.S. easing Russian sanctions
Is this a carrot& stick game after the passing the aid? Is this signaling to Russia that the U.S. is willing to “de escalate” if… Or is this a sign of some covert negotiations with Russia?
Specifically, 1/
The reports said that U.S. now allows transactions related to energy with the Russian banks.
The problem is that it is quite misleading.
It is true that the sanctions have been eased relative to the start of the invasion. 2/
But the decision is not new and happened many months ago
What is immediately new is that easing of the sanctions s works through an exemption. And this exemption was set to expire last week. The U.S. renewed it until November. 3/
Mario Nawfal posted today that Ukraine forces pregnant women to serve in the military while strippers are exempt
There were easy signs that the accusation is false, yet the post gained almost 200K until it was removed.
What were the signs? 1/
First, women are not required to serve in Ukraine military. They can volunteer, but they are definitely not forced. This is generally know or can be inferred. It is men who are restricted from leaving Ukraine, but not women
Anyone who talks to Ukrainian refugees knows this 2/
The post was quickly rebutted, Mario removed it and apologized. This is ethical and respectful of him. Mistakes happen. It is the model how to react to them.
Yet, the damage was done. We know from social media research that fake news travel 10-20 times faster than truth. 3/
Ukraine is on the brink. A fresh Russian push’ll test Ukraine severely
It is a matter of time until Chasiv Yar falls; Dark days ahead for Kharkiv
This war will end with negotiations; they won’t happen until late 2025 or 2026 1/
The general - Major-General Vadym Skibitsky - is a deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency.
His boss Budanov has achieved an almost legendary status in Ukraine and abroad. 2/
Skibitskiy says Russia will first push to get the rest of Donetsk and Luhansk. The immediate threat is Chasiv Yar. It is the key for Russia to access the last remaining large cities in the region, which are just 30-40 km away. 2/
It is ridiculous how Ukraine ignores high-priority targets and attacks low priority targets in Russia, says an observer criticizing Ukrainian attack on Russian oil refinery in Ryazan
Let’s take this argument seriously and think about what Ru targets should Ukraine hit first 1/
But first let’s look at what Ukraine is hitting now.
The recent deep strikes have focused on oil refineries. They have not focused on crude oil production, electricity grid, command centers, or weapon storage facilities. 2/
There are of course strikes on command centers and weapons storage facilities closer to the front lines. One recent example is an ATACAMS attack on Russian training center in Luhansk region 3/