The thread will be in English. I will be asking for retweets of this thread. So, a week ago, I went to the Desna River in the Chernihiv region to see what's happening there and how the pollution of Ukrainian rivers Seym and Desna looks. In short – it’s terrifying.
A bit of context: on August 14th, the first reports started to appear about fish dying in the Seym River in the Sumy region. By the end of August, these reports were everywhere in local media, and locals were posting videos on social media showing dead fish.
September, polluted water had reached the Desna River in the Chernihiv region. Results of this can be seen in the photos. Or, at the end of the thread, there will be a link to a text. For English-speaking readers – Ukrainian there isn't complicated, and auto-translate will handle
I asked various authorities at both regional and state levels: from the Environmental Inspection and Disease Control Center to the Ministry of Ecology. They all say that the pollutant is organic. That’s why the tests have taken so long. It's easier to find a chemical pollutant.
As explained to me by the Environmental Inspection (and independent ecologists as well), the process is as follows: the organic pollutant in the water starts to oxidize. For this, it needs oxygen. Accordingly, it begins to consume it from the water.
Since there is less dissolved oxygen in the water, everything alive starts to suffocate. Die. Rot. The rotting process also requires oxygen. And it starts to disappear from the water even faster. This process is like an avalanche that is almost impossible to stop.
No diseases or chemicals were found in the dead fish that were analyzed. So, they died precisely due to a lack of oxygen. Over the past weeks, more than 18 tons of dead fish have been collected in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions combined. You can imagine the scale of the disaster.
When I was at the Desna a week ago, I saw hundreds of dead fish washed up on the shore. There were some very large pikes, over a meter long. There was fish that looked like sturgeon. The river itself was brown and green in color and smelled strongly of corpses.
Where did the pollutant come from? Probably from the Kursk region of Russia, pollution was seen at the border. The closest facility that could have discharged enough organic waste is the sugar factory in Tyotkino. Further upstream, there was leather factory in Rylsk.
What’s important: this isn't the first time. Smaller-scale pollution and fish deaths occurred in late May 2024 and October 2019. 2019 – it was possible to establish that the source of the pollution was in Tyotkino. May 2024 – pollution was recorded from the state border.
Essentially, as it is this time. But problem is that Ukraine does not have objective control in the area of potential pollution, we cannot confirm that the Russians did it, nor can we determine exactly how and where exactly it happened.
That's why foreign colleagues are being very cautious with this topic right now. And I understand why) I wrote everything I could find out in a text for the Ukrainian media.
Is there a threat to Kyiv's drinking water? Such a risk is always there, and preparations are underway for that. But, in my opinion, the primary concern here should be the death of the entire ecosystem of the Seym and Desna rivers. Because almost all the fish there have died.
11 years ago, a pivotal moment took place in the history of Ukraine. The Berkut special police unit killed 48 people in the center of Kyiv, Yanukovych fled, and the Russians started a war against Ukraine. Share this thread. It`s huge. 👇
Over the past month, I've noticed that in the English-speaking part of Twitter, Russian fakes about Maidan have started spreading. In Ukraine, we digested and rejected them 11 years ago. But as it turns out, Russians have no shame in feeding them to an English-speaking audience👇
First, a bit of context. In 2010, presidential elections took place. And overall, despite all the nuances, Yanukovych won. He received 48.95% of the votes, while Yulia Tymoshenko got 45.47%. Why? Because in Ukraine, people often vote against someone rather than for someone. 👇
Since 2022, attention to Ukraine has remained steady. Yes, there are spikes when Russians do some new bullshit, like shelling the Chornobyl nuclear plant. Yes, there are lulls when nothing happens for a while, and editorial offices start wondering what to do and how to write. 👇
Some editorial offices have opened branches in Ukraine, while others keep their journalists here and rotate staff occasionally, allowing those without experience in Ukraine to come, live here for a bit, and understand more about the country they are writing about. 👇
Editorial offices with fewer resources either send reporters to Ukraine from time to time or rely on grant programs to send people here for a week or two. This is especially true for journalists from Africa or South America, for whom our war feels very distant. 👇
Обіцяний тред про дві улюблені теми: медіа і гроші) Ну, бо закидать песюнами журналістів то святе, а рахувати чужі гроші – завжди цікаво. Спробуємо поєднати ці дві теми в одну, побачим, що з того вийде.👇
Хвала репортерському богу, я ніколи не був головним редактором і мені не доводилося зводити бюджет, але це постійний головняк. Бо медіа або збиткові, або майже нічого не заробляють. Тож гроші доводиться шукати деінде. 👇
Власне, чому гроші важливі. Колись, 300 років тому в іншому житті один викладач в універі сказав просту фразу: гроші = незалежність. Чим більше у вашої редакції грошей – тим більше у неї буде незалежності.👇
Another English Thread. Because there have been too many stories from foreign colleagues that mentioning the "terrible Ukrainians" allegedly targeting Russian civilians or how peace negotiations are just around the corner. And honestly, I’m tired of it.
Because while the world sings the Ukrainian Shchedryk (Caroll of the bells), Russians are destroying the city where the first scores of this carol were composed. If someone doesn’t know: Carol of the Bells was written by Mykola Leontovych in the Pokrovsk, between 1904 and 1908.
And it hurts me deeply. Ukrainians have only recently started waking up and rediscovering their own history. It turns out that the Soviet myth of the drunken, sly, and incompetent Ukrainian was just that — a myth.
A bit of thread about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. More about the surrounding aspects tied to the release of this game. Surprisingly, the lack of full Russian localization and the presence of Ukrainian contexts have highlighted some myths that Russians spread about Ukrainians for years.
First myth: It’s about Ukrainian language. For nearly a week now, I’ve been watching clips from Russian streamers complaining that they don’t understand Ukrainian, even though they expected it to be perfectly comprehensible.
One tries to read “Вдалого полювання, сталкере” ("Good hunting, stalker") and ends up with "Удалого плаванья" ("Good sailing"). Another complains that Taras Bulba (the hero of Mykola Gogol's novel) spoke some “different kind” of Ukrainian.
Шо ж, пограв у Сталкера годин 5. І хаотичне рев'ю) Коротко: його варто було чекати. Так, воно іноді підлагує, іноді дивно працюють анімації. Але господи ж боже ж мій яке воно атмосферне. Заходиш ти такий з-під дощу в хату, там потріскує груба, із старого приймача грає ОЕ... ⏬
Потім ДК "Енергетик".
А потім ти чуєш, як твоя подруга (!) розповідає про те, як зібрати свій перший бар, а потім - чому не варто зловживати оливками.
Потім, здається, Unsleeping.
В барі неймовірно накурено і, здається, ти навіть можеш відчути цей запах.
Виходиш надвір подихати - а там перед бочкою група сталкерів розповідає байки і анекдоти. Так, ті самі всраті анекдоти про картавого сталкера, який боїться слів "бюрер", "кровосос" і "контролер".
Посидів з ними оце трохи й пішов на макове поле, бо якийсь дядько просить ікону...⏬