Good morning. Day 281 of the war. There has not been an attack on Kyiv for 8 days. We now get electricity several times a day for several hours. It feels luxurious. My tweeter diary entry today is about the Ukrainian Railways. They are true heroes. @AKamyshin 1/ Alexander Kamyshin, CEO of UR, is a true leader and inspiration for me and many in Ukraine today. UR has not stopped working for an hour during the war. They evacuated millions of people under shelling, they kept trains on time and opened new connections, and turned train 2/

Good evening from Kyiv. This is Day 280. It is cold but we have electricity. Today, a friend talked to me about his sister under occupation. A couple of days ago, Russians asked everyone on their block to prepare for deportation. They can pack personal items, leave 1/ everything else. They were told that later in the week they will be moved to Russia to a camp. It reminds me of stories I read about Nazis moving Jews to ghetto in WWII. 2/

Day 280 of the invasion to Ukraine. Good morning. Yesterday, a student left this message in a classroom: “for me, the university is an island of stability and light (this is, perhaps, the only thing that helps me keep my life together). I am very grateful to KSE and happy 1/ that I study here. Anonymous bachelor student”. People ask me where do I find strength? It is messages like this one that help me find energy to go on when life here gets pretty hard. Students is the reason why I came back to Ukraine and why I won’t leave until 2/

Good evening. Day 279. It has been a week since the latest Russian attack in Kyiv. And, thus, another one is coming soon. We must prepare. I am president of the KSE and this is what we have done to be ready (picture: a Jewish restaurant downtown Kyiv) 1/ Water! After the last attack, there was no water for 30-40 hours. Toilets get clogged. Today at KSE we installed bio toilets. We also put 500l tanks for flushing at each restroom. We have enough drinking water stored. 2/

Good evening. Day 278. I am in Kyiv, Ukraine. After the latest attack, I have made a resolution to write about ordinary life in Kyiv and at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) twice a day. So that people outside of Ukraine can get a sense what an ordinary life is like in a war 1/ Today I am as tired as ever. But I should keep the promise. There will be pictures, but less text than usual. Because I am not thinking very clearly. We start with Starlink unpacking. KSE ordered it a couple of weeks ago. As a back up. It arrived today 2/

Good morning. Day 278. It is “Monday in Ukraine”. As I said in another tweet, Russians tend to bomb us on Mondays. Also, other days happen too. So, should I go to work today or stay home. I always go. Everyday, often weekends too. But today I did not sleep well 1/ The neighbors upstairs played loud music all night. I barely slept 2-3 hours. Why would you do this? Before the war I would get angry and May be call them. Or wait, passively aggressively ;). Being angry at them and at myself for not having courage to confront them. Now, 2/

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/

Good morning. Day 277 of the war. Day 5 from the latest Russian attack on Kyiv. We are back to no heating and no electricity in my apartment. The walls are warm. We had electricity for about 12 hour over night and kept electricity heaters on. So, at the moment, 1/ the apartment is warm. In the fall, anticipating what Russians might do, we bought sleeping bags. Many people in the comments have suggested we get a tent, put it in our bedroom and sleep in it. It is easier to heat it. I now think it is a good idea, and we will try 2/

The evening of day 4 of Kyiv blackout. I am happy. Power and heating are back here and there, I am afraid that another attack will come soon, but I feel happy. It is students. KSE students have gotten together and decided to live at the KSE building for a day or two 1/ They did not have sleeping bags, so I called a friend at a major retail network, and they found us enough sleeping bags for everyone. Even the security at the building. Here is a vid of us unloading the bags and mats 2/

Good morning. Day 4 of the blackout. Day 276 of the war. We are in Kyiv. Warm. Our “generator on the balcony” project yesterday did not really work out. The generator was loud and working but the heater in our bedroom would not bring temperature up beyond a couple of degrees 1/ My wife and I got in an argument at the middle of the night about why it does not work. Natalia said the heater is broken; I argued that the apartment is cold and the heater needs more time. We tried to sleep, the generator was too loud, so we shut it down. And, of course, 2/

Good evening. Day 3 of Blackout. My home is cold. No electricity, no heating. It is becoming a real issue. So this is what I did. At KSE there was a small gasoline generator, enough to power up an electric heater and several small appliances. I did not want 1/ To ask for it KSE might need it more. But I got desperate after being unable to find anything online or at shops. I made sure it is not being used tonight and asked to borrow it. It took quite a bit of effort to carry it up to the 8th floor. Our CEO Mike helped me and 2/

Good morning. Day 3 of Kyiv Blackout. I woke up cold. The heating and electricity are off, again. Water is there. But it might not last. Another attack or just too much pressure on the system. So, yesterday, after the water came back, we filled every bottle and bucket. 1/ We have been saving large plastic bottles since Oct 10 when infrastructure attacks started. I estimate we have about 120-150 liters. And we need probably 10 liters a day for all purposes. If we save we need much less. So we are covered. By the way, melting snow 2/

Good evening Blackout Day 2. In the morning, I said I was not worried about heating. Instead, I was concerned about water and sanitation. Boy, I was wrong. The water is back and toilets are working, while my apartment is cold. Pic: Svitlana (at work) is happy water is back. 1/ This is my dinner (pic). No electricity means no warm food for me. So, it is veggies, canned tuna, and cheese. In the morning, my wife made us guacamole and chips. Someone at the office managed to order pizza for lunch. Miracle! I ate several cold pieces (4!) 2/

Good morning. Day 2 of the most recent Kyiv blackout. Day 274 of the war. There is no electricity, no heating, no water. Outside temperature is around freezing. The apartment is still warm from the previous days. We will see how long it lasts. We have blankets, sleeping bags, 1/ Warm clothes. I am not too worried about heating until temperature goes below -10 C / 14 F. But the water is another issue. The problem is toilets. We have stockpiled about 100 litters of water. There is also snow on our balcony. It is a surprisingly large supply of water. 2/

What’s the point of sham referenda? An explainer thread 1/

https://twitter.com/jamwaterhouse/status/1574760080259665922

The results are 97+%. Everyone understands the results are absurd. There is no legitimacy. But wait there is. In the world of the Kremlin legitimacy is acquired by force. It is taken from the people, not given by the people. 2/

Remember this now infamous NYTimes editorial? That Ukraine must give up and that a Ukrainian victory is not realistic. This is what happens if you write based on stereotypes, not evidence. Let’s revisit some quotes: “It is tempting to see Ukraine’s stunning successes against Russia’s aggression as a sign that with sufficient American and European help, Ukraine is close to pushing Russia back to its positions before the invasion. But that is a dangerous assumption.”

The agreement to deblocade Ukrainian ports is signed. This is a major win for Ukraine. It is great to see diplomacy at work during the war. Thank you Ukrainian and international diplomats for your professional work. Now, details 1/ Ukraine signed an agreement with Turkey (and the UN). There is a similar document signed between Turkey and Russia. So, Ukraine has not signed any documents directly with Russia. However, the language states that the parties of the “initiative” are Ukraine, Turkey, and Russia …

Are the sanctions against Russia working? Let’s take a look at one specific industry that must be hurting the most: air travel. 1/ In spite of the airspace closure, 31 airlines continue to operate in Russia. Some are local, others from neighboring countries, yet many others from the developed countries, e.g., Israel. 4 more airlines plan to return by the end of the month. And Turkey plans to open an airline

A thread on damages in Ukraine: 5% of residential housing destroyed, direct losses to the infrastructure has reached 50% of annual GDP, indirect losses are at 2-3 GDP, 16% of agriculture lands are lost. 1/ Physical damage to infrastructure in Ukraine has reached $ 100 bln and continues growing. Total economic loss to the economy of Ukraine is between $500 and $600 bln. 2/

The global economic impact of the Russian war in Ukraine. What we know so far: high defense costs, global food crises, climate change risks. A 🧵 1/ Western countries increased defense budgets for ~ $300 bln to resist russian aggression. They could have spent these funds for peaceful development of their countries. 2/

NYT editorial states Ukraine can’t win. The argument is made in bad faith and exhibits colonial bias. It ignores the facts and accepts Putin’s position as “reality”. It denies Ukraine’s position and proposes for Ukraine to “accommodate” nytimes.com/2022/05/19/opi… I will take this editorial apart, paragraph by paragraph. First, it acknowledges $40B package but says that future bipartisan support is not guaranteed. Indeed, nothing is ever certain, but this bill demonstrates a stronger support than ever before, not the opposite