This was one of the rare encounters that touch you deep down and change the way you look at the world. My colleague @AliceBota and I met Maksym Butkevych in Kyiv in December, Ukraine’s most dedicated human rights activists, who spent 2 years and 4 months in Russian captivity. 1/ Maksym Butkevych is a Christian, a journalist, a pacifist, who decided to enlist in the army, when Russia started the full-scale invasion. Butkevych was captured in June 2022 and spent 2 years and 4 months as POW, before he was exchanged in October 2024. 2/

I was in #Sumy on Monday for @zeit and spoke to soldiers from several brigades about their activities in #Kursk region. Here are some insights. 1/n First of all: Commanders don’t comment. Press officers reject requests. The soldiers I spoke to asked to only share limited information with the public. They themselves don’t know the aims of this offensive or what they will be required to do in a week from now. 2/n