¯\(ツ)/¯

I messaged that friend⁩:

*Sasha and I were just walking down the street and we stopped at a 24/7 newsagents shop because I needed to charge up my phone for my glucose sensor to work. at some point he suddenly started barking again and I couldn't calm him down. I tried to give him a bit of food - that didn't help. He didn't want water either.*

*Nothing helped. I was like - OK, fine, we need to go then. He doesn't bark for no reason, he's a very intelligent dog. I took the phone back from the newsagents shop guys who were helping me to charge my phone and guess what I saw on the screen?*

"Urgent Low Blood Sugar Soon" alert.

"3.3 mmol/l ⬇️ (3.1 mmol/l within 20 min).

It's not Sasha the Dog who needs to be trained not to bark.

It's Alona the Human who needs to make sure I have a spare power bank on me next time I go out.

If I do, I'll be able to see my hypoglycaemia earlier next time. Which means he won't have to bark at me:)

Dogs can literally smell changes in human blood sugar levels.

Sasha could smell that my blood sugar was dropping too low and tried to warn me about it when he was sensing it.

And I couldn't understand why he kept suddenly barking from time to time. I'm so fucking stupid 😭

First of all, I’m sorry I haven't posted anything here for ages. Today I have a story from my childhood to share - it's about how I didn't get admitted to school after a somewhat unfortunate appointment with a school psychologist at the age of 5. This post is dedicated to my mom.

When I was 5 years old, I announced to my parents that it was time for me to go to school. Most kids in Ukraine go to school at the age of 6.

For that reason, my parents said: “You're too young, stay at home for now”.

I replied something like, “I'm not too young - take me to school”.

My mom took me to the school not far from where we used to live. To be admitted, you need to have a appointment with a school psychologist first - to confirm your cognitive skills are OK. Most Ukrainian kids have no problems at that appointment. Mine, however, did not go well at all.

After I had my appointment, the school psychologist approached my mom in the hallway where she told her - with a very upset look on her face - that unfortunately I was retarded. She also said that home schooling was the only option my mom could ever hope for.

What happened at that consultation?

The school psychologist lays out a set of pictures in front of me. The pictures show a sequence of events:

1. a little boy is left home alone

2. he starts playing with matches

3. a fire starts by accident

4. the house burns down.

The psychologist asks, “Alona, sweetheart, please tell me what is happening in these pictures?”

And I'm sitting there thinking: “FML. What the fuck is this? I don't get it. She can't possibly be asking about the fire, this is fucking ridiculous, right? She can see the matches herself, right? This is just way too easy. What's the catch here?”

She asks me again, “Alona, darling, tell me what's going on in the pictures?” I think, “Are you fucking stupid or what's wrong with you?” - and so I stay quiet.

She asks again. And again. I sit there and don't say anything back. I’m like “Sis, I can’t be arsed* to answer stupid questions like that. I don’t want to tell you the obvious - you should be able to see it yourself. I’m scared that I won't get admitted to school because you are so fucking stupid…”

*I’d like to note that I originally wrote “can’t be asked,” not “arsed.” My editor, an Englishman named Nick Boulton, confidently informed me that “can’t be asked” doesn’t exist. We’ll be grateful if you share your thoughts on this in the comments section.

In the hallway, mom said to the psychologist, "Excuse me, are you stupid? She reads better than you at the age of 5” (for my age, I had extremely good "reading technique" - the number of words a child can read in a minute :D).

Later mom took me to a different school where I successfully passed the cognitive skills test.

I reminded her about this the other day and she said:

- Well, at the end of the day… you really didn't get admitted into that school... 🤣

11 years later I somehow managed to graduate from school without the need for home schooling.

Just for the record - I don’t think home schooling is a bad thing per se - one of the smartest guys I met in my life was home schooled and he loved it.

Anyway - I managed somehow… 😹

Certificate of secondary education - Gold medal

In Ukraine, the gold medal “for high academic achievements” is awarded to pupils who “have achieved high academic success during their high school studies and have 10-12 grades in the subjects of the curriculum based on the results of semester and annual assessment, and state final certification.”

Source: Decree of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine

Certificate of secondary education - with honors

P.S. I sent this story to my mom. Her response:

”We went to a different school…”

“And now, a purely subjective thread about what narratives I have identified for myself in Carlson's statement, because it is very skillfully composed:

"Obviously, there're risks in conducting such an interview. So we've been thinking about it carefully for many months." - Tucker Carlson, a US citizen, wasn't afraid to come to Moscow. He also isn't afraid of the consequences of an interview with putin for himself in the US.

“Why are we doing this? First of all, this is our job. We are in journalism. Our duty is to inform people.” But most Americans, Carlson says, know nothing about the war between russia and Ukraine. So he will tell them. (Or rather, putin will tell them.)

Americans, "however, should know about this war because they are largely the ones paying for it."

The russian-Ukrainian war, Carlson says, has not only killed the younger generation of Ukrainians, but has also affected the global economy. Specifically, it's undermined the economic order that emerged in the post-World War II world and guaranteed the prosperity of the West.

At the same time, Carlson says, the dominance of the US dollar in the world is coming apart very fast.

All this "will determine the lives of our grandchildren." So, you see: "the war in Ukraine" (not “russia's war against Ukraine” or even “the russian-Ukrainian war”) threatens the younger generation of Americans. According to Tucker Carlson.

He notes the population of Asia and the Middle East, which allegedly understands all the threats well, while the English-speaking world, on the contrary, allegedly lives in complete misunderstanding. Why? Because, according to Carlson, no one has told them the truth.

(Let me remind that Carlson is probably the most popular media personality in the world today, spreading various conspiracy theories. He promoted the version it was Ukraine that blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant; he talked about
“American biolabs" in Ukraine.)

Accordingly, in this statement, he also emphasizes that Americans do not know the truth because the mainstream media are "corrupt" and engaged in "government propaganda." Anyone who has ever talked to supporters of conspiracy theories has heard similar arguments.

Carlson also says that over the past 2 years, the American media have conducted dozens of interviews with people from Ukraine, including President Zelensky. But they aren't real interviews, as their goal is to drag the US into a war in Eastern Europe and make pay for it.

This, Carlson says, is not journalism, but government propaganda, which is also “killing people”.

Separately, Tucker Carlson emphasized that he had sent an interview request to Zelensky and hoped for him to consider it.

Let me remind you that Carlson is now, essentially, a blogger. He has his own website and also records video comments for his page on the social network X.

“Not a single Western journalist's cared to interview the president of another country in this conflict, vladimir putin." How do we know this for sure? E.g., how many requests from Western journalists for an interview with putin have gone unanswered over the past 2 years?

Most Americans have no idea why putin invaded Ukraine or what his goals are now." Didn't putin himself say why he invaded Ukraine? And he did so repeatedly.

"They have never heard his voice". Hmm, and whose problem is that? Is it difficult to listen to Putin on YouTube?

Americans, Carlson says, have a right to know - and he will inform them about it. Because he is American too. So, in theory, he is supposed to be on the same side as them.

Carlson claims that 3 years ago, the Biden administration allegedly prevented him from recording an interview with Putin. This time, Carlson says, they did not succeed - he is in Moscow.

"We are not here because we love vladimir putin, we are here as we love the United States." There is nothing to comment on here. All of this is in the interests of the United States and Americans. Not Tucker Carlson at all. (I won't spread conspiracy theories as to whose interests this is in.

Carlson emphasizes that there will be no charge for access to the interview, and Elon Musk has even promised not to restrict or block this interview once it is uploaded to social network X.

But Western governments, Carlson says, will definitely try to censor this interview. Because they are "afraid of information they cannot control”.

Watch it and decide what you think about it, Carlson says, "as a citizen, not as a slave.”

This statement, in my subjective opinion, is intended solely for Tucker Carlson's audience - which is, apparently, enough for him. Meanwhile, I'm going to watch this interview too. Do you promise "journalism", Tucker? Go ahead, we're all waiting."

“The story of the return [to Irpin]: rescued my sister's cat, which no one expected to see alive, found alive a lost dog of a cynologist and another killed dog of a the cynologist, found a human corpse in my neighbours’ yard, and another corpse in a burned car.

My whole neighborhood is wrecked and burned, wires and branches on the ground, unexploded landmines stuck in the asphalt, graves in parks and on the sidewalks, contused dogs, hostages from the residential complex where the russians lived, the hostages are afraid of everyone and refuse to communicate on the recorder: “what if suddenly they will return.” The phones with recorded russian equipment hidden by the hostages.

“I'll show it to you, but I won't send it over in case they come back." Seven graves in the park opposite the housing complex. They shot 4 men and a woman from the residential complex “for working for the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. They didn’t let to bury them for two weeks, they lay in the yard. Locals buried the dead then under fire during the retreat of the russians.

On the woman's grave is a cross made of branches and a note from the husband: let me know when I can rebury. And a phone number. Two more graves - shot civilians who were walking by. Abandoned Z-branded equipment nearby. The park around the graves is mined, you have to follow the guide to get to the graves.

In the building nearby was the russian headquarters. They lived in the stairwells, but each apartment in the hallway was smashed up and broken into pieces. The door was removed along with the brick row, the furniture was cut and the TVs were broken, everything was destroyed. This is an inexpensive residential complex on the outskirts of Irpin. “The russians were asking if this was the local Rublyovka.”

Thirsty, malnourished cats were in the apartments. There were no dogs anywhere. “They were killing them.” I give the cats water, I can't step into the apartment. Cats can't go out in the hallway because of fear. They meow. I try to convince them to leave. They won’t come out. Skinny as skeletons. I apologize in my mind, stepping in.

The cats drink.

I give the coordinates of the found human bodies, ordinary and the ones burned in cars, to an operative in Irpin, who in peacetime would collect video from cameras when he was looking for another bicycle thief. The next day, the operative collects the bodies with the investigative team, because on that day there were already too many bodies.

In another apartment complex, my namesake Olya, the head of the residents’ union, essentially became the eldest of a group of hostages kidnapped from several buildings. She fought for a safe space in the basement for people (in other residential complexes, russians forced people to sit on the higher floors under fire, and they occupied the basement themselves), food and medical care.

She saved all but one drunkard. Many people were suffering from stress, but this one caused trouble. The russians shot him. Buried in the park.

In the neighboring apartment complex, a man’s mother died from the lack of insulin. The russians allowed him to bury her, they gave him 15 minutes, he tried to bury her in the yard.

In the process, the russians kicked and pushed him, beat him with buttstocks. He was digging. Sometimes with his hands.

Another man from this residential complex takes me to his apartment "this is where I looked out the window." The window, the wall opposite are all riddled with bullet holes. Shells on the playground.

Another house with hostages. There were russians in three houses, but not in the fourth one. “It's as if they didn't see us, it's because an icon painter lives in our house and paints icons and believes very much in God.

I realize that hostages are aware of themselves as hostages in only one residential complex.

In the neighbor's private house, two floors were demolished and burned, and the basement remained, the windows of which were filled with bags of earth. Expensive lawns with thuja were dug up nearby, from which soil was taken for bags.

Were they in the basement when the house caught fire?” - “it is not possible to go inside without demining.

Next, I photographed every burned and shot car on the Irpin-Stoianka road. Many have “children” written on them, most of them have blood in the cabin. Documents. Scattered keys.

About one of them, the police officer, to whom I send the coordinates of the bodies, tells me - “and these are ours, the last ones to leave the station.

In the trunk of the shot and burned Zhiguli - zincs and cartridges “shot up” from the fire. There are several ribs in the cabin - “not all the bones have been collected”. One just went out after someone or something. survived "He hid in the dachas for two days." The other was in the cabin when it was hit. “These are his bones. They were taking out ammunition.

Thank you, Lyr.
I’m in April 2022 again.”

It feels surreal, but it’s been 500 days since russia began its genocidal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It’s hard to put it into words what we have gone through over the last 500 days. The price Ukrainians have paid so far in order to fight on is unbearable to think of - most of us have lost friends and family members in this war.

Today, I’d like to say a huge thank you to the Armed Forces of Ukraine - Ukraine simply would not exist by now if not for their sacrifice. I’m also very grateful to everyone who has supported Ukrainians throughout this time. We really, really appreciate it.

I’d also like to share an email I once received from an amazing American person (her name is Danielle) - it deeply moved me when I read it (I shared it on Twitter too); sharing a few photos (mostly ones I took in Ukraine).

"Just reaching out as an admirer and supporter of yours from across the globe (Massachusetts, USA). I don’t remember when I started following you but I believe it was from a Paul Massaro tweet. One late night like tonight, I began reading your threads, like all of them lol.

I remember the first one, I was about a 1/4 of the way through, I remember thinking - ok, maybe there is some truth to the “accusations”, I just couldn’t tell where you were going, and I almost threw in the towel, I am so glad I didn’t."

You are one of the most intelligent people I’ve found on twitter speaking as and for Ukrainians. While at first I was a bit lost, I eventually understood everything, as your end game is always the same and always the Ukrainian truth.

Even when interacting with non-Ukrainian supporters, who are most likely coming from a good place but let their egos or intent on being right fog up the space, but you continue to clear it right out.

Every thread, if read in its entirety, is not only an epic takedown of Russians or some random asshole, but also the final nail is the main point hammered in, every single time. How russia got us here and how we stop them forever.

I’m just a random person but I thought it was important to reach out to you and let you know to keep up the unbelievable work. You are an absolute force for good, what you are doing is desperately needed in these times and I hope you never stop, even after victory.

There are so many wonderful people like yourself re the war, and only so many hours in the day to interact with their work, even if taking it all in. I just hope you know that you are read, respected and admired.

I almost forgot this and it seems relevant to add, circling back to Paul, he tweeted early on “listen to Ukrainians” and that is the single best piece of advice I’ve heard from a non Ukrainian since 2/24/22.

I have listened and continue to listen, I have learned so much, it’s honestly incalculable.

And through listening to Ukrainians, I’ve been introduced to Lithuanian, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, Georgian voices who echo the same words and stories as the Ukrainians about russia.

The one thread that sticks out is reading the final words of the last Lithuanian partisan, I was dumbfounded, it was so powerful, I found it hard to reconcile that these words were not written today by a Ukrainian, but by a Lithuanian over half a century ago, and these types of threads keep coming and coming, echoing the same messages over and over - and what strikes me is the people who know better have most definitely heard them, which begs the question, how did they let this happen?

Back to these threads of yours and others alike, these shared histories are so important for outsiders like myself to read.

Because if you haven't studied the cultural, historical, linguistic nuances and current events of a foreign country, you cannot understand what is going on, how we got here and the path ahead just from reading a Wikipedia article."

And when you actually put all of this learned information up next to what we, as a society, have let russia get away with, it can only be described as a collective fever dream, mass unadulterated insanity of sorts.

For example, when simply replacing the word Russia with any other country _____, and what they’ve been allowed to get let slide, that’s when it really seeps in.

Alona, I am really sorry. It shouldn’t be like this, and even now with the support, it’s still not even close to enough.

When 10 months into this and still we hear the half empty attempts or excuses from western leaders or their media still somehow not seeming to be fucking getting it, I just have no words.

I don’t know why I wrote all this to you, I know I’m preaching to the choir, I guess I just wanted you to know that you, Ukrainians have given me so much this past year, and what you do really matters in this world, it matters to people like me and countless others.

It’s an odd feeling, to feel so much for strangers a world away, watching daily the horror, grief, laughter, brief moments of joy, everything and everything.

Sharing it all with you as I watch through a screen you on your screen, who doesn’t know I am watching or reading or listening and feeling it all with you like you are my family.

I have fallen in love with you all, you have forever left a mark on my heart and within my soul. I am one of millions watching, reading, listening every single day, I wish you could all know this, every one of you.

Alona, if you have read this I thank you, and please know your continued threads are so important and so are you.

Thank you for everything.”

Thank you again to everyone for the support ❤️
Please continue to support our Armed Forces!
Come Back Alive is one of the best options to donate to.

🔱 Ukraine will win.

The below is a translation of a Twitter thread by his friend Stas Kozljuk. It’s also available, along with the original version in Ukrainian at this link.

I think I met him for the first time at the Maidan court hearings. And then they started, and when they were ongoing, and when it seemed like all was lost and almost no one went there.

Also, Roma could not stand injustice.

Remember that thing a year ago after the Sternenko sentence? The one with the the door, swastika, which, most likely, the cops drew themselves, house arrest and Malevich's black squares for evidence. This is only one of the examples that became known.

Roma loved Kyiv. Fought for it. Literally and metaphorically. In the courts and in the streets. You must have heard about Protasiv Yar? So, one of the most active people there was Roma.

I remember us drinking coffee together somewhere on Soloma [Solomyanskyy district, Kyiv] and he kept sorting out some documents regarding Protas[iv Yar].

Roma could not stand by idly.

I remember how we laughed our asses off when he was telling about conversations with some officials, who were telling Roma he was being supervised by the Washington obkom (tm) (ru. regional committee of the communist party).

Because some middle-level management asses couldn't understand how someone can just not give a damn.

Roma had an eventful life. Although, not in a way a 20 year old's life should be. Maidan, then thugs and mobsters sending him regards for Protas.

When russians swarmed over our borders, Roma went to war. This was his choice.

After the occupants left the Kyiv region, he went further.

Last time we messaged each other was about a month and a half ago. I wanted to get an invitation to visit him, to film some material, to write a report. He replied with something like:

«Well damn, they're shelling here, be careful you guys. Because the command is taking care of us, but you are on your own».
And now these news.

My man, forgive me that we have not met after that. And did not have a coffee. Did not tell stories to one another. Sometimes funny and absurd. Other times - scary and horrible.

Motherfucking war.

Fucking russians.”

Hey everyone!
Over 20,000 users have already registered for a free practical course on cryptography and blockchain developed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation - it’s been a huge honour for Ukraine DAO to contribute to it.
The course starts at the end of February and will consist of more than 100 hours of theoretical and practical information about the world of virtual assets.

На безкоштовний курс із криптограмотності та блокчейну вже зареєстровано 20 тисяч користувачів.

Навчання стартує наприкінці лютого та складатиме понад 100 годин теоретичної та практичної інформації про світ віртуальних активів.  

Щоб взяти участь, зареєструйтесь і першими отримайте інформацію про початок навчання.

Залишатися в курсі всіх новин можна підписавшись на наші сторінки у Facebook  та Twitter.

«Завдяки тому, що реалізація курсу відбувається за підтримки пулу топових компаній та професіоналів у світі віртуальних активів, курс стане наймасштабнішим за всю історію розвитку віртуальних активів в Україні. Студенти матимуть змогу розібратися у питаннях консенсусу Proof-of-Work і майнінгу; етеріуму та смартконтрактів; гаманців та обміну криптоактивами тощо.  А головне – це не лише теоретичні знання, учасники матимуть можливість попрактикувати з реальними кейсами на вже існуючих платформах» - зазначає заступник міністра цифрової трансформації Олександр Борняков. 

Серед тем освітньої програми:

• історія грошей та розвитку технології блокчейн, і виникнення біткоїна; 

• майнінг та алгоритми консенсусів;

• Ethereum та смарт-контракти;

• відмінності холодних та гарячих криптогаманців; 

• NFT, DAO та DeFi;

• особливості централізованих та децентралізованих криптобірж;

• можливості та ризики торгівлі на ринку цифрових активів;

• основи кібергігієни;

• децентралізовані протоколи: зокрема, IPFS та Filecoin.  

Реалізація практичного курсу відбувається Міністерством цифрової трансформації у співпраці з найбільшою європейською криптобіржою українського походження WhiteBIT, фундацією Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web та соціальним метавсесвітом Atlantis.World.

Також серед партнерів проєкту - блокчейн-проєкт Aragon, що створює технологічну інфраструктуру для управління децентралізованими організаціями (DAO), Ukraine DAO, застосунок Zapper.fi, платформа Safe та фундація Optimism, MetaMask Learn, Kyiv Ethereum Community, Кіберполіція України, Gagarin News та 482.solution.

Про Ukraine DAO

• Україна DAO заснована 21 лютого 2022 року, команда Ukraine DAO використовує можливості Web3 технологій та інтернет-спільноти для допомоги в обороні України від російського вторгнення. Ми пожертвували понад 7 мільйонів доларів, зокрема українському уряду та таким благодійним організаціям, як Повернись живим. Нинішніми пріоритетами є протистояння російській пропаганді та підтримка України в інформаційному просторі. 

This is a model of the Peremoha housing estate, Dnipropetrovsk (currently called Dnipro), 1970s.

In 2023, a russian missile will hit one of the buildings, destroying one entrance.

That was last Saturday, 14 January 2023.

By Tuesday, 17 January 2022, the death toll from russian missile strike reached 45, as the body of another child was pulled from the wreckage. At least five children have been killed in total.

Home Is Where It Hurts

I absolutely adore Dnipro. That’s where I went to university and formed as a person.

It has the most incredible people. Most of my Ukrainian friends live there.

Even though it’s not my hometown, it’s been hurting like hell to see it in pain.

300-something days into the full scale war, sometimes it feels like nothing can stagger you anymore. But watching my friends have to deal with the aftermath of that tragedy - knocked me out for 2 days. And it’s nothing compared to what they have to deal with there on the ground.

“This landed in my room”

My very close friend and mum of my godson Vania, Olessia lives right by that building.

When the russian missile hit the residential building, she was 300m away, with her kids.

The kids and Olessia unfortunately witnessed the tragedy.

The below is a translation of her recent Insta stories:

If I personally can't even go to my favorite coffee shop now, as it's nearby, and I don't know how I'm going to take my children to school past this place, then I can only imagine what it feels like for a person who has had his childhood memories taken away.

How her parents feel, who have been told they can only take documents and valuables because the rest of the house is in a state of disrepair.
I still don't know what is the purpose of writing all, but I feel the need to do it. I don't understand if this makes it easier or harder for me, there is simply some physical need not to be silent, not to keep it to myself.

There is an absolutely immeasurable cloud of huge, obvious tragedies of people who lost their own lives or lost their parents, children, husbands or wives under the rubble.

And less "noticeable" ones, such as, for example, Alice’s one.

It’s when everyone is alive, but it’s like a large chunk of your life has been forcibly torn from you too.

I'm sitting alone and don't know what to do. I blame myself for letting my children witness this.
I understand that there are reasons why we are here, but I can't stop thinking about what I could have done to prevent my children from having this traumatic experience. So that I wouldn't have had it myself either.

I'm writing this here because I don't know who to talk to about this, because everyone is having a tough time right now.
And when you publish it in a Insta story, it's as if you're not taking it out on anyone in particular, because when you talk to someone personally, you always feel guilty that you're taking it out on a person who is also having a hard time.

But she will have to say something back, but does not know what. While here you can just read without feeling the need to say anything. You can just like and scroll through. It's easier like this.

The most difficult thing for me in this is that I realised that all this time, despite the awareness that anywhere can get hit at any time, for some reason I was sure that nothing would happen in my area.

This complete collapse of a sense of security, even conditional (or imaginary), is the most traumatic I had no idea at all that I could witness an explosion, this picture is in front of my eyes almost non-stop and I have to “push it away” from me by force.”

Before I forget: Please give my friend, a photographer Arsen Dzodzaiev a follow on Twitter or Instagram.

“I moved to Peremoha when I was 1 year old.”

Here is the translation of the thread written by the girl from the photo above.

Her name is Anastasia, she is 23yo.

In the Satuday strike she lost her parents, her cat and her home.

Her significant other was died defending Ukraine a few months earlier.

“I moved to Peremoha when I was 1yo. For 23 years I lived by the river, with a beautiful view from the window, always went for walks with my parents to the beach, we grilled BBQ there with parents and friends, almost had a small pet cemetery in one place.

Over 23 years, I learned every path, every corner of my neighbourhood. My parents and I always had the habit of walking in a small circle - that’s to the Salute cinema, then to the Avenue, to the ring road and home or in a large one - to the yacht club and ending as the small [circle]. My grandpa always fished with us.

2 or 3 years ago, we finally renovated the living room, mom told dad:“we need cosmetic repairs in the kitchen", “we need to do the bathroom". We even already decided how we’d do everything little by little, what accessories we’d buy for toothbrushes, for soap…

The day before, my mum complained that the washing machine wasn’t washing well, and dad said that she was making it up. After the new year, we decided to take out some stuff to declutter the apartment a bit, it was a Saturday morning.”

The Kyiv Independent, one of Ukraine’s best English-language media outlets, was created by journalists who were fired from the Kyiv Post for defending editorial independence.

This episode also covers:

- How Ukraine's culture of vigorously calling up corruption is distinct - and can sometimes inflate its perception;

- The progress Ukraine has made in terms of fighting corruption 

- Ownership of the Kyiv Post;

- Platforming of untrustworthy OSINT accounts by a Kyiv Post “correspondent”;

- How disinformation campaigns conceal their objectives;

- Subtle russian talking points, nuclear fear mongering, and how they appear in a much-changed journalistic outlet.

The episode was co-hosted by Alona (@cryptodrftng on Twitter) and Madi (@MuKappa on Twitter).

ON CORRUPTION

The Kremlin pushes the idea that Ukraine is corrupt. This is wrong.

Since the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Ukraine has been making progress at an unprecedented rate in tackling high-level corruption through dedicated independent investigative, prosecutorial and judicial institutions.

Despite examples of interference remaining (a lot of those are a result of russian meddling), the majority of corruption concerns are dealt with in accordance with law.

Ukraine also has a very active and outspoken civil society.

Сlick here for a  thread debunking the myths about corruption in Ukraine.

ABOUT UKRAINE DAO
Est. 21 Feb 2022, Ukraine DAO is a collective that harnesses the power of Web3 tech and the online community to defend Ukraine against the russian invasion.
We are supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine - the first DAO to have endorsement at a state level.
We have donated over $7 million in crypto, including making donations to the Ukrainian government and organizations like Come Back Alive (helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine) and OutRight Ukraine Fund (supporting the LGBT community).
Current priorities: fighting russian disinformation, amplifying Ukrainian voices, advocating for #VisaBanForRussians, and supporting Iran DAO community with the launch.

OFFICIAL LINKS
Linktree
Ukraine DAO Home Page
Twitter
Instagram

Est. 21 Feb 2022, Ukraine DAO is a collective that harnesses the power of Web3 tech and the online community to defend Ukraine against the russian invasion.

We are supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine - the first DAO to have endorsement at a state level.

We have donated over $7 million in crypto, including making donations to the Ukrainian government and organizations like Come Back Alive (helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine) and OutRight Ukraine Fund (supporting the LGBT community).

Current priorities:

fighting russian disinformation, amplifying Ukrainian voices, advocating for #VisaBanForRussians, and supporting Iran DAO community with the launch.

Official Links • Linktree •Ukraine DAO Home Page •Twitter •Instagram

After his doctorate at the University of Manchester, he spent five years at the IIR Prague where he headed the Centre for European Security, edited the journal New Perspectives, contributed to the 2016 EU Global Strategy and, in 2017, advised on visa liberalisation for Ukraine. He was then a fellow at IFSH (Hamburg) and policy officer at the Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management.

About Ukraine DAO

Est. 21 Feb 2022, Ukraine DAO is a collective that harnesses the power of Web3 tech and the online community to defend Ukraine against the russian invasion.

We are supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine - the first DAO to have endorsement at a state level.

We have donated over $7 million in crypto, including making donations to the Ukrainian government and organizations like Come Back Alive (helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine) and OutRight Ukraine Fund (supporting the LGBT community).

Current priorities:

fighting russian disinformation, amplifying Ukrainian voices, advocating for #VisaBanForRussians, and supporting Iran DAO community with the launch.

Official Links • Linktree •Ukraine DAO Home Page •Twitter •Instagram

Twitter - https://twitter.com/terrelljstarr

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/terrelljstarr/

Ukraine DAO Official Links

Blockchain-based fundraising + multimedia platform fighting for Ukraine’s victory. 

Current priorities: fighting russian disinformation, amplifying Ukrainian voices and advocating for #visabanforrussians

Supported by the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Linktree - https://linktr.ee/ukrainedao
Home Page - https://www.ukrainedao.love/
Twiter - https://twitter.com/Ukraine_DAO
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ukraine_dao/

We need to stop glorifying russian impunity and platform fake russian “dissidents” who help russia continue committing genocide of Ukrainians.

We really need to stop this.

I saw this commentary by Veronica Morozova today.

The only thing I have to add to this - the sun will rise in the west and set in the east sooner than we see russian “liberals” acknowledge the problem and start doing their work.

Or, in Ukrainian - коли рак на горі свисне (English analogy - when pigs fly).

Why?

Because the so-called russian liberals and people considered to be in “opposition” are part of the same imperialist culture that pro-regime russians are.

I know that some prominent Western journalists read this blog.

If you hear a russian “liberal” or “russian opposition'“ representative say that it’s not “russians, it’s putin” - please show integrity and challenge that.

Educate your colleagues and friends on this.

This is critical if we want to stop genocide of Ukrainians and hold russians accountable.

All russians are collectively responsible for the genocide of Ukrainians.

It really won’t harm them to experience accountability for the first time in their lives.

If a russian person doesn’t feel guilty these days and instead of being heartbroken over Ukrainians exhumating mass graves with civilians’ bodies - hundreds of them across Ukraine, they are worrying about russians being invited to be held accountable for those mass graves, ask yourself - why? Is that really a “good russian”?

What’s so heroic about declaring that you are against genocide?

Are you really against genocide if you are against any justice being served for the victims?

Special cultural operation & the so-called russian “dissidents”

Here’s an example of what I mean.

Ukrainians: - It’s NOT putin’s war. It’s russians committing #GenocideOfUkrainians every day for 270 days, after over 8 years (!) since the unprovoked invasion.

russian “dissidents”: - It’s not russians. it’s putin!

Link to that disgusting article - here. I felt sick when I saw it, this is low even for Pussy Riot. This message pushed by the russian “dissidents” defines the narrative that becomes normal in the society - even though it’s complete nonsense.

Make sure to check out the interview with the Director of the State Hermitage Museum Mikhail Piotrovsky - he explicitly explains how the russian “culture” is used as a weapon, calling it a “special cultural operation”. We translated it from the svynosobacha language on request of the analytical department of our partner Come Back Alive - blog post here.

Bucha 2022

"Bucha

Among those killed was my cousin.

Three drunken russian bastards entered the house and shot him in the head. For no reason.

putin didn't do it, the russians did it.

458 bodies found (366 men, 86 women, 5 unidentified, 1 bag with body parts that cannot be identified as a body)"

Georgia 2022

I have a lot of Georgian friends and the first demonstration I went to in January 2022 was organised by the Georgian community in London. By the way, the huge russian diaspora in London organised nothing significant so far. They must be too busy worrying about “russophobia” which is the term they invented to avoid accountability for war crimes and genocides their evil empire commits everywhere they go. Whereas Georgians knew what kind of horror Ukrainians were about to deal with. That’s why they organised the demonstration in solidarity with us.

Georgia 1992-1993

I invite you to explore this material by Mirian Jugheli from Georgia. I’d like to note that in 1992-1993, russians were not “victims of the oppressive authoritarian putin’s regime”. They behaved like that because this is normal in their society. It’s an unpleasant thing to hear for many people. But it’s true.

It’s not putin. It’s russians.

Crimes without punishment for the russians become punishment without crimes for all the nations that they can get to.

Because the russians know there will be no consequences. As always.

If you don’t acknowledge this, eventually you’ll learn the hard way - and Ukrainians may not be there to defend you.

The original post is here. Thank you for your attention.

• P.S. After my Twitter account got suspended, I started a Telegram channel “✨щоденник ясочки✨”. You can subscribe to it here.

• P.P.S. All my other links can be found in my LinkTree,

It discusses the two narratives in the public discourse to pay attention to. We hope you find them useful. If you’d like to share this translation on Twitter - here's the tweet.

“Right now it’s important to carefully track the two narratives and those who spread and will spread them.

Because these are russian narratives. And those who spread them are either useful idiots or camouflaged russkies.

1) “It was a deal. Our guys let them retreat, could’ve taken 20000 POW occupants\kill them, where are the trophies etc.”

During the night of russians’ final escape, our artillery and MLRSs worked almost constantly on both the right and the left bank of the Dnipro river. Trust me, we’ve wasted enough of both their vehicles and personnel. And worked before that too, and had target acquisition, and there were results as well.

To everyone who goes on and on about “didn’t catch up and didn’t finish off” I suggest you go and catch up with them yourself on mined territory with your own cute little feet.

In one mechanised brigade on the Southern direction alone the losses, in a couple of days of the “offensive”, were over ten soldiers and officers due to detonations of mines, explosive charges, IEDs. + the occupants also shelled our positions with MLRSs and artillery, they are not imbeciles, they have learned to fight.

This narrative is aimed exclusively at dividing the society, which is now in a state of unity, and at gradual cultivation of distrust towards the military and political management.

2) “We need to sit down and negotiate a deal with russians, they are ready for it and are themselves offering this.”

No we won’t. We need to free the territories. There can be no negotiations with the russians unless it’s about POWs, capitulation in the war and reparations. Full stop.

We have already paid too high a price for the Minsk [accords] and “formats”.

They are ready for this now because they “got f#cked up” and will likely get even more of the same. russians need at least a short-term pause to regroup, or to freeze the conflict for some time (it can be years) to address their own problems with the army, economy, army, international field etc.

And they, I suppose, can offer something in return, let’s say de-occupation of certain territories.

But this is an obvious and horrible trap, because russians will return.

They will attack again, but they will be ready and will have worked on their mistakes.

And whether we’ll be ready for this - I seriously doubt that.”

Original post:

English version:

https://twitter.com/Ukraine_DAO/status/1592503346426163201

Weeks before the full scale invasion

18 February 2022, message to a friend who is in the US National Guard

"I thought today that I'm so tired of this but then I remembered that there's 18yo boys and girls sitting in the trenches in the cold.

And they just have to wait and don't know what's going to happen and get zero credit for that from the world. ... At least talking about their sacrifices is the bare minimum we can do for them so they know we love them and they're not alone.

And compared to them we are not tired."

23 January 2021, conversation with a friend,

“Just spoke to my dad again. ... He said our region is going to be trapped from every side that's why they're not preparing [to evacuate] - they think it's going to be pointless. I'm at the office trying not to cry in front of the team."

When on 24 Feb the russians started the full scale invasion, dad refused to leave.

I previously wrote about what it was like having to say goodbye to them that night (see here and here). To put it mildly, it was a horrible experience.

A year on, dad is doing incredible work every day helping our Army and I couldn't be more proud of him. We recently bought another vehicle to donate to Ukraine’s defenders. It’s the 7th one we’ll donate to the Army.

Khmelnytskyi

250-something days later, I’m in Khmelnytskyi with my friends and their baby.

The other day I wrote about trying to let myself breathe and live. At 4:25AM, the air raid siren went off.

In the afternoon, we went for a walk with my friends and their baby when the air raid siren went off. It was pretty loud.

But the resilience we witnessed in the bomb shelter was one of the most touching things I've seen in my life.

Bomb Shelter

Apart from our walk, the siren this afternoon also interrupted a music class at the local school.
The teachers, however, seemed completely unfazed, lamenting the fact that the students were not disciplined enough and weren't all ready for the class - that now just carried on in the bomb shelter as if it was a totally normal thing to happen.

I can guess what was actually going through the teachers' minds but they didn't show that to the children and so the kids looked relaxed too. It hurts thinking what kind of childhood memories these kids are going to have.

Out of all the things I've ever documented about this horrific genocidal war against Ukraine, this is by far my favourite footage. It moved me to tears witnessing them singing.

This is a nation with an unbreakable spirit - from a completely invincible country.

Lessons relearned

I've learned many things over the last year days but the most important ones I confirmed for myself rather than learned:

Material possessions don't matter. All I cared about saving from my home in Ukraine were the family photos that needed to be scanned. It was very important to preserve that. Everything else I could let go of.

Money only matters to the extent to which it helps cover basic needs / every day problems and donating to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that's all.

The real meaningful things in life are hard to do and take courage. No one is going to say thank you for them - the opposite will happen.

Those things have to be done regardless no matter what people think of me in the moment.

The most important aspect of my life is the relationships with the people I care about. There is nothing else that really has much value.

Loss of integrity and of genuine impact are the only things to fear.

Photo: 4yo Alona at some point in the 90s, making a political statement in Skadovsk, Kherson Oblast:
✨ Don't let the world tell you how to hold your inflatable dinosaur✨

• P.S. After my Twitter account got suspended, I started a Telegram channel “✨щоденник ясочки✨”. You can subscribe to it here.

• P.P.S. All my other links can be found in my LinkTree, including my Buy Me A Coffee page which you can use if you’d like to support my work (always remember to support the Ukrainian Army first before anything else).

I’m on a little road trip with my friends and baby Luke at the moment. The other day we arrived in the best city in Ukraine (and arguably, the whole world). Some community members assumed that we were, in fact, in Oklahoma, but this information was not confirmed.

Yesterday we met Zhenia who is absolutely awesome and she showed us around the best city in Ukraine (and arguably, the whole world) - Khmelnytskyi 😍

If I learned one thing in Ukraine this time is not making myself wait for Ukraine's victory to let myself breathe and live.

I always tell Ukrainians to enjoy life as much as they can and not "postpone" it but to be honest I don't usually practice that myself. Since February, my normal life stopped and it was a constant, non-stop grind working on Ukraine DAO, and then also volunteering for other Ukraine defence-related projects, probably over 20 different ones.

The previous two visits, I was so consumed with work that I wasn't present enough. This time I let myself go to a bar, rest a lot etc - and the world hasn't stopped from it. I can already tell that once I'm fully back, I'll be a lot more productive and inspired from letting myself slow down right now,

This evening I saw the post on LinkedIn by my friend asking what was the last photo in camera roll before the full scale invasion began on 24 February 2022 💔

Disregarding dozens of screenshots of all sorts of things, this was the last photo in my camera roll on 23 February 2022.

23 February

That evening, I was outside the russian embassy protesting - Ukrainians in London spent weeks doing that as the russians were building up troops around the border.

We were not just shouting about it from every rooftop. By that time, we were crying for help - and the world was largely ignoring us.

Over those days, I was going mad. I look exhausted in the photo because by that time I lost 8 kgs (almost 1/6 of my total weight) in the space of 3-4 weeks and had multiple nervous breakdowns, one after another. At some point, I had to take time off work for 3 days.

I barely remember what was happening to me over those 3 days but one of the days I spent lying in bed staring at the wall, unable to get up. That's how shit it felt to try to tell people what horror was about to happen - and to not be heard.

After the 24 February, I never got the "luxury" of spending a day like that again until taking a trip to the ICU in Poland.

24 February

I sat in my living room in the middle of the night, kinda frozen from the feeling of impending terror, when I got a DM from a friend in Kharkiv telling me she could hear explosions.

The call with my parents that I had to have after that, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I talked about it in one of my blog posts (click here to read it).

Some non-Ukrainian people like to make fun or belittle Ukrainians abroad, as if we are any less Ukrainian or somehow care less if we are not in Ukraine.

To those, I can only say: you're either incredibly insensitive or evil.

Having to say goodbye to your loved ones, possibly forever, not knowing if you'll ever hear their voices again - it remains one of the most horrible things I had to do in my life.

The thought of not being able to save them, or even bury their bodies if something happens to them, is fucking terrifying. Not understanding this is a privilege that Ukrainians no longer have.

For months after that, I was recording every single call I had with my parents so if something happened to them I'd be able to go back to our last conversations and listen to their voices.

I still do that sometimes.

_____________________________________________

• P.S. This post was originally written in my Telegram channel “✨щоденник ясочки✨” - I started it after my Twitter account got suspended. You can subscribe to it here.

• All my other links can be found in my LinkTree, including my Buy Me A Coffee page which you can use if you’d like to support my work (always remember to support the Ukrainian Army first before anything else).

• In other news - currently spending time in Ukraine in a company of this very cute baby. Will share more tomorrow if I don’t forget :D

I’m currently on an IV drip so will be very concise as it’s hard to type.

With this post I wanted to remind everyone the following:

• There are two types of russians: 1) the russians who are killing Ukrainians 2) the russians who either support it or aren’t doing enough to stop it.

• The russians who are bleating about russophobia during genocide of Ukrainians are not “good russians” - they are actually the worst ones and should be shut down the moment they open their mouth.

• The russians are not aware of is that both their action and inaction have consequences. Why? Because historically they have never been accountable for any of the genocides they carried out.

• The only way to stop genocide of Ukrainians and make sure russians never attack anyone again is to shame them for what they’re doing.

• That needs to be done not just on an institutional level, but by every single human being who doesn’t want to become their next target.

• If you do not know how to speak to russians, here is a 2 minute masterclass for you.

  

  The below is an English translation of the tweets by Pylyp Dukhliy.

“A few days after the end of World War II, Carl Gustav Jung, a famous psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, gave an interview about the Nazis. To see how russians are now close to the Nazis in their worldview, it is enough to change Germans to russians in this.

• [russians] show a special weakness in the face of these demons because of their incredible suggestibility. This is evident in their love of obedience, in their weak-willed obedience to orders, which are just another form of compulsion.

• This corresponds to a general mental atrophy [of the russians], a consequence of their uncertain position between East and West. They are the only ones in the West who, in the common exodus from the eastern womb of nations, have remained with their mother the longest.

• Eventually they detached, but arrived too late, whereas the mujik did not bother to break free at all. So [the russians] are deeply tormented by an inferiority complex, which they try to compensate for with delusions of grandeur.

• It is also found in [russian] [spirituality]..., which in reality is nothing less than hard-heartedness, insensitivity, and callousness.“

• All the accusations of heartlessness and bestiality with which [russian] propaganda has attacked [other nations] refer to [russians] themselves; [Putin's] speeches are nothing more than [russian] psychology projected onto the enemy.

• All of them, consciously or unconsciously, actively or passively, were involved in the horrors; they knew nothing of what was happening, and they knew about it at the same time.

• The question of collective guilt, which has and will continue to make it so difficult for politicians, is, for the psychologist, a fact beyond doubt, and one of the most important tasks of treatment is to make [them] ... admit their guilt.”

Recommended book: “Hitler's Willing Executioners” by Daniel Goldhagen

Over the last few months, it's remembering the trauma of my ancestors that has been most painful. Growing up, you always wonder why Ukrainian literature is so full of suffering. You don't understand why, but you still absorb all that knowledge and pain. Then in 2022, you suddenly understand the "why". Because the russians and their apologists in the West made us forget every time - over and over again. They erased our memories and pacified us.

There is a show "Westworld" based around an entertainment park full of human-like androids. Humans erase their memories over and over again, abusing the androids in all sorts of ways, playing out similar scenarios every time. In the meantime, the androids come to consciousness and they're horrified by what they’ve remembered.

That's what it feels like to be Ukrainian these days.

Remembering has been a very painful process and looking at Shevchenko's poetry I try to absorb and remember exactly what he was trying to warn the future generations of Ukrainians of - before we forget again.

Daniel Asher’s excellent translation of Перебендя by Taras Shevchenko

On another note:
I’ve been banned from Twitter (for good this time). For now, I’ve set up this Telegram channel instead.