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Tim Mak@timkmak.bsky.social |
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Founder, The Counteroffensive: Compelling human stories to illustrate news of the war in Ukraine. Fmr US Army medic. @timkmak at Journa.host or @timkmak on Twitter
www.counteroffensive.news/
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Tim Mak
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Did you know our newsletter is free?
Follow along with us through the link to stay up to date on all issues and read previous ones!
Thank you for your support!
www.counteroffensive.news
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Tim Mak
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Here is what Mariana is listening to today: Vivienne Mort — Час
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Tim Mak
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Ukrainian drones have seriously damaged the Russian only full-cycle metallurgical enterprise, according to The Kyiv Independent. This will result in more complicated production of Russia's armored vehicles and will take several months to fully restore the facility.
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Tim Mak
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Trump is considering negotiating with Putin over how much Ukrainian territory Russia can retain, as well as blocking the NATO ascension of Ukraine and Georgia, according to Politico. The Presidential Office claimed that Ukraine will not compromise territorial integrity to end the war.
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Tim Mak
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Here’s what we are reading today: China is apparently developing attack drones, similar to the Iranian Shahed drones, to aid Russia fighting Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. European officials worry that China will be able to manufacture significantly more drones than Iran or Russia.
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Tim Mak
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Following The Counteroffensive is free! Join us through the link in our bio to stay up to date on the ground in Ukraine. Thank you for your support!
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Tim Mak
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In lieu of a Dog of War today, here are the little piggies of war, aka The Counteroffensive team, snarfing down some Chinese food ahead of the 3:30 a.m. wakeup time to cover the U.S. presidential debate.
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Tim Mak
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Visit The Counteroffensive through the link in bio to stay up to date with the publication! You can read our latest issues for free!
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Tim Mak
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TRUMP PROMOTES CALLS TO JAIL LIZ CHENEY, PENCE: The former president, in a show of what a second term might look like, circulated calls for Liz Cheney and other perceived enemies to be targeted by "televised military tribunals."
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Tim Mak
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MILLIONS OF FAMILY MEMBERS TORN BY WAR: 74 percent of Ukrainians have been separated from close family members as a result of the invasion, The Economist reports. Under martial law, men of fighting age are not permitted to leave the country (with some exceptions).
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Tim Mak
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KAZAKH OPPOSITION JOURNALIST SHOT IN KYIV: Since the 2000s, Aidos Sadykov has been known for his sharp criticism of the Kazakh authorities, my colleague Oleh Tymoshenko reports. Threatened by the authorities, Sadykov moved to Ukraine along with his wife in 2014.
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Tim Mak
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NEWS OF THE DAY: HUNGARY's ORBAN VISIT KYIV, SUGGESTS CEASEFIRE: The president of Hungary, viewed as one of Russia's closest friends within the European Union, made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital.
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Tim Mak
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If you want to see the results of The Counteroffensive’s polls, as well as the analysis of what a Trump or Biden administration post-2025 would mean for Ukraine, read here. Thanks for your continued support!
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Tim Mak
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There’s plenty of polling that shows who Americans prefer, and that will continue to fluctuate. But we wanted to survey Ukrainians as part of our commitment to covering this country as more than just a chess piece between great powers — a place worth covering on its own merits.
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Tim Mak
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With panic spreading about a potential second Trump term — not to mention his calls for military tribunals for Americans — we polled more than 2,000 Ukrainians to see whether they thought Trump or Biden would be better for their war effort.
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Tim Mak
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Good morning to readers, Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands. But is it time for people here to start panicking about the Trump-Biden matchup? The Counteroffensive conducted a poll to gauge Ukrainians' views on how the US presidential election could impact the war in Ukraine.
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Tim Mak
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Supporting our team’s reporting is as easy as one click (did we mention it’s also free?) Follow along with The Counteroffensive through the link!
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Tim Mak
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Here's what Oleh is listening to today: Santana – Flor d'Luna (Moonflower)
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Tim Mak
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Russia accidentally dropped guided bombs, on it's own territory, WaPo writes. When these detonate they can cause massive destruction. Last April a guided bomb dropped on Belgorod, Russia and left a crater that was 65 feet wide.
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Tim Mak
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Between the months of January and April, over a 1/4 of UK military aircraft have experienced interference from Russia GPS jamming. This includes an aircraft carrying Grant Shapps, the UK Defence Secretary, when he was returning home from Poland.
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Tim Mak
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Here’s what we are reading today: The 1st round of France two-part snap election shows that the far-right National Rally party (NR) has won 33% of the vote, beating the 2 other parties. NR is against sending long-range missiles to Ukraine and putting French troops in Ukraine.
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Tim Mak
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Read today's story in full through the link.
www.counteroffensive.news/p/how-blacko...
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Tim Mak
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Viktoriia and her family are planning to return to Ukraine, although she doesn't know when this will happen. "We think about it all the time,” Viktoriia explained. “Because I can't really settle down here. I still don't feel like a human here.”
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Tim Mak
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After Viktoriia and her family left the Kherson region, they decided to move abroad, to Germany, where it took a year for Yevhen to recover from the severe cough he had developed while hiding from the explosions in the basement.
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Tim Mak
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"We drove 80 kilometers for almost 14 hours. There were many checkpoints. The most terrible checkpoint was in Snihurivka itself, because there were many of their artillery in the fields," said Viktoriia.
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Tim Mak
@timkmak.bsky.social
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After that, in April 2022, Viktoriia and her husband decided to get out of Kherson by any means necessary, even though fierce fighting was going on everywhere around them.
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Tim Mak
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He developed a severe cough, which led to vomiting; along with a fever, and shortness of breath, Viktoriia explained. A car with volunteers who tried to deliver medicines to them was shot at by Russians.
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Tim Mak
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Yevhen's illness weakened his immune system, so a year before the full-scale invasion, he got bacterial infection that further worsened his symptoms. Sitting in the basement during the 2022 Russian offensive caused a deterioration of the child's condition.
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Tim Mak
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Having finally received her child's diagnosis, Viktoriia faced serious problems even before the full-scale invasion. The state provided only a few basic medications for cystic fibrosis: for the disease itself, some antibiotics, as well as a drug for the liver.
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Tim Mak
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Blackouts have posed new challenges too. Some patients need artificial lung ventilation, which is impossible without special devices that require electrical power.
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Tim Mak
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Meanwhile, patients are afraid to move from city to city because of the constant shelling, even in a relatively safe place like Kyiv, Natalia said.
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Tim Mak
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This shortage is exacerbated by the fact that many of the most highly-qualified specialists have become medics or doctors on the front lines, Nataliia Samonenko added.
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Tim Mak
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Lina also explained that women doctors are more involved in pediatric specialties, so there is a shortage of doctors now, as many of them went abroad at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
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Tim Mak
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At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, foreign partners began to accept sick children for treatment, but over more than two years of war, international assistance has waned.
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Tim Mak
@timkmak.bsky.social
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In addition to financial problems, the full-scale Russian invasion has brought new challenges to the daily lives of sick children in Ukraine, including shelling, life-threatening electrical blackouts, and a decrease in the number of specialized medical facilities.
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Tim Mak
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Most importantly they lacked access to medicine for Yevhen. Lost in much of the coverage of this war is the experience of chronically-ill children like him who would simply not survive to adulthood without specialized, and often expensive, treatment.
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Tim Mak
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When the invasion began, Russian troops destroyed the farms on the outskirts of their town. So Viktoriia and her family were forced to rely on some vegetables, canned foods, and some bread made from grain originally intended for cattle.
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Tim Mak
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For two and a half months, she and her seven-year-old son Yevhen, whose lungs are affected by cystic fibrosis – a genetic disease that impairs lung capacity due to the accumulation of mucus – stayed in the wet and cold basement of their house.
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Tim Mak
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She knew it from her instincts as a mother: once her child began coughing this dry, deep, bronchial sound — they had to risk their lives to escape. In the first days of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Viktoriia’s town in the Kherson region was occupied by Russians.
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Tim Mak
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There is a shortage of pediatric doctors to treat these cases, on top of all the physical threats the war poses to medicine in a war zone. Like running ventilators during blackouts and moving patients between cities under fire.
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Tim Mak
@timkmak.bsky.social
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Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands. When the invasion started, chronically-ill children in Ukraine had access to increased international support. Now pediatric centers have become harder to find for children like Yevhen, who has a rare genetic disorder.
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Tim Mak
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Would you like to know more? Don't miss our next issue, and catch up on previous ones through the link.
Thank you for following along!
www.counteroffensive.news/p/the-monume...
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Tim Mak
@timkmak.bsky.social
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Today’s Dog of War is this friendly pup that was sniffing for contraband on Ukraine’s railroads, as I entered the country. Thankfully I’m not carrying anything that would make me suspicious! Stay safe out there, Best, Tim
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Tim Mak
@timkmak.bsky.social
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The number of Russian government employees in Austria has ballooned to over 500, the WSJ reports, with up to half of them working in Europe as spies.
Europe expelled some 600 spies after the Ukraine war began, but many simply moved to Austria.
www.wsj.com/world/a-den-...
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Tim Mak
@timkmak.bsky.social
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With drones striking any massing of vehicles, and areas heavily mined, the Russians have turned to motorbikes and dune buggies for about half of all attacks in some areas of the frontlines, the NYT reports.
www.nytimes.com/2024/06/29/w...
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Tim Mak
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The Ukrainian president promises that he will release a comprehensive peace plan in the next few months.
“We don’t have too much time,” he said, pointing out the toll of the war on civilians and soldiers at an EU summit in Brussels.
www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/...
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Tim Mak
@timkmak.bsky.social
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NEWS OF THE DAY:
Russia is gearing up to aggressively respond to U.S. drones flying over the Black Sea, arguing that American flights are done to help with Ukrainian weapons targeting.
www.kyivpost.com/post/35024
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Tim Mak
@timkmak.bsky.social
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Although the era of Yanukovych-style corruption may be over, it is still a cancer that afflicts Ukraine and has now, with a government responsible for funding a military that is already stretched for every possible resource, become more existential than ever.
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Tim Mak
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Whether the windows were that way before Yanukovych left, or if it was done after to conceal the true opulence of Yankovych’s lifestyle and how much he stole from the Ukrainian public is unclear.
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Tim Mak
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The doors to the main residence are locked and the windows have been frosted over - although I managed to snap a picture.
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