Good morning to readers; #Kyiv remains in #Ukrainian hands.
Russian military forces hit #Ukrainian grain facilities for a fifth day this week. Our main character today is Katrya, who saved her sourdough starter from her hometown while on the run from Russian forces.
As Katrya Kalyuzhna fled her hometown of Kherson due to the Russian invasion, she grabbed the things most precious to her in the world: her two cats, of course; the keys to her van…
… and her precious, five-year-old sourdough starter.
"going through so many Russian checkpoints, their questioning and other disgusting things: driving through the gray zone, the no man’s land between occupied and Ukrainian held territory…the sound of artillery shelling, it was endless."
A war correspondent's open notebook, reporting live from Kyiv. Compelling human stories that illustrate what’s happening during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Click to read The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
About a week after arriving in #Lviv, she tried to do what had always made her calm: baking Using the sourdough starter which she had brought along, she made what she dubbed her “bread in exile.”
#Baking, it turned out, was incredibly healing. She even posted the brief recipe on her Instagram, and other people started using it. The social media app led her to a new friend, a woman named Vasylyna, who also lived in Lviv.
She offered Katrya (left) a job in her microbakery.
While their story is heartwarming, wheat in Ukraine has a dark history too. During the Soviet-made famine known as Holodomor in the 1930s, millions of Ukrainians lost their lives after the USSR confiscated grain and food, trapping people in their homes to die of hunger.
Katrya feels there are echoes of that time in today’s war. She describes recent attacks on grain infrastructure in Odesa as “horrible and devastating.” A year ago, she watched as wheat fields burned near her hometown.
You can read Katrya's full story here: http://counteroffensive.news
Now for the news.
#Russia hit #Ukrainian grain facilities for the fifth time, its latest usage of hunger as a weapon. The overnight attacks in #Odesa killed at least one person. Meanwhile, 22 were injured, including four children.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/23/world/europe/odesa-cathedral-missile.html
A war correspondent's open notebook, reporting live from Kyiv. Compelling human stories that illustrate what’s happening during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Click to read The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
Moscow withdrew from a UN-brokered grain deal that allowed the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.
Ukraine's exports are a major source of food throughout the world, meaning that the expiration of the deal will lead to price shocks.
The grain destroyed by Russia this week could have fed tens of thousands of people for a year.
"Some will go hungry, some will starve, many may die as a result of these decisions," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said.
Ukraine’s battered agricultural sector is thought to have lost around $34 billion since the full-scale war began. And Russian forces have destroyed farming infrastructure and grain storage facilities worth billions more - while vast swathes of farmland are heavily mined.
Ukraine and its Western allies knew that Kyiv didn't have the necessary training and weapons to dislodge the Russians from the front even as they started the counteroffensive this Spring.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraines-lack-of-weaponry-and-training-risks-stalemate-in-fight-with-russia-f51ecf9?mod=hp_lead_pos7
Hi, it’s Felicity Spector.
In my day job I’m a television journalist, and was first based in the former USSR back in 1991/1992. I’m also a keen amateur baker and like to photograph it all on Instagram.
Over the last year, I have traveled many times to Ukraine in support of a non-profit called Bake for Ukraine. It was started by Ukrainian friends who provide financial support for bakeries which give away free bread to people in need.
I have managed to travel around the country to meet the bakers the charity supports – as far east as Kharkiv and south to Odesa, and most recently to help purchase a large mobile bakery which can provide a more flexible solution to the food supply crisis.
For much of the war, Odesa has been a far safer city by comparison, but it's been increasingly targeted by Russian drone and missile strikes in recent days, since Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal.
One night during our stay there, we were jolted awake by some particularly loud explosions: Kalibr cruise missiles had hit a block of flats, along with a McDonalds and a food warehouse, killing three workers inside.
Alongside Odesa, there was Bucha and Izyum:
In Bucha, I could see how far rebuilding efforts have come – last summer when I drove through the town, the level of destruction was still very raw. A lot of money has clearly been spent on repair efforts: nothing will bring back those who have lost their lives, but at least there are new homes for people to return to, and green space for children to play.
Rebuilding a place like Izyum is another level of challenge. However often you see it, driving across the wooden bridge next to the one which was blown to pieces is still a heart stopping moment.
You pass burnt-out petrol stations, houses without walls or roofs, and a block of flats which has a huge V shaped gash tearing the entire building in two. Here, the Myrne Nebo charity has managed to set up a kitchen and bakery supplying people with fresh bread and hot food.
During last autumn's Ukrainian counteroffensive as the departing Russians bombarded the place relentlessly, people hid in the dark, dank basement which they use as a store room. It was pretty cold down there even in the thirty degree celsius heat of an early summer's day.
With the generosity you see everywhere in Ukraine, they insisted we sit down for lunch, laying a table with delicious soup, bread and salad - and pressing a bag of warm, sweet buns into my hand as we left.
Today’s Cat o’ Conflict is this feline who is definitely in charge of this food market stall in Odesa:
Stay safe out there.
Best,
Felicity
Tim Mak
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Mark Andrew
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