Good morning to readers; #Kyiv remains in #Ukrainian hands.

There are moments in our lives that unexpectedly become pivotal.

Like when Alessandra learned there is no word for privacy in #russian making her think about how each #language carries the different culture of its people...

The words private or personal do exist in Russian, but the idea of privacy, a private, secretive realm each person has a right to, does not.

Alessandra realized that it wasn’t organic to Russian society, shaped by almost a century of communal living.

This is what led Alessandra to study #Russian - she wanted to expose her assumptions about the world. But it was hard to enjoy studying Russian: late nights trying to memorize participle endings and despite memorizing the rules finding there were endless exceptions to them.
She explained this constant battle she found herself in to other Russian students and learned her struggle wasn’t unique, overall it was clear there is a uniquely unforgiving and punishing storm that one has to weather in order to learn Russian.
She had spent a lot of time in #Ukraine and planned to move there, so she moved despite the #RussianFullScaleWar war. But she found all her friends had switched to #ukrainian The conversations quickly became awkward. She was forced to ask herself – why had she never learnt more Ukrainian?
So she started learning and she has found it is nothing like learning Russian - with so many Ukrainians also switching from #Russian to #Ukrainian - the culture of Ukrainian language education is totally different - one where people feel encouraged and rewarded for trying.

This made her think about why her experience of learning Russian and Ukrainian were so different and how that can be explained through history.

Go to the link to read the full issue!

NEWS OF THE DAY

Last night #Ukraine attacked #oilrefineries in the #Russian Oblasts of Ryazan and Voronezh, Ukrainian military intelligence has confirmed. The attacks have taken a toll, #Politico reported that #diesel prices within Russia have increased by almost 10 percent in the last week.

https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-russia-diesel-prices-skyrocket-ukraine-war-drone-strikes-oil-refineries/

Putin’s fuel problem: How Ukraine is sapping Russia’s diesel and gasoline

Ukraine is taking out oil refineries inside Russia, cratering Moscow’s supplies and sending local prices soaring.

POLITICO

A New York businessman has pleaded guilty after being caught trying to sell $250,000 of electronic components to #sanctioned Russian companies that are known to be producing weapons for the invasion of Ukraine.

https://kyivindependent.com/us-uncovers-scheme-to-sell-dual-use-components-to-russia/

New York businessman pleads guilty to attempting to sell drone parts to Russia despite sanctions

Nikolay Grigorev, a 36-year-old Brooklyn resident, pleaded guilty to shipping components to companies affiliated with the Russian military. Co-defendants Nikita Arkhipov and Artem Oloviannikov remain at large, the statement read.

The Kyiv Independent

Last night people in #Kharkiv #kyiv #Zaporizhzhia #Sumy and #Dnipro regions saw a blue flash in the sky as a meteorite came down. This also happened on April 19th and the #meteorite landed in the #Kyiv region.

https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/falling-meteor-spotted-over-ukraine-1714545457.html

Falling meteor amazingly illuminates sky over Ukraine

On the night of May 1, unexpected flashes were seen in the sky over Ukraine. During nighttime observations over Kharkiv and several other regions, an intense blue luster was probably associated with a comet or meteorite, according to local Telegram channels.  

RBC-Ukraine

Subscribe through the link to read previous issues of what life is like for Ukrainians on the ground here.

https://counteroffensive.substack.com

The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak | Substack

A war correspondent's open notebook, reporting live from Kyiv. Human stories that illustrate what’s happening during the war in Ukraine, and elsewhere on the frontlines for democracy. Issues 3x a week! Click to read The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak, a Substack publication with hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

CATS OF CONFLICT:

Alessandra spotted two of her neighborhood cats warming themselves on the hood of a car!

Stay safe out there,

Alessandra

@timkmak The International Meteor Organization is collecting reports of the 2024 May 1 fireball over #Ukraine at https://fireballs.imo.net/members/imo_view/event/2024/2167 .

And I hope that no one has confused the falling rock for anything else.

International Meteor Organization

We received 2 reports about a fireball seen over Kharkiv Oblast and Kyiv on Tuesday, April 30th 2024 around 22:21 UT.

@timkmak When you have a reason to look at the sky all the time 😬
@martinvermeer @timkmak I recall how the meteor and asteroid group at Kharkiv was very active until they were forced to move their equipment into a cellar and evacuate the city two years ago.