The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak

The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak

Home
Notes
Chat
Archive
Leaderboard
About
NEWSFLASH: Trump makes diesel deal with Putin
Weeks before midterms, Trump is trying a desperate ploy, welcoming Russia back onto the world energy markets while implicitly blaming Ukraine.
 • Jacqueline Cole and Tim Mak
Should we panic over Russian plague?
As the world awaits new details, Russia is reluctant to reveal facts about the rumored case of death from plague. An epidemiologist Andrii Aleksandrin…
 • Mariana Lastovyria, Mariana Stadnyk, and Petro Gordon
Porn decriminalization to fund the war effort?
Ukraine is one of the few European countries where porn production is illegal. As lawmakers weigh decriminalizing the industry to help refill a…
 • Mariana Lastovyria
Why I returned from Germany ready to fight
While Russia mobilizes more troops to continue the war, many young Ukrainians are fleeing the country to avoid conscription. Petro had the chance to do…
 • Petro Gordon
Do Poles really hate Ukrainians?
The escalated tensions in Poland-Ukraine relations this summer caused rising xenophobia against Ukrainians in Poland. Ivanna Spivachenko has witnessed…
 • Mariana Stadnyk
Sign up now to receive intimate, human-first dispatches from the war.
The latest from
Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova
NEWSLASH: Zelenskyy dismisses army chief after public pressure
User's avatar
Mariana Lastovyria
Should we panic over Russian plague?
User's avatar
Jacqueline Cole
NEWSFLASH: Trump makes diesel deal with Putin
User's avatar
Tim Mak
NEWSFLASH: Trump makes diesel deal with Putin
User's avatar
Zoriana Semenovych
Why pay rent just to sleep in the metro
User's avatar
Oleksandra Poda
NEWSFLASH: Russians strike SBU headquarters in Kyiv
User's avatar
Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko
Five days of terror with Russian jet-powered drones
User's avatar

Recent posts

View all
Trump's “energy truce" contradicts Putin's winter plans
Still deeply traumatized by last winter, which nearly tipped Kyiv into a humanitarian crisis, Ukraine is bracing for new disasters this year.
 • Mariana Lastovyria
Xi's Trump visit puts Taiwan's AI boom in crossfire
As the two superpowers fight for leverage over Taiwan, businesses that control the country's AI trend are walking a tightrope between them
 • Elaine Lin
What if Somali militias had drones in ‘Black Hawk Down’?
How would drones have changed the SOF mission in Mogadishu that Americans know as Black Hawk Down? Would the battle have ended in a deadlier fashion and…
 • Jacqueline Cole and Tim Mak
Russia’s poorest regions thrive on death
Russia pays a fortune to its poorest families for their loved ones killed in Ukraine, bringing more money to poorer regions. Serhii talks to Russians…
 • Oleksandra Khelemendyk
Ukraine’s scam centers at the heart of corruption scandal
Amid an anti-corruption investigation into the Prosecutor General's Office's role in protecting scam call centers, the Prosecutor General fled Ukraine…
 • Mariana Lastovyria and Mariana Stadnyk
Trump's war added 10x more to diesel shock than Ukraine
Donald Trump is trying to lay the blame of your rising energy prices on Ukraine’s doorstep. But an analysis of diesel disruption shows that his Iran war…
 • Tim Mak, Mariana Lastovyria, and Oleksandra Khelemendyk
Why does Ukraine have a Swedish village?
A small village is home to a dozen cultures and a focal point for both Swedish identity and Russian invaders.
 • Oleksandra Khelemendyk
Our sister publications
The Arsenal
Actionable business reporting on Ukrainian and European defense tech and regulations.
Build Back Ukraine
Follow Ukraine's reconstruction efforts.
Iran War Dispatches
Like The Counteroffensive, but covering the war in Iran.
© 2026 Tim Mak · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture