NEWSFLASH: Russia's revenge
What it felt like overnight in Kyiv as the Russian dictator lashed out in response to Ukraine's sneak attacks on military targets. This morning, we awoke to Journalist's Day in Ukraine.
Editor’s Note: Almost every night, millions of people in Ukraine are subject to the sounds of explosions, foreboding drones and anti-aircraft fire.
This Journalist’s Day, help us bring you the ground-level truth on what’s happening in the war. On this rare occasion, I’m making this reporter’s notebook/newsflash free for everyone— upgrade now to get them all.
It’s always been part of our goal to show what it’s like to live in Ukraine right now.
I’ll give it a try.
Imagine you’ve had a long day of work, and you’re able - finally - to retreat to a comfortable position on your bed, under the covers.
As you close your eyes, your mind races through all the flotsam of the day.
You fend off the stresses and spare details, one by one, until slowly… your facial muscles relax… your mind slows… and you begin to drift off…
Unfailingly, this is exactly when an air raid alarm sounds.
But you don’t need to hear even a second of it to identify what is happening: your body is conditioned to anticipate danger immediately.
Your baseline intensity has been elevated for months. Your shoulders are tight, and your eyelids have even begun to twitch unexpectedly at times.
Air alarms rotate to life, starting with a low and grinding quality, then opening up to a bold and undiluted, blaring sound. From that initial whirling sound, you know what it is — it’s why you’ve begun to hate the sound of those damn accelerating motorcycles and cars, which mimic a similar opening pattern.
(You can find an audio clip of this sound here.)
Not far away, anti-aircraft guns begin to fire — every blast a sign that brave people are trying to defend the city. But every shot feels like a lightning bolt of anxiety that unfurls from your heart to your head; your blood pressure spikes in unison with the pulsation of outgoing clatter.
Along with the sound of gunfire, there are air defense missile launches, sending projectiles into the sky to intercept incoming danger. You hear explosions.
You’ve begun to understand the difference between a Russian strike, which has this scratchy, then expanding, broad sound; and an outgoing Ukrainian defensive missile launch, which is a short and hollow sound.
As you listen, you know that dozens, perhaps hundreds, of drones are flying outside. Sometimes you can hear them: Shahed kamikaze drone engines sound like Vespa scooters.
(You can hear a drone in Kyiv from last night, in this video here)
Something in you recognizes that things are on fire, and people are being killed.
You watch on your phone as social media accounts tick off weapons and directions: a certain number of drones headed to this city; ballistic missile threat detected, take cover; Russian aircraft capable of launching missiles are in the air… and so on.
Huddle somewhere safe with just the glow of your smartphone for company, and wait for morning or the all-clear, sometimes both.
This is a near-nightly event.
Like last night.
More than 400 drones and more than 40 missiles were launched overnight in what is sadly becoming a regularity: the massacre of innocent people.
Three first responders with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine were killed, Zelenskyy announced Friday morning. More were wounded. And this doesn’t include others who were hurt as a result of the attacks.
It appeared to be a ‘double-tap’ strike: when a second attack occurs at a location — but only after medics and firefighters rush to the scene to help.
Coming off Ukraine’s creative attacks on Russian strategic bombing assets, Putin’s military struck cities generally considered safer and far from the frontlines.
In fact, few areas were spared from this salvo: attacks were seen in Volyn, Lviv, Ternopil, Sumy, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions.
A major Subway line in Kyiv was hit, and portions of the city are without power.
Warning: Disturbing photo ahead, of a blurred, covered body being tended to by a first responder. Viewer discretion is advised.
As a journalist and a former Army medic/EMT, there’s a real sense of dread in the air — it’s always a gut check when you realize it could have just as easily been you, your building, your apartment.
And the sense of dread deepens when someone who shares your personal characteristics is killed.
This Ukrainian Journalist’s Day, we honor the 125 journalists who have been killed over the course of the past three years.
Thank you for reading and supporting us, and for prioritizing news/information from people on the ground — rather than talking heads, prognosticators and analysts from far away.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
This night was tough for the whole Ukrainian team, here’s how it went for some of us:
Mariana, Creative Editor:
"Being under constant attacks in Ukraine, I eventually stopped reacting — falling asleep peacefully to the orchestra of explosions. But yesterday, for the first time, a swarm of drones circled near my home, as if trying to aim more precisely at me. The sound of their engines, the bursts of anti-aircraft fire, and dozens of explosions were so unbearable that I sat in the hallway, covering my ears, just to block it all out."
Nastia, Reporter:
“I heard the drone flying around, but my roommate Sashka and I are really used to that sound, so we just tried to sleep. Suddenly, the sound became unbearable and louder with every second.
‘Sashka, it’s falling down,’ I said. The nagging feeling of fear and anxiety paralyzed me and I was just waiting for the glass from our window to shatter all over us or for the Shaheed to hit our dorm. A loud explosion followed. I twitched away from the window. At the same time it brought some sort of relief – we were okay.”
The next morning, Nastia visited the residential building that was hit just several blocks away.
Last night there was a fire and, the windows in the neighboring building were smashed, but now people are working to clean up the scene and make it safe. The woman from the neighboring building told Nastia it wasn’t the first time these buildings suffered. Some time ago, the blast wave from the attack also smashed the windows in her apartment, but this time they were lucky, she said.
RUSSIA AIMS TO CUT UKRAINE OFF FROM BLACK SEA: Russia is planning to create a 'buffer' zone in northern Ukraine and then move south to completely cut off Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, according to a top official in Ukraine’s Presidential Office, Politico reported.
By the fall, Russia wants to seize the Donetsk and Luhansk regions; by the end of the year, they want to create a 'buffer' zone along the northern border.
Over the next year, Putin plans to seize all of Ukraine's territory east of the Dnipro River, which divides the country. His ambitions also extend to Odesa and Mykolaiv, which would cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea, a critical route for Ukrainian grain exports.
UKRAINE LAUNCHED PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST RUSSIA: Ukraine struck several Russian airfields overnight before Russia launched one of its most powerful air attacks, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Ukraine attacked Engels and Diagilevo airfields. Both are key in the conduct of air attacks on Ukrainian territory. Engels is located 600 kilometers from the front lines and has Tu-95, Tu-22M3, and Tu-160 bombers, which are regularly used by Russia for missile strikes.
As a result, large fires were reported, and at least three fuel tanks were damaged.
The intensification of Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory indicates the development of Ukraine's strike capabilities, including to launch preventive strikes.
GERMANY SCRAMBLES PLANES OVER RUSSIAN INTEL: A Russian reconnaissance plane was spotted in the Baltic Sea yesterday, prompting Germany to scramble two fighter jets, the German press agency DPA reported.
The Russian Il-20 was in the international space of the Baltic Sea without any identification signals and without communicating. NATO sent fighters from the German Air Force stationed at the Rostock-Laage air base.
This is the sixth such case since the beginning of 2025. In the Baltic Sea region, tensions remain consistently high due to ongoing Russian attempts at illegal reconnaissance or suspected sabotage.
FERRET OF WAR:
Today we have an unusual animal of war – a ferret! His name is Stitch: just like the cartoon character, he cannot sit in one place and bites a lot.
Stay safe out there.
Best,
Nastia
Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko, Mariana Lastovyria, and Tim Mak. Thank you for your bravery, and your excellent reporting and writing. In the face of the relentless horror, we wish you "courage," which you clearly have in spades. And so we wish you fortitude. But most of all we so wish you could sleep peacefully through the night.
Stay strong Ukraine, Americans are with you