For free subscribers, we’ll be paywalled for the entire month. International news is expensive and taxing. Today’s issue is about the closure of foreign reporting bureaus around the world.
👏 I can afford few subs these days, but The Counteroffensive is one of the most critical to me in terms of the importance of what your team does. I hope more people will subscribe so you can keep up the valuable work of humanising the people of Ukraine so they are not just nameless faceless mentions on a news item about the latest bombing or aborted peace talks etc 🫂 plus of course be able to buy the equipment you need to keep safe 💙💛
Tim and team, I have just subscribed this morning. Thank you for all you do and know you all are providing great perspective and information out of Kyiv! Slava Ukraini!
I've been a subscriber for over a year, and I wish I could send more. I value the firsthand on-the-ground reporting. I also like the fact that Tim Mak has gathered a promising group of rising young Ukrainian journalists to work with him. I suspect we'll be seeing more of this group's work for many years into the future. Support human journalism!
As one of the paying subscribers I think you have to do it. There’s too much belief in that news should be free without considering it has to be paid for one way or another.
Please, dear Readers, pay for a subscription! I've paid since Tim started this a while ago. I know the factual news in 2025 is on Substack, and the writers need paying subscriptions to keep going. We no longer live in a news world where an assortment of international, national, state, and local news outlets were staffed by professionals with corporate support. No longer.
There’s a key thing people miss in the age of newsletter-centric journalism. Journalism is expensive while the tech is, relatively speaking, cheap. People matter and I am proud to support The Counteroffensive financially. Telling these stories is not something you can automate. These stories reflects the heartbeat of a strong people facing a horrible situation.
Choosing to financially support this outlet helps us all not look away. It lets us all remember this unique situation is definitely not what President Trump describes it being, too. We need that ground truth, if nothing else.
This is the single, most important Substack I read all day, every day. I admire the team here, and see you all as my larger family in this disparate world. I mentioned once in another post here that I see the Counteroffensive reporters as my children (as they are similar in age). It’s true, you’ve made the news from Ukraine come alive for me and others. You bring the personal touch to news from a nation at war through no fault of its own. I pray that you all continue to conduct the critical work you’re achieving, safely. Thank you all!
The Counteroffensive team is vital to a free world. I had hoped Tim being on other Substack writers' live broadcasts that paid subscribers would tick up. Maybe the month of darkness will have Jen Rubin, Steve Bechloss and the rest of the journalists here let the world you're worthy of a sub and hitting the tip jar.
I strongly support journalism. I dropped my subscription to the Washington Post because they abandoned basic principles of journalism, and committed to spending the subscription fee on alternative journalism. I also had a subscription to another newspaper.
And here's the problem. I was paying about $110 for the Post subscription, which covered world and national news.
Now, in addition to the newspaper I continue to subscribe to, I'm now paying for two Substacks, one paid alternative media, five voluntary-pay alternative media, and a journal covering world issues. Plus I donate to support local journalism.
The total cost of those is, well, *a lot* more than two newspaper subscriptions.
But! Journalism is important! No free society can exist without it! We should all defend it with the same intensity that we defend our political institutions.
I will continue to support the Counteroffensive. But in the longer term, Substackers need to come up with a better model that can draw more subscribers... for example, bundling a subscription with access to a curated AP feed...and giving AP a slice of the profits.
Even if journalists covering Ukraine would bundle their sites into one, that could help. Please, journalists, talk amongst yourselves and come up with a more viable model.
And all of the free riders out there, take a look in the mirror: how are you helping to keep your own freedom? What are you sacrificing? War correspondents like the Counteroffensive team are putting their very lives on the line in order to keep you informed. Will you sacrifice just a bit of your comfort for them?
As one of the currently 3 percent of readers on Substack who pays for a subscription to The Counteroffensive, I sincerely believe that Tim's publication is worth every dollar of the subscription fee. First and foremost, because of the hard work of Tim and his reporting team in Ukraine and beyond providing human-focused journalism. Second, the stories cannot be found anywhere else online. Third and finally, as Tim has stated many times, paying subscribers provide the financial support necessary to cover the costs of reporting. Meaning: financial support literally helps provide what is needed to report in a war zone. Having become a paid subscriber in 2023 months after the publication launched, I can state definitively that The Counteroffensive is worth supporting financially.
I would also like to publicly state that I fully support Tim's decision to make the content available only to paying subscribers during the month of September 2025. In September and the months ahead, please seriously consider becoming a paying subscriber if you are not already. Doing so can help ensure the publication remains available. Unlike some Substacks where becoming a paid subscriber is simply a nice thing to do and/or unlocks paid benefits, becoming a paid subscriber of The Counteroffensive can, from my perspective, have a positive impact on a reporting team providing crucial journalism. Thank you for reading my comment.
Hey Y’all, just wanted to let you know that I’m one of the folks who upgraded to a paid subscription today. Totally hear you about the costs of international reporting, and the distraction that passes for “news,” especially in the US. Thank you for your commitment to the facts and your support for Ukraine and real democracy.
Totally agree with what you are doing Tim. Long overdue in my opinion. Too many people out there think journalism should be free. ‘QUALITY’ journalism is not free.
Glad to be part of the 3%. Substack’s one by one model is not ideal. There’s no way to spread s limited budget around to all of the good creators. I know many readers can’t afford one more subscription, but I’m sure getting from 3% paid to 6% would do wonders for The Counteroffensives ability to report even more from Ukraine.
It is not lost on me that you started the Counteroffensive after NPR decided to pull out of Ukraine. Even setting aside the vital importance of international journalism, Independent journalism is one of the few remaining sources of truth in a world increasingly threatened by authoritarians. You've built something special at the Counteroffensive, and you and your team do critical work. This was my first paid Substack subscription, and I am committed to supporting your work. I urge everyone to consider supporting Tim and his team with a paid subscription.
We can hold ridiculous parades, pave over the White House, that which is not already done in Trailer Trash gold but will make an ally pay to defend themselves. I hang my head in shame.
👏 I can afford few subs these days, but The Counteroffensive is one of the most critical to me in terms of the importance of what your team does. I hope more people will subscribe so you can keep up the valuable work of humanising the people of Ukraine so they are not just nameless faceless mentions on a news item about the latest bombing or aborted peace talks etc 🫂 plus of course be able to buy the equipment you need to keep safe 💙💛
Tim and team, I have just subscribed this morning. Thank you for all you do and know you all are providing great perspective and information out of Kyiv! Slava Ukraini!
I've been a subscriber for over a year, and I wish I could send more. I value the firsthand on-the-ground reporting. I also like the fact that Tim Mak has gathered a promising group of rising young Ukrainian journalists to work with him. I suspect we'll be seeing more of this group's work for many years into the future. Support human journalism!
As one of the paying subscribers I think you have to do it. There’s too much belief in that news should be free without considering it has to be paid for one way or another.
Please, dear Readers, pay for a subscription! I've paid since Tim started this a while ago. I know the factual news in 2025 is on Substack, and the writers need paying subscriptions to keep going. We no longer live in a news world where an assortment of international, national, state, and local news outlets were staffed by professionals with corporate support. No longer.
There’s a key thing people miss in the age of newsletter-centric journalism. Journalism is expensive while the tech is, relatively speaking, cheap. People matter and I am proud to support The Counteroffensive financially. Telling these stories is not something you can automate. These stories reflects the heartbeat of a strong people facing a horrible situation.
Choosing to financially support this outlet helps us all not look away. It lets us all remember this unique situation is definitely not what President Trump describes it being, too. We need that ground truth, if nothing else.
This is the single, most important Substack I read all day, every day. I admire the team here, and see you all as my larger family in this disparate world. I mentioned once in another post here that I see the Counteroffensive reporters as my children (as they are similar in age). It’s true, you’ve made the news from Ukraine come alive for me and others. You bring the personal touch to news from a nation at war through no fault of its own. I pray that you all continue to conduct the critical work you’re achieving, safely. Thank you all!
The Counteroffensive team is vital to a free world. I had hoped Tim being on other Substack writers' live broadcasts that paid subscribers would tick up. Maybe the month of darkness will have Jen Rubin, Steve Bechloss and the rest of the journalists here let the world you're worthy of a sub and hitting the tip jar.
I strongly support journalism. I dropped my subscription to the Washington Post because they abandoned basic principles of journalism, and committed to spending the subscription fee on alternative journalism. I also had a subscription to another newspaper.
And here's the problem. I was paying about $110 for the Post subscription, which covered world and national news.
Now, in addition to the newspaper I continue to subscribe to, I'm now paying for two Substacks, one paid alternative media, five voluntary-pay alternative media, and a journal covering world issues. Plus I donate to support local journalism.
The total cost of those is, well, *a lot* more than two newspaper subscriptions.
But! Journalism is important! No free society can exist without it! We should all defend it with the same intensity that we defend our political institutions.
I will continue to support the Counteroffensive. But in the longer term, Substackers need to come up with a better model that can draw more subscribers... for example, bundling a subscription with access to a curated AP feed...and giving AP a slice of the profits.
Even if journalists covering Ukraine would bundle their sites into one, that could help. Please, journalists, talk amongst yourselves and come up with a more viable model.
And all of the free riders out there, take a look in the mirror: how are you helping to keep your own freedom? What are you sacrificing? War correspondents like the Counteroffensive team are putting their very lives on the line in order to keep you informed. Will you sacrifice just a bit of your comfort for them?
As one of the currently 3 percent of readers on Substack who pays for a subscription to The Counteroffensive, I sincerely believe that Tim's publication is worth every dollar of the subscription fee. First and foremost, because of the hard work of Tim and his reporting team in Ukraine and beyond providing human-focused journalism. Second, the stories cannot be found anywhere else online. Third and finally, as Tim has stated many times, paying subscribers provide the financial support necessary to cover the costs of reporting. Meaning: financial support literally helps provide what is needed to report in a war zone. Having become a paid subscriber in 2023 months after the publication launched, I can state definitively that The Counteroffensive is worth supporting financially.
I would also like to publicly state that I fully support Tim's decision to make the content available only to paying subscribers during the month of September 2025. In September and the months ahead, please seriously consider becoming a paying subscriber if you are not already. Doing so can help ensure the publication remains available. Unlike some Substacks where becoming a paid subscriber is simply a nice thing to do and/or unlocks paid benefits, becoming a paid subscriber of The Counteroffensive can, from my perspective, have a positive impact on a reporting team providing crucial journalism. Thank you for reading my comment.
Amen. Plus it LITERALLY helps pay not just for reporting but for the supplies the team needs to do reporting in the middle of a war.
I hope this works for you. I am so grateful I discovered you and really rely on your reporting.
Hey Y’all, just wanted to let you know that I’m one of the folks who upgraded to a paid subscription today. Totally hear you about the costs of international reporting, and the distraction that passes for “news,” especially in the US. Thank you for your commitment to the facts and your support for Ukraine and real democracy.
Totally agree with what you are doing Tim. Long overdue in my opinion. Too many people out there think journalism should be free. ‘QUALITY’ journalism is not free.
Glad to be part of the 3%. Substack’s one by one model is not ideal. There’s no way to spread s limited budget around to all of the good creators. I know many readers can’t afford one more subscription, but I’m sure getting from 3% paid to 6% would do wonders for The Counteroffensives ability to report even more from Ukraine.
It is not lost on me that you started the Counteroffensive after NPR decided to pull out of Ukraine. Even setting aside the vital importance of international journalism, Independent journalism is one of the few remaining sources of truth in a world increasingly threatened by authoritarians. You've built something special at the Counteroffensive, and you and your team do critical work. This was my first paid Substack subscription, and I am committed to supporting your work. I urge everyone to consider supporting Tim and his team with a paid subscription.
We can hold ridiculous parades, pave over the White House, that which is not already done in Trailer Trash gold but will make an ally pay to defend themselves. I hang my head in shame.
1000% agree with you, Rima.