Olga Breydo 🇺🇦

Odesa—explosions again. School # 107 you went to lost all windows. Many ask: you are a Jew who fled Ukraine as a refugee. So why do you care now? And you stare as they ask. This city you love & lost so many times: you’re made to watch as you’re losing it again. That’s why.

Over a month since my colleague & friend Victoria Amelina was killed in a Russian missile strike. Today, The New Yorker published one of her poems. It is bittersweet — I am glad more people will learn about her, but she will never write again... newyorker.com/magazine/2023/…

⚡️Official: Ukrainian forces break through Russian first line of defense in south. "In some places" on the southern front line, the Ukrainian military has broken through the Russian first line of defense, moving to the "intermediate one," reported the deputy defense minister.

If sport is out of politics, why does Russia kill Ukrainian athletes? Bodybuilder Lyudmila Chernetskaya was killed by a rocket attack in Odesa. FC Gostomel player Dmytro Martynenko was killed in Kyiv region as a result of a Russian bomb that hit his house. A 14-year-old weightlifting athlete, Alina Peregudova, was killed in the besieged Mariupol during shelling. In Irpin, Russian invaders shot and killed Ukrainian boxer and children's coach Oleksiy Dzhunkovsky. In Kharkiv, 19-year-old Vladislav Shapovalov was killed by Russian occupiers during shelling. He was engaged in kettlebell lifting. In Irpin, Oleksandr Sheremet, the coach of the national team of schoolchildren of Ukraine and the Irpin children's and youth orienteering school, died. In Melitopol, floorball player Viktor Katanchyk died after being seriously injured during a rocket attack on the city. Ukrainian athlete and former captain of the Ukrainian water polo team Yevhen Obedinsky died in Mariupol at the age of 39. He was shot dead by Russian soldiers on the balcony of his apartment. In Mariupol, 11-year-old Ukrainian gymnast Kateryna Dyachenko was killed. Sambo wrestler Artem Pryimenko was killed in a rocket attack on a residential sector of Sumy. A 20-year-old Ukrainian champion in sports dancing, Daria Kurdel, was killed in the shelling of the Ingulets district. A Russian missile attack on the village of Serhiivka in Odesa region killed football coach Oleksandr Shyshkov. Valentyn Voznyuk, a track and field coach and director of the Specialized Children's and Youth Sports School of the Olympic Reserve No. 3 of the Dnipro City Council, was killed with his wife during a Russian terrorist attack on the city of Dnipro. In Dnipro, 15-year-old Maria Lebid, a ballroom dancer, was killed in a Russian missile attack on a residential high-rise building. Anastasia Ihnatenko, an athlete, coach and judge in sports acrobatics, was killed in a terrorist attack in Dnipro. During the shelling of Kharkiv, 21-year-old Anastasia Goncharova, a multiple Ukrainian cycling champion, was killed in the street. In Kherson, 12-year-old Arina Shnabska, a prize-winner at the Ukrainian junior taekwondo championship, was killed in the shelling. During the shelling of Kyiv, 9-year-old Victoria Ivashko was killed. She was engaged in judo. She died on International Children's Day. And this is not to mention the athletes who were crippled by Russia and who stood up to defend Ukraine and died (about 300 of them). The photo shows 7-year-old gymnast Oleksandra Paskal from Chornomorsk, who lost her leg due to shelling in Odesa region. She was fitted with a prosthesis and returned to competitions. I wouldn't be surprised if another "neutral flag" representative demands to shake hands at one of them. Information by Maryna Kurylchuk

Ukraine needs a full-fledged sky shield – this is the only way to defeat Russian missile terror. We have already shown that we can shoot down even the Russian missiles that the terrorists boasted about. Thanks to the help of our partners and the air defense systems provided to Ukraine, our defenders of the sky have saved thousands of lives. But we need more air defense systems for our entire territory, for all our cities and communities. The world must not get used to Russian terror – terror must be defeated. And it is possible! ____ Video:@ United24media #standwithukraine #supportukraine #ArmUkraineNow #stoprussia #RussiaIsATerroristState

According to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, Russian forces attacked the city of Chasiv Yar with cluster munitions around dawn. The House of Culture, which has been used as a humanitarian aid center, was destroyed along with some humanitarian aid and medical supplies.

Working on this piece on Volodymyr Vakulenko broke my heart multiple times, but never so much as the day I finished writing it. theguardian.com/world/2023/jul…

The chances of running the last seminar of @Ukr_Institute Literatura course from a metro station during an air raid alert were not negligible but I could not spoil @globalrhizome’s class and made it to my desk! Looking forward to it ❤️‍🔥

Ok New York, you have 4 days to go experience this tremendous film about the first 20 Days of a full-scale invasion that started 507 days ago. It'll make you think about Ukraine, about journalism, about context, about stories. And I hope it'll help you decide do some more good.

Our statement on the recently announced National Defense Authorization Act amendment prohibiting the transfer of cluster munitions:

@POTUS #UkraineInNATO

@jthouse37 🤣

Lviv. Consequences of the night attack by Russian terrorists. Unfortunately, there are wounded and dead. My condolences to the relatives! There will definitely be a response to the enemy. A strong one.

6 days. Vilnius, Lithuania. NATO summit. It’s time. #UkraineInNATO

Victoria Amelina is at the heart of our community. This is a personal hit for many of us. As @PenUkraine statement reads, victims await justice; prisoners await war criminals. And Russia must cease to exist. theguardian.com/world/2023/jun…

We have more book reviews coming soon at @KyivIndependent, too. So thankful to be able to contribute to building our culture desk. Watch this space. 👇

"And not only this, but we have to repeatedly prove to the audience that we are brave, honest, 'civilized' and not wasteful." [2/2] politico.eu/article/ukrain…

Just a horrifying statistic.

Important text by Ukrainian journalist Kristina Berdynskykh on returning to her native Kherson after the Kakhovka dam disaster. It was translated by my dear friend and mentor Dmytro Kyyan for @thedialmag, give it a read. thedial.world/issue-6/ukrain…

After taking this picture, the writers traveled to a restaurant in Kramatorsk, which was then struck by a Russian missile. Amelina is in critical condition. The Colombian visitors are among the 60 injured. 14yo twin girls and a young woman of 17 are dead. thetimes.co.uk/article/ukrain…