Begging Bowls, Stripper Poles, and the Eurovision Exchange Rate
Take a look at the photo above. A blackened, gutted building stands as a monument to Russian artillery, while right in front of it, people…
Category: Ukraine
The True Cost of “Cash on the Day”
I’m going to explain a policy of mine that inevitably annoys a small percentage of people, but strictly preserves what is left of my sanity:…
Generators, Ghost Towns, and Dangerous Vodka: Inside Hotel Ukraine
Hotel Ukraine, Kyiv. Back in the day, this 4-star monolith right in the middle of the city was the kind of place bursting with tourists…
The Arithmetic of Survival: Four Years On
Tomorrow marks exactly four years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Four years since I woke up in our apartment in the center of Kyiv…
The Abu Dhabi Theatre and the Freezing Dark
It’s been a week since my last post, and the fundamental pattern hasn’t changed. It has just become vastly more grotesque. Right now, diplomats are…
Air-Conditioned Rooms and Burning Trains
The diplomatic pattern is well-established by now, but its hypocrisy never loses its edge. While diplomats exchange pleasantries in air-conditioned rooms far from the smoke,…
The Illusion of the “Last Issue”
So apparently, this is the week we finally get peace. Again. We have the big meetings, the big words, the polished tables in Abu Dhabi…
The Documentary Viewers and the January Freeze
I have friends today who used the few precious hours of winter sun just to charge their phones from a portable solar panel. Meanwhile, the…