Day 1592
The alcoholic's vest and other emergencies
A famous Facebook influencer took my photo on the metro this morning after scolding me for wearing what Ukrainians call a майка-алкоголічка in public, as if the greater offense in Kyiv this week were an old man's sleeveless shirt rather than the smell of half the city smoldering beyond the next station.
I was watching Z on Face the Nation add to the visual drama of yesterday’s tragedy as emergency crews worked in the background of a bombed out residential building in Darnytsia district.
The death toll in Kyiv rose to 30 overnight.
In other news, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland will meet in Warsaw today to chat up the latest flap in bilateral historiography. This week the Rada approved a plan to erect a Pantheon honoring the nation’s heroes.
Ukraine's heroes are not Poland's heroes, and vice versa — except perhaps for Marko Bezruchko. Sybiha and Sikorski will hash out the technicalities; ordinary citizens, at least in Ukraine, have more pressing concerns. But the presidents of Poland and Ukraine have decided that reviving century-old animosities is too good an opportunity to pass up.
Have a great weekend!