Dnipro, Tuesday morning, 30June.
The only word to describe things in Ukraine atm is deteriorating. Daily attacks targeting logistics, and in the past fortnight service stations.
I returned from Konotop yesterday and all of my usual service stations I stop for coffee or fuel were destroyed in the past 3 days. I had to drive 200 km for a coffee, luckily was fully fueled up when I left Poltava. I was chatting with the police at the last block post and they said all petrol stations between Dnipro and Kharkov had been struck, similarly north of Zaporoshnye to Dnipro they were being targeted. It's pretty clever actually as it isolates these areas. You can drive one way, but returning not so easy. Also, I am told by another mate that tankers owned by European companies who are increasingly used here to keep up with fuel deliveries, are refusing to drive east of the Dnipro River... Will be like the Straits of Hormuz. Insurance and risk to drivers will stop fuel shipments.
TCC everywhere, one of my programmers was arrested in Kiev on Sunday morning at 9 am on a walk to the corner store, and he was taken directly to the conflict line in a northern region with zero training, or equipment. He has no access to his phone it would seem, but as its on we have his location. This is simply murder. I would never have believed it had it not happened to someone this close. He has a deferral, but he left home without any documents, and despite his girlfriend returning with all his documents, they refused to release him. From arrest to a trench in 16 hours by absolute cowards.
I went with friends to extract him but we were stopped by fighting enroute to the area he was, and ultimately stopped at a block post outside Konotop, and refused further access, so we are calling in favours from people we know in the area who may be able to help intervene. I don't want to say more than that at the moment. I now know an actual surgeon who was mobilised as infantry, our systems analyst and a high level programmer all manning a trench. What a waste of resources. Even if they were mobilised to use skills in drone or EW I could understand it, but men with glass's thicker than coke bottles, who my 8 year old son would beat in a fight manning a slit in the ground to attract drones pretty much sums up Ukraine right now.
Some food shortages, electrical supply still serviceable but starting to be impacted again. People exhausted, but function on muscle memory. It's been a long 4.5 years, but for those hero's in Donetsk, it's been more than 12... Let that sink in.
