“If you want to know what Donald Trump will say tomorrow, listen to what Kremlin says today.”

Rather than just handing Ukraine the tools to destroy Russia’s drone factories, the UK shows it’s solidarity by skipping “grave concern” and heading directly into “deeply concerning”.

Trump has now refused to sanction Russia for 8 months. And Putin continues to terrorize Ukraine, with the attacks becoming more and more brutal. Putin escalates and Trump does nothing. The attacks on Kyiv, and the rest of Ukraine, are multiple times more intense and frequent than before Trump took over the White House again.

So where exactly is Trump’s so-called “toughness”?! Rolling out the red carpet, applauding a dictator, and fussing over the very man who wages war and terrorizes millions. Trump will not do anything that is hard on Russia, in my view.

In a recent interview I caught on the news: Are you ready to move to the second phase of sanctions against Russia or punishing Putin? President Trump: Yeah. I am.

What second phase?! What punishment?! WTF!?

This is all so shameful.

Yesterday was a day of pain and sadness, once again, in Kyiv, and in other parts of Ukraine. The terrorist attacks of Wednesday night are pure evil, and the politicians of the world just blah blah blah. But, the spirit of Ukrainians never dies.

Of course, there was a lot of international condemnation, but once again, words do not stop missiles.

Have a look at this – this is just pure inspiration.

Happy Independence Day to Ukraine. We hope that our love letter to Kyiv inspires people to want to learn more about Ukraine. This film journey started in 2018 and it is finally live on YouTube – please watch it. It has been an intense labour of love, and this story is only in the middle.

https://www.youtube.com/@KyivOfMine

Chapter 1 – The Ukrainian dream (before the full scale invasion)
Chapter 2 – It’ll be over in three days (war)
Chapter 3 – Holding onto the summer (hope)
Chapter 4 (in the near future) – Darkest before dawn (exhaustion)

A Better Conversation for Ukraine

The film definitely has the potential to change hearts and minds! – Lili Bivings (Kyiv Independent)

Today is Ukrainian Independence Day – Watch the Premiere of “Kyiv of Mine”

Today is my birthday, but more interestingly, it is also the day we are finishing the post production work on our Ukraine film project, which is now called Kyiv Of Mine.

Check out the teaser trailer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arJUcE1rxY0&t=15s

This intense labour of love started in 2018 and this weekend it will go live on YouTube. Our motivation is this: Ukraine deserves a better conversation in the world.

We hope that our work here stimulates some new interest and support for Ukraine.

If anyone of you reading this wants to do something nice for my birthday then please share this trailer link with all your friends, family, and people you work with. It all helps.

These days you don’t need Netflix or any other kind of entertainment service. The news is more than enough. Hollywood doesn’t write scripts this out there.

Since Trump entered politics the term “fake news” is now commonplace. We used to trust certain things in life. I trust the doctor. The pilot flying the plane. The news company reporting on current events. I trust the chef at the restaurant. I trust the teachers looking after the Bunster at kindergarten. We used to trust a lot of people. But in today’s world of crazy conspiracy theories and deranged politicians, we have all become less trusting.

Imagine if I did not like what the doctor told me and started shouting “Fake doctor”. This is what is happening with the media. Yes, the media is often way too opinionated. Their purpose is to report the news. And so many journalists have become famous with big online followings, that they seem to be bigger than the actual news. But that does not mean they are making up facts and figures.

It is a calm, quiet night in Kyiv. I imagine most people are fast asleep. I didn’t sleep much. Yesterday was a stressful and intense day of work and I was over tired and over wired. I have been up for a few hours. At 9:30 am I will leave the Nest to go to a meeting. Another busy day ahead. And yes, life goes on, bombs and all. But it is anything but normal.

The night before was the opposite of a calm and quiet night. Reading the local news updates, the Wednesday attack was one of the biggest yet on Ukraine’s capital, and it lasted 10 hours. I was in the basement shelter until the sun came up and then went to bed at 5 am and woke up two hours later, and started to work. It was a long, busy day yesterday.

The attack on Wednesday night was hundreds of Shahed drones and there were also a bunch of ballistic missiles. It is all insane, and everyone is so exhausted. The thing about these killer drones is that they are not like the size of toy drones like you see in the shops. The Shahed is huge. When one of these things get knocked out of the sky you don’t want to be down below. The falling debris can be lethal.

How can this be happening in this modern world?! It is pure evil. Ukraine will survive and thrive one day. But there is a lot more pain still to come. The attacks on Kyiv are getting bigger and more frequent. Please God this insane war comes to an end. It will, but not anytime soon.

I am on route to Kyiv. What used to be a 3 hour flight just a few years ago is now a 26 hour journey.

I am going “home” for a couple of weeks. I was in Kyiv last just over 2 months ago. The war is still raging on and the attacks on Kyiv, and other Ukrainian cities, have intensified. I know I will be spending many nights not sleeping. I am not unfamiliar with spending nights in a bomb shelter, but the scale of the recent attacks sounds truly terrifying. From all our friends and family in Kyiv we get updates when the strikes happen and we get the air raid siren alert on our phones, so we are always in the loop. But again, the scale of the attacks have increased and the bombardment from Thursday night last week was the biggest one yet. I am not scared. But I am a bit anxious.

My luggage is always packed full when I travel to Ukraine, and when I leave Kyiv my luggage is pretty light. There is a reason for this. I am putting stuff in our home. Books, Bunster things we want to keep (that he has outgrown), and other bits and pieces. I know it may sound a bit crazy, but Kyiv is the place I call home. Of course, nothing is simple or easy now and I know it is going to be stressful being at home.

Everyone in Kyiv, and throughout Ukraine, is exhausted. And the war has no end in sight. So much has changed over the past 3 years and so much is still changing. I was going to share some thoughts around this from my last visit home but I am still thinking about everything. The mood in the past month has shifted again, as the intensity and frequency of the attacks on Ukraine’s capital have increased. Russia’s evil knows no limits and Putin will not stop, unless he is stopped. And of course, Donald Trump is not making things any easier. It is all so unfair and tragic. It is a tragedy not just for Ukraine (although Ukrainians are suffering and are traumatized) but for the whole world. And if you think that this war cannot develop further and spread, then you are dreaming (as I once was).

I have a lot to do in Kyiv, and if all goes according to our work schedule then next month we will go live with our film series project “Kyiv of Mine”. We will launch it on YouTube around Ukraine’s Independence Day. We are all hoping this storytelling adventure makes a difference.

We told the Bunster yesterday that I was going to Kyiv. He knows he is from Ukraine but he doesn’t understand where I am heading. Thank God. But he did cry a few times during the day and said that he is going to miss daddy. When I put him to bed last night he sounded sad. I promised him I will be back soon. Marta and the Bunster need me. And I need them.

Most people we know in Kyiv used to sometimes be a bit casual when the air raid sirens went off but not recently. The scale of the attacks and the evilness of it all, has gone up. I know I will be spending many long nights not sleeping, in the shelter. I know I have to have my “go bag” (passport, phone, laptop, wallet, power bank, bottle of water) ready and I will not mess around.

I am currently in Poland. The journey started in the small hours this morning. If all goes according to plan I should get to Kyiv around 10 am tomorrow.

Marta and I often wonder if the Bunster will ever get to know the place he is from. I have faith. I believe he will. He spent the first year and a half of his life at home in Kyiv but of course he doesn’t remember. And he doesn’t know about the evil in the world. Thank God.

Some of the best memories of my life are in Kyiv. It is a soulful, magical place. I hope the Bun man gets to experience all of this one day. I hope this evil war ends this year.