--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- Noelle King: Support for this show comes from ServiceNow. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into, don't you know? That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 use the ServiceNow AI platform. Didn't know that. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data, workflows, and AI, connecting every corner of your business. And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters most. I've never met an AI agent. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at ServiceNow.com.
--:-- Noelle King: We all have moments where we could have done better, like cutting your own hair. Oh, yikes. Or forgetting sunscreen so now you look like a tomato. Ouch. Could have done better. Same goes for where you invest. Level up and invest smarter with Schwab. Get market insights, education, and human help when you need it. Learn more at Schwab.com.
--:-- Noelle King: It's Today Explained. I'm Noelle King. Russia has invaded Ukraine by land, air, and sea from the north, south, and east. Russian troops are making for the capital, Kiev. This invasion was maybe just as much doubted as it was feared. Now it's a reality. Today on the show, we're going to hear from Ukrainians about what they've been experiencing over the last day.
--:-- Afim Shapiro: (translating) I'm going to translate for Kuri Vasil.
--:-- Kuri Vasil: (through Afim Shapiro) My full name is Kuri Vasil. And I'm in the town of Lviv, in Ukraine.
--:-- Afim Shapiro: (translating) He's in the town of Lviv, in Ukraine.
--:-- Noelle King: Is that in the north or the south of the country?
--:-- Afim Shapiro: (translating) Kuri Vasil told me to hold on a second. Let me call my niece, Yulia.
--:-- Afim Shapiro: (translating) Yulia Lopushainska is on the line.
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: Hi.
--:-- Noelle King: Hi Yulia. My uncle and I, we live here in the western Ukraine, and here are no Russian troops, well, yet, and they are on the eastern side of Ukraine.
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: Are you doing anything to prepare right now for an invasion if Russian troops do reach you?
--:-- Noelle King: He refuses to answer this question because he hopes that they will not invade the whole territory of Ukraine. He doesn't even want to engage with the question.
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: We believe in our army and they will not let Russian troops invade to the full scale our country.
--:-- Noelle King: Yulia, I understand what your uncle is saying, but are you doing anything to prepare or do you also have complete faith in the Ukrainian military?
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: Well, I think the same way my uncle thinks. But frankly, my family and I, we have all our documents ready if it happens to leave. We do not want to do that. We are home now. We do not want to do that. We try to stay safe and calm, especially calm.
--:-- Noelle King: Does anything look different in your city today? Are there more people out on the streets? Are there more soldiers out on the streets? Or does everything look normal?
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: In general, all Ukrainians are calm. The people who live in big cities have taken their children to small places, smaller villages. But in general, the situation is calm here, and people are ready to protect their territory, their country.
--:-- Noelle King: In what way are you prepared to protect yourselves? Do you have guns in the house? Do you have food supplies? How are you ready?
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: For now, we have no food supply, because everything is in the stores. We are not in panic. But like most of the Ukrainian men, they are ready to take the guns into their hands and protect the territory.
--:-- Noelle King: Okay. Nobody is thinking about leaving or stepping back. A big amount of Ukrainians do not wait for the science. They leave their houses and they go to the eastern part of Ukraine to support and help and protect.
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of your country. What do you think of him?
--:-- Noelle King: He thinks that Vladimir Putin is crazy. His actions are illogical. It's even difficult to think about his actions. His soul is full of the devil.
--:-- Afim Shapiro: (translating) And his wife is praying for him.
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: We all pray for him to change. We are a peaceful nation. Ukraine is a peaceful nation, people who do not want to fight or do not want the war.
--:-- Noelle King: How do you feel today about being Ukrainian?
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: I feel proud to be Ukrainian. Sometimes I start crying, and it's a lot of questions popped in my head. Why? For what? Why has it happened? Why is it happening right now? And especially when people all over the world, even from the United States, from Europe, when people write to me and they know what is happening. And I feel proud. I feel really proud for my country. I feel proud for my army because people are ready to protect. People are ready to stand.
--:-- Noelle King: And how does your uncle feel about being Ukrainian right now?
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: Very proud. For now, it is the only nation. There are no more nations in the whole world which stand with the gun against the Russian Federation.
--:-- Afim Shapiro: (translating) When it happened in the United States, the 11th of September in New York, the whole world was with America. The whole world supported and prayed for America.
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: And today in Ukraine, it is not only two buildings. This is the whole city, buildings, villages, cities.
--:-- Noelle King: I hope that you and your children and your uncle and the rest of your family are all safe.
--:-- Yulia Lopushainska: Thank you for the conversation. We wanted to be on the phone with you. If you're going to continue to chat, if it will continue to continue. If you're going to live.
--:-- Afim Shapiro: (translating) My uncle says, sure, if we are still alive.
--:-- Noelle King: Mr. Vasile. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And glory to Ukraine.
--:-- Noelle King: Support for Today Explained comes from Built Rewards. These days, it seems like everybody has a rewards program. You swipe your card and you get one cent on the hundred dollars. But with your rent, frequently, you just pay month after month. You never get anything from it other than that roof over your head. Not anymore, says Built Rewards.
--:-- Noelle King: Built Rewards says it lets you earn points on your rent. By paying rent through Built, they say you can earn flexible points that can be redeemed toward hundreds of hotels and airlines, perhaps a future rent payment, your next Lyft ride, and so much more.
--:-- Noelle King: Your home isn't just where you sleep. It's your community. And Built wants you to go out and do things in the community. You can eat at your favorite local restaurants, then earn more points. You can get VIP treatment at certain fitness studios. You can enjoy exclusive experiences just for Built members every month.
--:-- Noelle King: When you're ready to travel, they say Built Points can be converted to miles or hotel points all around the world. You can earn points on rent and around your neighborhood wherever you call home by joining Bilt slash Explained. That's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T dot com slash Explained.
--:-- Noelle King: It's time to get unstuck. It's time for strawberry.me. They match you with a certified career coach who helps you go from where you are to where you actually want to be.
--:-- Noelle King: After we got off the phone with Yulia and Kuri, we called Igor Kosov. He's a reporter at the Kiev Independent.
--:-- Igor Kosov: I had to stop by my apartment. But I was earlier taking shelter in a subway station because there was a threat, a credible threat of possible bombing of Kiev.
--:-- Noelle King: What did it look like in the subway station?
--:-- Igor Kosov: People sitting around in winter clothes, some with kids, some with pets, just trying to do their best to stay upbeat, stay calm.
--:-- Noelle King: How long were you there for?
--:-- Igor Kosov: I was there for a couple of hours. I might go back there depending on the situation.
--:-- Noelle King: Um, everything's moving really fast. So we might have to make choices very quickly if we're going to leave the city or, um, what are we going to do?
--:-- Igor Kosov: Igor, is there any bombing or any offensive type action in Kiev right now?
--:-- Noelle King: There were explosions in Kyiv. There were military infrastructure assets that had been attacked, possibly by missiles.
--:-- Igor Kosov: My friend in the outer Kyiv city woke up to an explosion and a plume of smoke, 15 miles from – kilometers or miles, I forgot.
--:-- Noelle King: There was a fierce battle over the Hostomel airfield that Russia dropped its airborne troops on top of it and attacked it with attack helicopters.
--:-- Igor Kosov: Ukrainian troops brought down a few of them. And we have information that Russian forces are streaming across the Chernobyl exclusion zone and having captured the power plant.
--:-- Noelle King: And we have news that multiple IL-76 transport planes full of airborne troops are on the way to Kiev, possibly, to try to behead the government.
--:-- Igor Kosov: Well, that's a funny question. I mean, obviously, I'm afraid that there's dread in my gut, just like there's dread in everybody's gut.
--:-- Noelle King: But I'm just trying to do my best to stay sane and focused and rational.
--:-- Igor Kosov: Okay. What's your understanding, Igor, of how this invasion started earlier this morning?
--:-- Noelle King: Russia attacked from many places at once. That's why it spent months encircling Ukraine and building up on all sides.
--:-- Igor Kosov: They struck from the sea. They struck from Crimea. They struck from occupied Donetsk and Luhansk. They struck from the north, Tsumiyot-Sumi. They struck from Belarus.
--:-- Noelle King: Yeah, they were preparing for this. While it's not a surprise that they struck from all directions, because we've seen them move into position to do exactly that, many were surprised that Russia did in fact proceed with a full-scale invasion, because many thought that an invasion of this scale was less likely than continued saber-rattling, hybrid warfare, and regional attacks.
--:-- Igor Kosov: You said that Russian forces are advancing toward Ukraine. That's the information you have to behead the government. What do you think Russia's objective here is? Do you think they want to overthrow Volodymyr Zelensky?
--:-- Noelle King: I think they want to possibly install a puppet regime. And I don't know how long they plan to occupy Ukraine for.
--:-- Igor Kosov: I do think that they want to change the government in Kyiv and install, like I said, a puppet so they could have control over it.
--:-- Noelle King: I don't know how successful that's going to be. Trainings are pretty united. There's lots of people have weapons. There are territorial defense units that train small unit tactics.
--:-- Igor Kosov: And just the hatred, just the sheer evil that's – Russians are going to have a bad time, I think, right?
--:-- Noelle King: But if they stay and try to occupy, like I said to another outlet just now, behind every blade of grass there's going to be a gun barrel, behind every tree there's going to be a javelin, behind every corner there's going to be a knife in the back.
--:-- Igor Kosov: But at the same time this also means possibly hundreds of well tens of thousands of lives Ukrainian lives that might be lost during this bloody resistance.
--:-- Noelle King: So I don't know how many Ukrainian service members died. It seems like the fighting in multiple cities were fierce. I'm sure that many gave their lives.
--:-- Igor Kosov: And just thinking about that is very upsetting to me.
--:-- Noelle King: Vladimir Putin has promised not to target civilians. Is there any credible information that Russian forces are attempting to avoid civilian casualties?
--:-- Igor Kosov: Dozens of civilians have been killed. Rockets slammed into civilian buildings. A child died in that building due to the rockets.
--:-- Noelle King: There were multiple civilian casualties in multiple cities. And recently, Health Minister Yashko, Viktor Yashko, said that Russia is deliberately attacking hospitals.
--:-- Igor Kosov: I haven't seen an independent verification on that, but he's known as a trustworthy man, a trustworthy official.
--:-- Noelle King: And yeah, he says that Russia is attacking hospitals, which is a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions.
--:-- Igor Kosov: It's just after 7.30 in Ukraine in the evening right now. Do I have that right?
--:-- Igor Kosov: Okay. So the sun has set on this day. How right now are ordinary Ukrainians responding? Are people fleeing?
--:-- Noelle King: Yeah, many have fled throughout the day. There was a big line of cars out of Kiev going out. Some have elected not to leave yet.
--:-- Igor Kosov: My landlord says that once the artillery starts coming down, then he's going to leave and he's going to bug out with his parents and his kids.
--:-- Noelle King: So some have decided to stay and fight. There was a general call for everyone who can hold a weapon to come out and fight. So many many many men many women are going to their local recruitment offices to pick up a weapon and possibly die.
--:-- Igor Kosov: Some people are just staying at put and seeing what happens. There's a bunch of different strategies that the Kiev residents are employing.
--:-- Noelle King: Everyone that I've seen so far, I haven't seen any panic, just determination, you know, edginess, and really desire to do the best, make the best out of the situation.
--:-- Igor Kosov: I wonder what you think about the international community's response so far. Could the United States and the European Union be doing more?
--:-- Noelle King: Of course they can be doing more. They should be doing everything they can to, I mean, obviously, I know that NATO troops won't come into Ukraine, which is upsetting, but I understand that they don't want to fight Russia and cause a geopolitical crisis that might do a nuclear.
--:-- Igor Kosov: But we want you to do more, more quickly, so that we can stop this mad invasion as quickly as possible. So the fewest possible people are killed and the least possible damage is done.
--:-- Noelle King: Igor, do you believe there's any hope for diplomacy at this point?
--:-- Igor Kosov: No, no. Russia is, with its actions, what do you mean between Russia and... Between Russia and Ukraine, if Germany were to get involved, if France were to get involved...
--:-- Noelle King: Russia has shown that it's a permanently hostile state. Ukraine is now, will never forgive. Ukraine is now also now permanently hostile to Russia.
--:-- Igor Kosov: Germany and France, I'm sorry, but they have no spinal cord. They've shown themselves to be spineless appeasers, and they're completely useless.
--:-- Noelle King: And there's nothing anyone can do with diplomacy anymore. Putin doesn't care. He's shown that we're past diplomacy at this point.
--:-- Igor Kosov: What I've heard from Ukrainians throughout the day is we don't think the rest of the world is coming to save us. We're going to have to save ourselves.
--:-- Noelle King: It sounds like you agree.
--:-- Igor Kosov: Yeah, I do. I mean, I hope the sanctions sort of have some kind of effect, but nobody's coming. I mean, Ukrainians are very grateful for the weapons. They're already being used to destroy Russian tanks and helicopters and planes and stuff.
--:-- Noelle King: So everybody is very grateful for their weapons, and sanctions would also be good.
--:-- Igor Kosov: But that's right. Nobody's coming to save them. We're just going to have to live or die on our own.
--:-- [Theme music starts playing]
--:-- Noelle King: Today's show was produced by Will Reed and Victoria Chamberlain. It was edited by Matthew Collette and Sean Rameswaram. Engineered and partially translated by Afim Shapiro and fact-checked by Laura Bullard. I'm Noelle King. This is Today Explained.
--:-- [Theme music continues to play]
--:-- Noelle King: Support for this show comes from Macy's. Fall is right around the corner, and that means layering season is too. Macy's Fall Fashion Guide can help you get a pulse on all the latest trends and must-haves.
--:-- [Theme music fades out]
