The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak

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He was killed in combat, while she was pregnant
Watching the young wife grieve at his funeral last week, knowing he would never meet their unborn child, was one of the hardest things I have seen in…
 • 
Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova
4
Ukraine’s war-tested firefighters share advice with L.A.’s
Few firefighters have the practice that Ukraine’s finest do: here’s what they’ve learned. Fires exacerbated by climate change are a global problem, one…
 • 
Zoriana Semenovych
, 
Alina Tvardovska
, 
Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko
, and 
Yelyzaveta Yefimenko
17
Green energy as a force against Russian shelling
Amid regular Russian energy terror, people are pinning their hopes on green power. As does 80-year-old Oleksandr, who saves his neighbors during…
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Mariana Lastovyria
18
The hypocrisy of China’s Russian border disputes
China demands control of Taiwan, but ignores former territory in Russian hands. Through the eyes of a Taiwanese citizen who lived in Vladivostok, we dig…
 • 
Elaine Lin
 and 
Yelyzaveta Yefimenko
5
Blind dating for Ukrainian vets in wartime
The Ukrainian version of ‘The Bachelor’ illustrates how dating preferences have have shifted during the war. Now patriotism, military service, and…
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Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova
, 
Yelyzaveta Yefimenko
, and 
Mariana Lastovyria
9
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The First Substack Dedicated Exclusively to War Correspondence
 • Tim Mak
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We will not yield.
 • Tim Mak
25
The epic battle that saved Kyiv from Russian occupation
 • Tim Mak
14
The grave of Ukraine’s first F-16 pilot killed in action
 • Alessandra Hay, Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko, Tim Mak, Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova, and Oleksandr Matviienko
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Returning to ‘normal life’ after Russian captivity
Human rights activist Maksym, whose detention we covered in 2023, returned home in October as part of a new POW exchange. But it isn’t always easy for…
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Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova
8
A horrific year for Putin
2024 was a nightmare for the dictator. Here's hoping to worse for him in 2025.
 • 
Tim Mak
19
Violent night, holy night
On Christmas Eve we went to a frontline medical stabilization point taking in soldiers from the Donetsk direction. Neither us nor the medics felt like…
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Tim Mak
 and 
Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko
15
Ukrainian farm animal sounds!
I recently discovered that Ukrainians make farm animal sounds differently than we do in English. So we put together this video for you to wish you Merry…
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Tim Mak
26
Yaroslav's third Christmas in captivity
This is a story about holding on when your son has been in captivity for three years. And about a warrior who heroically defended Ukraine and now, in…
 • 
Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova
, 
Tim Mak
, and 
William Glover Weiss
15
NEWSFLASH: Christmas terror in central Kyiv
As the world prepares for Christmas, Ukrainian rescuers are working at this hour to save lives in the Kyiv. The Counteroffensive visited the scene of…
 • 
Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova
, 
Zoriana Semenovych
, 
Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko
, and 
Tim Mak
21
Ukraine’s unique fortune-telling traditions
St. Andrew's Day traditions like boot-throwing and wax divination offer glimpses into love, careers, and the future. For Yelyzaveta, these rituals bring…
 • 
Yelyzaveta Yefimenko
5
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