Catarina Buchatskiy
@catbuchatskiy
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helping Ukraine win. natsec and deftech, amongst other things 🪖prev @Stanford
Kyiv, Ukraine
Joined January 2022
Couldn’t have asked for a better welcome in Poland. The cab driver didn’t charge us after finding out we were Ukrainian. Ukrainian flags flying everywhere I look. Makes this feel a little less lonely. Thank you.
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My uncle Mykola died fighting in Kherson. Thinking of him today. I wish he lived to see this day and raise our flag over the city center. But Kherson is ours thanks to his sacrifice. Everything will be Ukraine. We’ll finish the job. Eternal memory to our heroes. ❤️‍🩹🕯
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I just met a Russian who overheard me speaking Ukrainian and approached me. He left Russia after the war, so this is one of the “woke” Russians. Yet even though he opposes the war, the lack of empathy for Ukrainians and general lack of initiative to end the war is shocking.
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“Russians can’t travel anywhere because of sanctions,” — but you know where they CAN go? Home. Meanwhile, the whole world is open for Ukrainians. But I would trade any destination in the world to just be able to go home.
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I left life at @Stanford behind this morning. My life, along with the lives of millions of Ukrainians, changed forever last week. As I head to Krakow to start my next journey, my sweatshirt represents a last goodbye to the life I had before the war.
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I'm a simple person. I see something on fire in Russia/Russian-occupied territory. I press like.
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This is Russian history in a nutshell. Always waiting for the people at the top to make a change. Never strong enough to take their fate into their own hands. The difference between our two cultures has never been clearer.
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And this is why Russia has always lived under autocracies and this is why removing Putin from power isn’t going to be the end of it. The Russian people need to step up and learn to care, not only about what happens to other people but even about what happens to their own country.
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I said — “You’re joking, right? You realize we have it worse in literally every other way?” . “No, no of course I understand. I’m just saying.” . Not an apology, not an ounce of empathy. Equating the genocide occurring in our country to him not being able to use his cards.
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Happy birthday to my mom, who despite being Brazilian, taught me to love Ukraine, and to fight for it. On her birthday years ago, Maidan was just beginning. She took me with her despite my complaints that it was freezing out. She said I would thank her later. Thank you, mom.
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I started crying as we approached the Ukrainian border. My truck driver turned to me and said — “going home?”. I nodded. No words necessary. Going home.
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“Say паляниця,” my cab driver joked after I told him I was also Ukrainian. Паляниця is a Ukrainian word that Russians notoriously mispronounce. It’s now a code word for Ukrainians to identify each other & preserve our distinct culture. Small acts of resistance.
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I will never understand this level of apathy not only towards what your country and your people are doing to other people, but this level of apathy towards your own future! . In Ukraine, if we want something to change, we do it ourselves.
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“I mean, we aren’t allowed to. If we do, you know, we could get called in by our bosses and be strongly condemned, or worse,” he said. Strongly condemned. They are allowing a genocide to happen because they’re afraid of a stern talking to at work.
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“A lot of Russians don’t support this war. But we’re not allowed to talk about it. Everywhere they tell you not to talk about it,” he said. “So you follow orders from a poster board? You don’t speak out just because they told you not to? That’s pretty pathetic.” I said.
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“You know, in 2014 more than a hundred Ukrainians died protesting for what we believed was right. For our freedom. Why can’t you do the same? I don’t understand this cowardice,” I said. He changed the subject.
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So, there you have it. A “woke” Russian who doesn’t support the war in theory, but doesn’t really care enough to do anything about stopping it. He left Russia and is now waiting around for the people at the top to do something about it.
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First, he asked me how I was paying for things. I said I used a credit card or I paid in Euros. He then, and I kid you not, said — “Oh, so the situation for you guys is not that bad. I can’t use my cards anywhere and it’s really hard to get Euros with rubles.”.
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"Terror, torture, death: the Russians are here," reads a headline from the Guardian. No, not from this week. From 2001. The article is about Russian atrocities in Chechnya — which the Russian Interior Minister had described as “tough but necessary special operations.”.
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My new MLRS pen holder. That’s it. That’s the tweet.
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Hey @Apple — officially petitioning to see some new Ukrainian emojis on the emoji keyboard 👀🔥
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“I think there will be a regime change. You know, the people are against this war, but more importantly the oligarchs are starting not to like it. They’re going to start a change,” he said.
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Crying happy tears but also sad tears because I wish my uncle had lived to see the liberation of Kherson and get the hero’s welcome in the city that he deserved. I hope he’s watching and I hope he knows we’ve finished the job….
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Happy International Women’s Day. What I really want? A bouquet of sunflowers to place on Putin’s grave.
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They were not punished for Chechnya, Georgia, Crimea & Donbas, Syria, and countless other instances of their consistent brutality. They won’t stop until someone stops them. And Ukraine will. And not only will they LOSE, badly, but they’ll know it, too. We’ll make sure of it.
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My little brother graduated high school today. He’s starting architecture school in the fall, and will be back to rebuild Ukraine very soon. :)
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A text between a friend and I, August 2021. A few days ago, he texted me again. “You were right,” he said. I love you deeply, Kyiv. Always have, always will. If there’s any good coming out of this — it’s that the rest of the world is starting to feel your magic, too.
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Some things running through my head as I packed yesterday:. “Is my bright red backpack going to make me a target? Should I get a new one?”. “What shoes are best for running in, in case I need to sprint to shelter?”. Things I thought I’d never have to think about.
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wearing an aggressive amount of tridents today as usual
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Ordered McDonald’s for dinner today, with a side of sweet and sour sauce and Russian tears. No fries for the fascists tonight :).
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Goodnight, Kraków. In a few hours, I’ll be getting on a train to take my first trip to the Polish-Ukrainian border. Seeing Ukrainian land for the first time since the war began is going to be an emotional experience.
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This might be a hot take, but — a degree in Russian studies doesn't make you qualified to speak on Ukraine. IMO, it's quite the opposite, actually. How many of the classes in your Russian Studies degree were specifically about Ukraine and it's distinct history, if any?.
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Being in Poland has been a roller coaster. There are hours where I’m sitting with my Ukrainian friends, working, helping, feeling motivated with the changes we are making. Then an hour later another bomb will drop and everything we do feels very small.
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I’ve said this before, mostly in private, but I’ll say this here publicly for the record. The Russian Federation won’t survive this. We are going to see the end of modern day Russia — the Russia whose identity was built on the backs of its colonies.
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oh my god.little by little .i’ll make my way all the way back home.
This is it. Russian forces are not present in Kyiv Oblast anymore.
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“You want to know what war is?” my cousin said. “It’s simple. It’s when you’re sleeping quietly in your apartment, peacefully, living your life not bothering anyone, and then one day at 4:00 in the morning bombs start raining down on you. That’s what war is. Simple.”.
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Hey @MuseumModernArt — question. How is an artist that was born in Kyiv, to Polish and Ukrainian parents, raised in various different parts of Ukraine, cites Ukrainian art as his first inspiration, and extensively wrote about his Ukrainian identity in his diaries. RUSSIAN. ?
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Anti-war protest in New York, 1941. Look familiar?
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1. More Russians want this war than Westerners would like to admit. 2. Russia has been oppressing, colonizing, attacking Ukraine for centuries before Putin was in power. Removing Putin is only the first step. The problem is deeper than that.
@catbuchatskiy It is not Russia that is the problem, most are not wanting this war, many are afraid to speak, many have spoken. Removing Putin will change Russia, also removing all his people will make Russia Great, make Ukraine Great and give peace to the World.
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1 month. 8 years. 4 centuries. Ukraine has not yet perished.
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Estonia was the first country in the world to recognize the Holodomor as genocide, in 1993. Now, 29 years later, it’s officially the first country to recognize the genocide unfolding today. History.
⚡️ Estonia becomes first country to officially recognize Russia's actions in Ukraine as genocide. The Estonian parliament approved a resolution calling Russia’s aggression and subsequent war crimes against Ukraine an act of genocide and urged other countries to do the same.
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Light will win over darkness. Especially if that light is coming from a BAP.
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I mean…how hard do you really have to look to figure that one out…?.
⚡️US Secretary of State Antony Blinken: US 'looking very hard' at whether Russians intentionally target civilians, journalists in Ukraine.
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I’m graduating from college tomorrow aaaaahhhh
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Some thoughts from my panel at @Stanford on Thursday:. 8 years ago, on Maidan I realized that sovereignty, independence, and freedom are not abstract philosophical concepts, but rather made up of a million decisions that we as individuals make every day.
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Oh and by the way, not ONCE during our conversation did he offer any sort of apology or empathetic words. Not even a single “I’m sorry this is happening,” or “I’m sorry that you’re going through this,” nothing.
I just met a Russian who overheard me speaking Ukrainian and approached me. He left Russia after the war, so this is one of the “woke” Russians. Yet even though he opposes the war, the lack of empathy for Ukrainians and general lack of initiative to end the war is shocking.
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Thank you, @McFaul. I still remember what you told me at Stanford just about a week before I left for Poland, and have shared the words with my friends here to help us keep things in perspective. We will continue to give everything we’ve got to Ukraine. Вперед!.
Fantastic piece from @Stanford student @catbuchatskiy! Read her. Follow her. She stopped out of Stanford to help fight for Ukraine from Krakow.
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Sound familiar? It should. This is the Russian playbook. The world has known what they are capable of. The world has seen them do it before.
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Thinking of where I was 9 years ago — on Maidan, distributing cupcakes with the EU flag on them. So hopeful. I could’ve never imagined what it would take for us to get EU candidate status, and the price we would pay. So, so close…🇪🇺❤️.
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First full day. Exhaustion is creeping in. I’ve been working since 7:00 AM. Might be time to lay down for a nap, but sleeping comes with immense anxiety. What if I miss something big? Or someone needs help? How can I even think about sleeping, when there’s so much to do?.
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Haven’t eaten all day because I’m visiting my Ukrainian grandparents. I am so excited to eat SO much food.
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An hour into the mostly silent drive into Ukraine, my truck driver leaned over, switched off the radio, turned to me, and said — . “We’re all sick of this already.”.“Of the war?”.“Yeah. We’re sick of it. We just want to go home.”. Then he turned the radio back on and we drove.
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There’s something so cruel about the fact that the six month anniversary of the invasion will fall on Ukrainian Independence Day this year.
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This was an organized and deliberate operation. It's a military-wide policy — tried and tested for more than two decades. There was no Putin in Bucha.
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Ukrainian men were singled out and killed in an organized fashion. Several of them were found with their hands tied, summarily executed. A massacre of this scale is not the sporadic violent act of a rogue soldier.
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And yes, even at leading Western academic institutions like @Stanford, I’ve encountered professors teaching Russian propaganda and perpetuating Russian historical revisionism. I had to drop a class earlier this year for that exact reason, actually.
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During the Second Chechen War, "zachistkas" — meaning sweeps, or cleaning out — became a signature tactic of the Russian military's "peacekeeping operations." . We are undoubtedly seeing the same purges carried out in the liberated regions of Kyiv.
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What are the best places to get some Ukrainian food in KrakĂłw? Craving a taste of home.
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“Even when I’m in Krakow, and I know I’m safe, I still get scared,” said my cousin, who fled to Poland from Kyiv. “Walking around the city and hearing all the noises, the trains, the cars, it just sounds like tanks and soldiers and I’m afraid they’re coming for me.”.
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Today would’ve been my first day of spring quarter classes at Stanford. But I guess there’s no better way to study international security than this….
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Been working on something super cool on Shadows. We have contributors writing about all sorts of things, from the Ukrainian modernist movement to folk music, and would love more people to join us and bring the encyclopedia to life! Contact us if you want to help.
Calling upon Ukrainian historians, cultural workers, museums, experts, and more — Shadows is creating an interactive, digital Ukrainian cultural encyclopedia, and we would love your help! . If you're passionate about Ukrainian culture and want to contribute, contact us! 🇺🇦📚.
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Had a conversation today about how Ukraine should negotiate with Russia. “You have to find a way to make them walk away THINKING they won, even though they didn’t,” to save the Russians’ fragile ego. Seriously? Why are we still entertaining this thinking in the slightest?.
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A lot of the world has been shocked at the civilian response to the Russian invasion. But I'm not shocked at all, whether it’s a Ukrainian farmer stealing a tank or Konotop witches cursing the occupants. Each and every one of us is in this fight.
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our beautiful and resilient railway system!! forever grateful for our trains, our lifeline during the war and the fastest way i can get home these days
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“The world’s second most powerful military” vs. one big projector. Place your bets.
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How many more "notable operations" will be added to the list of Russian zachistkas?. I fear this is only the beginning of Ukraine's features on this page.
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I deeply wish that our first Oscar could be celebrating a beautiful film about Ukrainian happiness, or love…. It pains me that this is the Ukraine the world has to see, but that’s our reality for now, and the world must not look away. Thank you for remembering Mariupol.
“This is the first Oscar in Ukrainian history, And I’m honored,” said the Oscar-winning director of "20 Days in Mariupol. "But probably I will be the first director on this stage who will say I wish I had never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never
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I can't believe I just saw the war described as a "fratricidal war" today in the New York Times. Really? STILL?.
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It’s time to talk about this part of the Russian war on Ukraine. The erasure of Ukraine in every sense of the word — political, territorial, cultural, historical.
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Estonia officially recognizes Russia’s actions in Ukraine as genocide.
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Several genocides later and we’re still pushing the “brotherly nations” narrative, @NYTimesCohen?.
I can't believe I just saw the war described as a "fratricidal war" today in the New York Times. Really? STILL?.
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Small update — in January, I returned to Stanford after being away working for 10 months (!) But the war hadn't ended, so my work hadn't stopped. Balancing my regular studies + the war effort was a tough adjustment, but I finished up the year. Now officially a Stanford senior :)
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The bombing of the Drama Theatre in Mariupol is not only a horrific attack on Ukrainian civilians, but also a symbolic one. An abridged history of Ukrainian theater, and how it became one of the primary platforms of the Ukrainian national movement in the 19th century. 🧵.
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Movie night at the Russian press office in Washington D.C. Not a minute of peace and quiet for the orcs.
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*This is not a hot take for anyone in Ukraine. Yet, I've been shocked at how many people in the West have been cited as experts on Ukraine because of a Russian studies degree. Understanding Russia does not equate to understanding Ukraine, and assuming so is imperialism in action.
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8 years ago, Putin challenged our personal conviction to being Ukrainian. And every day since, and especially this past week, each Ukrainian has been performing their own acts of resistance to prove him wrong.
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Even though I’ve told the story of what I was doing that day a thousand times, reliving it doesn’t get any easier. February 24th, 2022. The day it began. Episode 1.
On Feb. 24, millions of Ukrainians woke up to the sounds of explosions, as Russia began its full-scale attack on Ukraine, including its capital, Kyiv. In episode 1 of our new podcast, “Did the War End?” the hosts look back at the start of Russia's war three months into it.
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More Ukrainian civilians have been killed than soldiers since the war started. So, I’ll ask again — who is this war really on, and what is it really about?.
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They walked away from World War 2 managing to paint themselves as noble heroes who defeated fascism, brushing under the rug the horrors committed by Stalin’s regime and never truly repenting that part of their history.
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Not only are our allies watching to see whether they can rely on the United States as a defender of democracy, but our adversaries are watching to see how long it will take for America to abandon the fight. Do. Not. Stop. Building. Do. Not. Stop. Fighting.
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My dad, in classic Ukrainian fashion, was hounding me for not turning off the lights before I left my room. “We don’t let Putin earn extra money off of energy in this household!” . I haven’t turned the lights off so fast in 10 years of being nagged about this.
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My dad asked if I wanted to add dill to my salad. I thought to myself — “well, not really, but dill reminds me of home, so maybe…”. As though he read my mind, my dad goes — “just add a little bit. for a taste of Ukraine.” . We’re all just trying to get home one way or another.
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It’s been 4 months since the full-scale war began. Not that many people check in anymore. For non-Ukrainians, life goes on…. It’s still hard.
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Having a very normal conversation with my mother, answering her usual questions — “did you sleep okay? what’d you eat today? what’s the weather like?” — in between absolutely unusual questions like “do you know where to go if you hear a siren? where’s the nearest bomb shelter?”.
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Before the war began, when discussing potential outcomes, I would always tell my friends — “don’t underestimate the strength of Ukrainians.” . Ukrainian national spirit continues to prove political analysts and theorists wrong at every turn.
A thought – I always believed that economics come before ideology. You can’t force patriotism on someone if they can’t feed their family. Yet look at Kherson – one of the least developed cities in the country, fighting like hell for democratic and free Ukraine.
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The mantra that my friends and I keep repeating: . We will get some rest on our vacation in a free, Ukrainian Crimea when this is all over.
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Shoutout to @benjaminwittes for letting me make requests such as “can I borrow your 3D printer to make myself mini models of artillery systems to use as pen holders?” . And if you want to 3D print your own — here’s the link! .
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“Ukraine is my home. Every street, corner, alleyway, nook and cranny all over the country have made me what I am today. If all of that is lost — I have no idea who I’ll be.”.
OPINION: Generations of Ukrainians have answered the call to step up and fight for their country throughout the centuries — and it’s now my time. Here's why I left Stanford to fight:
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I've gotten several comments on my pages recently by Russians claiming that "Ukraine only appeared on maps in 1918" and therefore did not exist before then. Even if that were true, I'm not sure it justifies a genocide. Regardless, it's not. A thread about Ukraine and maps.
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A reminder that Malevich described himself as Ukrainian. Museums should too.
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I met my cousin for coffee today. He’s from Odesa, but was in Kyiv at the time of the invasion. He managed to get to Poland. This is someone from Odesa — known for their boisterous humor, energy, and liveliness. I see none of that in him anymore. He hardly cracks a smile.
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I remember when Russia accused Ukraine of committing genocide as a pretext for this invasion…. Listen carefully to what they accuse others of doing. Every Russian accusation is really a confession.
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I just finished my first week at @AEIfdp! Can’t wait to spend the rest of my summer researching all things Ukraine, grayzone threats, hybrid warfare, and more. But most importantly — can’t wait to go back to Kyiv in September and bring everything I’ve learned. :)
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A comment left by an editor on Russian Wikipedia's page on the Bucha Massacre, translated from Russian. On the "accusations" against the Russians: . "Let's say 1,000 bodies were found, but this number includes those who died of natural causes. " . Russian Wiki Diving 🧵below.
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Enjoy this bingo card of the things I see most frequently on my Twitter timeline about the war. If you're on war Twitter (which, if you're following me, you probably are) lmk how long it takes you to scroll through your TL and get a bingo.
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