Editor’s Note: We will cover every element of the war. Ukraine is so much more than just lines on a map. We focus on the human stories to illustrate the news: culture, military, cuisine, music — that’s The Counteroffensive’s mission. Upgrade now to follow along!

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It’s a cold early spring morning in Kyiv – March 25th, 2024. 

At 10:25 a.m. two women enter Maria's cafe and order coffee. Maria is making espresso when she hears the first explosion. 

Later, the air raid siren goes off. Maria decides to finish her coffee and move to a safer place. 

But she doesn't have time...

At 10:29 a.m. there is another terrible explosion. A window in the café is blown out and shards fall on her. Maria immediately crouched down and covered her head with her hands. The only thing that saves her from the broken glass is that she was wearing a thick, warm hoodie. 

She did the only thing she knew to do: She stood behind the bar and started making coffee again. 

Video showing the moment of explosion:

Coffee culture in Ukraine is more than just a habit.

In times of political change, coffee has become a symbol of resilience and unity: from discussions about the country's future in coffee shops during the Revolution of Dignity to mobile coffee shops on the front lines. 

The rapid growth of coffee shops, artisan roasters and local brands reflects the country's openness to new ideas and its desire to develop even in difficult times.

Coffee was first brought to Ukraine through Lviv at the end of the 18th century, then a major trading city in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Lviv's coffee shops were among the first in Europe, paving the way for coffee to spread throughout modern Ukraine. The first independent coffee shop opened in Lviv in 1829. It was called the  ‘Vienna’ coffee shop. 

After the Second World War and during the Soviet era, coffee was a more limited commodity, but remained popular, especially in the form of the powdered root of the chicory plant due to the shortage of real coffee.

With Ukraine's independence, the coffee market opened up to foreign competition and imports. Coffee culture has become more diverse with the emergence of numerous international and local coffee shops.

There are around six thousand coffee shops in Ukraine. Interestingly, during the full-scale war, the number of coffee shops in Ukraine has increased by 35 percent.

Maria Yevsstafieva came to Kyiv in 2022 after entering the university to study journalism. Almost immediately she realized that she wanted to ask her parents for less money, so she started looking for a job. Maria imagined it would be something in the catering industry. It didn't require any special skills and was easy to combine with her studies. 

So Maria found a job as a barista, but she actually had to perform the duties of a barista, a waitress, a cleaner, and a florist. She stayed there for a couple of months.

And then she practically found her dream job. She was also a barista, but at a third-wave coffee shop called the Macaco Cafe. Third-wave coffee shops are places that use high-quality beans and professional equipment to popularize coffee culture. These cafes have an individual approach to preparing drinks and offer customers alternative coffees.

"I was interested in learning what roasts are, all the different Ethiopian and Colombian roasts and how they differ, and drawing latte art," Maria said.

Like in the United States and Canada, asking someone to go for a coffee is shorthand for asking them to get together.

"It is as if everyone can choose their own coffee at home. Going somewhere and having that coffee made for you, maybe watching other people, is a kind of ritual. And it adds such stability to your life. We feel more secure when we have a routine. And it gives us so much support," said psychologist Yana Hryvchuk.

But unlike in North America, it’s common for Ukrainians to drink coffee in the evening, because Ukrainians really like the taste of coffee. They don't drink it just to wake up, but just to enjoy it. And they don't care what time it is. 

It’s also a cost-effective alternative to meet up with friends.

“We do live in a very poor country. It's cheaper to get a coffee [in the evening] than a meal at a restaurant. I guess that's the easiest explanation there can be," said Yaroslav Druzyk, the former editor in chief of The Village, a Kyiv lifestyle publication.  

Regardless of the time of day, Maria loved the job – the way she made coffee, her relationship with management, and her regular customers. 

But her particular café was hit during the Russian attack in March 2024.

There are no bomb shelters nearby, so there was a rule that if a major attack was underway, the cafe would open after the alarm. On that ominous day, everything was quiet, so Maria opened as usual.

The explosions happened very suddenly, even before the alarm was sounded. There was no time to hide. 

In just a few minutes, rescuers and paramedics arrived on the scene. At first, they did not let anyone in, not even the residents of the buildings: they were afraid that the building was in a state of disrepair and might collapse. 

Meanwhile, Maria tried to call the owners of the cafe. 

"When I finally got through to them, they were shocked and probably just teleported to the cafe. They were there within five to ten minutes," Maria said.

All of her friends and regular customers started calling and texting her. 

Maria's phone could not handle the load. 

"I went out and bought a new phone two days later," Maria recalls with a laugh. 

While clearing the rubble, one of the rescuers approached the café and asked for coffee. At first Maria and the owner, Andrii were confused, but then they remembered that the coffee shop had a coffee filter that would make 4-5 cups.   

Inside the cafe, everything was in ruins, with pieces of glass and pennies lying everywhere, which people put into a jar as a small tip. Everyone who was around began to clean up and dismantle the wreckage.

Maria was still in shock and was given a sedative.

Although the cafe itself was a mess, the equipment was intact. So Andrii decided to make coffee and give it to the people for free.

People refused the complimentary coffee, and began to pay. Soon, there were so many people that he could not keep up. 

"We have never had so many people in the coffee shop," Maria said.

So she started helping Andrii, mostly to distract herself. She worked the whole shift there, until 7 pm. 

"Andrii came to me and said: 'Go have a smoke, relax, I'll do your shift. I went outside, took an iqos [a vape-like device], it was raining a little bit. And I sat down, leaned my back against the door and just thought about what had happened. And I started to cry, because somehow I hadn't cried all this time, and I realized that it could have been very bad," Maria said with a smile on her face. 

But it was not the situation itself that shocked her the most, but the outpouring of support. 

"People I don't know, who don't know me personally, foreigners, wrote me all kinds of nice things. They sent me gifts, goodies, some cosmetics as a sign of support. I would come home with these packages. I stood in front of the dormitory and cried for half an hour because I was not expecting this," Maria said. 

Maria no longer works at the café, but she still remembers it fondly. Especially when she goes there for coffee. The coffee shop is operating as usual, and the window has already been replaced. 

Ukrainians have a special perception of coffee because of the war: it is a safe place where we can feel that we are in the life we had before the full-scale invasion. We forget ourselves and can live in the pre-war rhythm. 

Barista Maria believes that coffee drinking is fashionable in Ukraine. That's why when something new comes out, Ukrainians are quick to try it, even if it's tasteless or bitter, as is the case with filter coffee.

Yana, the psychologist, emphasizes that this may also be because Ukrainians like to be in company - while drinking coffee, they communicate, and share experiences, and this is how they alleviate their worries despite the war.  

NEWS OF THE DAY: 

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands. 

MOSCOW STRUCK BY LARGEST DRONE ATTACK TO DATE: Moscow was attacked by upwards of 34 “airplane-type" drones, reports Reuters. One person was injured and dozens of flights were diverted from three Moscow airports. 36 drones were also shot down in other parts of western Russia according to the defence ministry. In conjunction with this, Russia launched 140+ drones towards Ukraine last night, with Kyiv able to down 62 of them. 

50,000 RUSSIANS AND N. KOREANS ASSEMBLE NEAR KURSK: A recent US assessment states that Russia has amassed 50k soldiers to take back Ukrainian gains in Kursk, reports NYT. A major attack involving North Korean troops is expected in the coming days as missile strikes and artilley fire ramps up on Ukrainian positions, per Ukrainian officials. Russia has been able to slowly amass this force without drawing significant resources from other fronts. 

POLISH PM PLANS MEETINGS WITH ALLIES AFTER US ELECTION: Polish PM Donald Tusk referred to Trump's reelection as "a serious challenge for everyone" and plans new meetings with NATO, EU, and UK allies, reports Politico.

"This new political landscape is a serious challenge for everyone, especially in the context of a possible end to the Russian-Ukrainian war," Tusk said. Worries remain that a decision will be reached by the U.S. and Russian presidents without Kyiv's involvement.

CATS OF CONFLICT:

Today’s cats of conflict are two little kitties that Mariana’s neighbors are feeding up as winter approaches. 

Stay safe out there.

Best,
Myroslava

The Senate today is set to vote on a measure that, if passed, would block $20 billion worth of arms sales to the state of Israel.

The Senate vote is the first of its kind regarding weapons to Israel, according to advocates supporting the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, which were introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in September.

The JRDs are co-sponsored by Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) have subsequently endorsed them.

“Clearly what is happening in Gaza today is unspeakable, but what makes it even more painful is that much of this has been done with U.S. weapons and American taxpayer dollars,” Sanders said in a Nov. 19 press conference held with Merkley, Welch, and Van Hollen ahead of the vote.

Sanders said the U.S. could not stand by while Israel violated human rights with American made weapons including “the loss of 43,000 and rising Palestinians, many of whom are women and children and non-combatants, not at all connected to Hamas,” and “over 100,000 children and innocent bystanders who have been severely injured, including amputation.” Welch added that the Leahy Law, which makes the sale of such weapons to foreign forces that violate human rights illegal, demands they block the sale.

“Is the United States and its foreign policy — with that commitment we’ve had to Israel — forced to be blind to the suffering before our very eyes, particularly when it’s our munitions that are being used? Should we be blind to the suffering of those Palestinian women and children when top military officials in Israel themselves have said that there’s no further military purpose for continued bombing and military activity in Gaza?” asked Welch. “Our view is no.”

Sanders noted that in the last year alone, the U.S. has provided $18 billion in military aid to Israel and delivered more than 50,000 tons of military equipment. “In other words, the United States is complicit in these atrocities. That complicity must end, and that is what these resolutions are about,” Sanders stressed. “It is time to tell the Netanyahu government that they cannot use U.S. taxpayer dollars and American weapons in violation of U.S. and international law and our moral values.”

In his own statement supporting the JRDs, Van Hollen said that the United States should “pause the delivery of offensive weapons to the Netanyahu government until it complies with U.S. law and policy and until we can advance the security interests, priorities, and values of the American people.”

It is not clear how much support the measures will get from the full Senate. RS contacted the offices of 25 Democratic senators who might be likely to join Sanders in blocking the weapons package. None responded with a clear position as of Tuesday night.

For example, the staff at Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy’s office said they had “nothing to share” about the upcoming vote. New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján’s office remarked that “[Luján] hasn’t updated us about his position on [the JRDs], but it’s on his radar.” New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich’s office said that “the senator has not released a statement at this time.”

And according to an email from Sen. Angus King’s office (I-Maine): “Different offices do different things, I realize, but we do not proclaim or signal votes in advance.” Similar responses came in from Sens. Thomas Carper (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Notably, the vast majority of email and phone requests as of Tuesday night went unanswered.

It may be that cutting off weapons to Israel is a bridge too far for lawmakers who have otherwise vocalized support for the civilians on the ground in Gaza. For example, although Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) has supported a ceasefire and previously joined other senators’ calls on Biden to create a path for a “nonmilitarized Palestinian state” a Daily Cardinal article reported that Baldwin’s staff has offered “no commitment either way” on the upcoming JRD vote.

Supporters are hoping to get at least as much — if not more Democratic support — than a pair of similar measures received earlier this year. In one case, 21 senators voiced support for a legislative amendment ensuring that Congress be notified of all military assistance to Israel. Another, a bill led by Sanders requiring the State Department to provide Congress with information on Israel's human rights practices, only received 11 votes at the time in January.

In any case, the pressure is on. Over 175 businesses and organizations called on Maine Senators Angus King and Susan Collins to vote for the JRDs on November 19. Furthermore, a coalition of 56 progressive groups led by Demand Progress called on Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) to take on Van Hollen’s pro-JRD stance in a Tuesday press release, highlighting Reed’s previous collaboration with the senator.

“Sen. Reed joined Sen. Van Hollen to say that U.S. support for Israel must never be a blank check,” the release says. “It’s now time to revoke Israel’s blank check. Sen. Reed needs to back up his words and join Sen. Van Hollen by voting to support the resolutions blocking the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel.”

Along similar lines, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) demonstrators called on Reed to support the JRDs last month at a “Democratic Unity” fundraiser. Relevant staff at Reed’s office could not be reached for comment.

While the JRDs appear unlikely to pass, some say this marks a turning point in U.S.-Israeli affairs after over a year of war.

“These Joint Resolutions of Disapproval mark a historic moment — the first vote in Congress to block offensive arms sales to Israel in United States history,” Hassan El-Tayyab, the Legislative Director for Middle East Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), told Responsible Statecraft.

“Even if these resolutions don't pass, the fact that they are up for consideration at all signals a major shift in the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

RS reporters Aaron Sobczak and Sam Bull contributed to this report.

deanmarywinchester:

deanmarywinchester:

hobbies include: close reading the Redwall series to answer my most burning questions. such as:

- can I replicate any of these delicious-sounding foodstuffs and would they in fact be delicious if I was able to

- corollary to the above: are we just supposed to read “oat cream” and “nut cheese” every time we see the words “cream” and “cheese”? I think so. bc if not, what tha hell are their livestock animals

- what is Society like? I don’t think we ever see a Mouse City or even Mouse Town though we do see castles and obviously an abbey. are we supposed to believe that most creatures are either in wandering bands or these societies based around a single structure (castle/abbey?)

- they appear to have an idea of what currency is (the bad guys always want treasure — maybe just to have, not to sell? but less ambiguous is some dialogue I just read, “acorn for your thoughts?” “you can have them for free”) but again, we never see anyone using money or making goods for the market. is this after the fall of Mouse Capitalism? are the bad guys (the idea of rat pirates gives me a headache, vis a vis the political/economic systems needed to power piracy) raiding preindustrial mouse societies for treasure/meat?

- corollary to the above: the abbey creatures have oats and wheat but we don’t see anybody farming or trading for farm goods on a large enough scale. is the abbey “orchard” really a like an indigenous forest farm of mixed foodstuffs? is that possible if you live in the same place the whole year or only if you travel each season? I have to do some googling

- both the lack of mixed-species families and the idea of mixed-species families give me a headache. has a squirrel never fallen for a handsome otter? what is the culture shock like if you marry into a subterranean mole family?

- this is the least “important” question but this read through I’ve been desperately trying to figure out What Size Everything Else Is. i’ve come to the conclusion that everything other than animals are at mouse scale, given that they can make seaworthy vessels their own size (a mouse sized vessel with real-world-sized waves seems impossible) and pick and eat apples and plums. but so far it seems like they’ve avoided mentioning how tall trees are — like a person compared to a tree or a mouse compared to a tree?

[standing outside of brian jacques’ grave with a megaphone] most societies that have had large scale ships and shipping have needed to develop a concept of insurance. is there Mouse Insurance

superlinguo:

People who are blind from birth will gesture when they speak. I always like pointing out this fact when I teach classes on gesture, because it gives us an an interesting perspective on how we learn and use gestures. Until now I’ve mostly cited a 1998 paper from Jana Iverson and Susan Goldin-Meadow that analysed the gestures and speech of young blind people. Not only do blind people gesture, but the frequency and types of gestures they use does not appear to differ greatly from how sighted people gesture. If people learn gesture without ever seeing a gesture (and, most likely, never being shown), then there must be something about learning a language that means you get gestures as a bonus.

Blind people will even gesture when talking to other blind people, and sighted people will gesture when speaking on the phone - so we know that people don’t only gesture when they speak to someone who can see their gestures.

Earlier this year a new paper came out that adds to this story. Şeyda Özçalışkan, Ché Lucero and Susan Goldin-Meadow looked at the gestures of blind speakers of Turkish and English, to see if the *way* they gestured was different to sighted speakers of those languages. Some of the sighted speakers were blindfolded and others left able to see their conversation partner.

Turkish and English were chosen, because it has already been established that speakers of those languages consistently gesture differently when talking about videos of items moving. English speakers will be more likely to show the manner (e.g. ‘rolling’ or bouncing’) and trajectory (e.g. ‘left to right’, ‘downwards’) together in one gesture, and Turkish speakers will show these features as two separate gestures. This reflects the fact that English ‘roll down’ is one verbal clause, while in Turkish the equivalent would be yuvarlanarak iniyor, which translates as two verbs ‘rolling descending’.

Since we know that blind people do gesture, Özçalışkan’s team wanted to figure out if they gestured like other speakers of their language. Did the blind Turkish speakers separate the manner and trajectory of their gestures like their verbs? Did English speakers combine them? Of course, the standard methodology of showing videos wouldn’t work with blind participants, so the researchers built three dimensional models of events for people to feel before they discussed them.

The results showed that blind Turkish speakers gesture like their sighted counterparts, and the same for English speakers. All Turkish speakers gestured significantly differently from all English speakers, regardless of sightedness. This means that these particular gestural patterns are something that’s deeply linked to the grammatical properties of a language, and not something that we learn from looking at other speakers.

References

Jana M. Iverson & Susan Goldin-Meadow. 1998. Why people gesture when they speak. Nature, 396(6708), 228-228.

Şeyda Özçalışkan, Ché Lucero and Susan Goldin-Meadow. 2016. Is Seeing Gesture Necessary to Gesture Like a Native Speaker? Psychological Science 27(5) 737–747.

Asli Ozyurek & Sotaro Kita. 1999. Expressing manner and path in English and Turkish: Differences in speech, gesture, and conceptualization. In Twenty-first Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 507-512). Erlbaum.

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The arc of the moral universe is feeling pretty stiff this morning.

The arc of the moral universe overslept.

The arc of the moral universe didn’t sleep at all.

The arc of the moral universe just walked into the kitchen but forgot what it was looking for. It mindlessly opens the refrigerator as if the answer might be sitting next to the milk. All the shelves are empty.

The arc of the moral universe says, Goddammit.

The arc of the moral universe is buffering.

The arc of the moral universe has passed the same Pizza Hut three times. It can’t read a map for shit.

The arc of the moral universe is rocking back and forth in the bathtub.

The arc of the moral universe is out of ideas.

The arc of the moral universe wants you to please wait. Your call is important to it.

The arc of the moral universe is being talked over by your worst uncle.

The arc of the moral universe called in sick today.

The arc of the moral universe has been sick for a while now. It won’t go to the doctor. It doesn’t have health insurance.

The arc of the moral universe wants you to sponge its forehead and bring it soup.

The arc of the moral universe can be a delicate creature.

The arc of the moral universe is running very late. It’s sitting in standstill traffic behind a fleet of Amazon delivery vans, a burning Tesla, and a stretch limousine with Truck Nuts.

The arc of the moral universe is leaning on the horn.

The arc of the moral universe shouldn’t have stopped for that latte.

The arc of the moral universe owes you an apology.

The arc of the moral universe is full of excuses.

The arc of the moral universe is stubborn. And flaky.

The arc of the moral universe can put its leg behind its head but doesn’t feel like showing you.

The arc of the moral universe looks, from some directions, like a straight line.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend.

The arc of the moral universe must be bent.

The arc of the moral universe is a constant pain in the ass.

The arc of the moral universe whines for you to carry it.

The arc of the moral universe demands constant fucking supervision.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t want to brush its teeth or put on a jacket.

The arc of the moral universe needs a good talking-to.

The arc of the moral universe is not what we wanted to worry about when we woke up this morning, but, well, tough shit.

The arc of the moral universe takes a village.

The arc of the moral universe feels our hands on every side, gripping it tight.

The arc of the moral universe resists out of spite.

The arc of the moral universe demands our sweat.

The arc of the moral universe breaks our nails.

The arc of the moral universe holds fast—until.

The arc of the moral universe trembles. It creaks. It groans.

The arc of the moral universe moves a fraction of a centimeter.

The arc of the moral universe feels its back pop.

The arc of the moral universe says, Thank you.

The arc of the moral universe asks us to do it again. And again.

The arc of the moral universe is an unweeded garden. An eternal sink of dishes. A tedious group project. A mouse who wants a cookie.

But it bends, it bends, it bends.