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Vladimir Agafonkin here. Thanks for posting this! I'll be happy to answer any questions about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and current Ukrainian reality here wh
by mourner 5y ago
Vladimir Agafonkin here. Thanks for posting this! I'll be happy to answer any questions about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and current Ukrainian reality here whenever I get the chance.
- abc789654567 5y ago[flagged]
- mourner 5y ago[flagged]
- abc789654567 5y ago[flagged]
- RivieraKid 5y agoIs it just my impression that the Ukrainian government is seemingly very competent?
- mourner 5y agoIt's miraculous transformation — I was against the current government, like many of my friends, it did its share of mistakes in recent years, but this huge existential threat seems to have propelled them to rise up to the occasion with intense focus and do the right thing. I'm now quite proud of the Ukrainian government.
- oldcigarette 5y ago
- RealityVoid 5y agoThis is such an bad faith take I don't even know how to engage with this. It's not that you believe it was installed in a CIA backed coup, you just _KNOW_ it. Being from Eastern Europe, I can tell you, it is worth standing up to Russia and not kowtowing to it. It's normal people want to live in close connection with the western world and not in whatever the heck kind of local order Russia is trying to create. And, also, yes, orange man was unbelievably bad and led to the destabilization of the world around. Calling anti-Trumpism stupidity, lets me believe you are the one living in a delusion unable to consider the realities of the world.
- sidibe 5y agoNo you don't understand power politics, sorry you're leaning on your own experience instead of the expert approved only USA and Russia matters geopolitical framework. No way that without CIA puppet masters Ukrainians would use their own will (after all non-powers countries have no will or agency) to choose to orient West like the failed Baltic states and Poland instead of being a thriving Russian vassal like Belarus
- RealityVoid 5y agoI enjoyed reading this, but the sarcasm might fly over a lot of people's heads. :)
- oldcigarette 5y agoSo are we at the point where we deny the Nuland thing every happened? None of this happened under the foreign policy of Trump. I support Ukrainian self determination but this is not what happened and even if it is it is not how Russia perceives which seems entirely reasonable.
- zttg 5y ago
- RamblingCTO 5y agoYour account really reads like russian propaganda. Lol.
- pc86 5y agoI wonder why. Also for anyone without showdead enabled, RamblingCTO is not replying to Vladimir but to another comment that got (rightfully) killed within a minute or two.
- RamblingCTO 5y agoAh thank you, didn't even notice. Funnily enough, the karma doesn't count for my reply on the shadow banned comment. Strange
- mourner 5y agoThere was a Russian troll here asking why I didn't leave earlier even though I knew this would happen, and whether I'm planning on bribing officials to avoid conscription. I already wrote the answers but the parent comment was flagged, so posting here: 1. Most people I know didn't believe Putin would suicidally start a large-scale invasion, despite potentially severe losses (~10k Russian soldiers killed so far in a week) and the complete destruction of Russian economy. Many thought US intelligence' warnings were a part of the information warfare for deterrence. We were wrong. Putin is actually this insane. 2. I registered where I'm staying locally and the military have my number / temp address if they need me. But the number of volunteers to fight WAY exceeds military capacity, so for now I'm staying in the rear and helping where I can make the most impact — by rallying donations, consulting IT volunteers on local map projects, and spreading the truth. I'm contemplating getting my wife and kids through the border but will stay in Ukraine myself, like other Ukrainian men.
- BrianOnHN 5y ago"The pen is mightier than the sword."
- phtrivier 5y agoI absolutely sympathize with your situation - and I thank you for talking from the field (as well as for leaflet itself, which powers my daily work !) However, just to get your opinion, do you feel the figures of Russian casualties are realistic ? (I guess you don't have any privileged information, but is there any "word of mouth" about the figures ?) Anyway, we'll find out in the future. Stay safe, thanks again, and good luck to you and your loved ones.
- mourner 5y agoThose are official stats from Ukrainian Armed Forces, and they are absolutely realistic, even if approximate. If you're in doubt, follow Bellingcat, OSINTtechnical and people like Christo Grozev who coordinate open source intelligence / confirmation based on available photos / videos. They mostly confirm those numbers.
- femto 5y agoMaybe it's an inane question, but what's it like? Which aspects of your life have some normality and which don't?
- mourner 5y agoWe left most of our stuff behind and are now staying with wife and kids in a tiny hotel room, mostly glued to the terrible news, calling to our friends and family and seeing where we can help. Running to the bomb shelter during an air raid siren about 3–4 times a day, sitting in the basement for 10–60 min at a time. But we're glad to have a roof, a place to sleep and shower, power for devices, an Internet connection and food and water — many in Ukraine including some of our extended family don't have those luxuries.
- femto 5y agoThank you. I hope you all stay safe.
- gravitystorm 5y agoGood luck with everything Vladimir! I have fond memories of working together and visiting you and the rest of our team in Kyiv back in 2008 and 2009.
- mourner 5y agoMe too! I remember those first OSM mapping parties fondly. Hope we meet again.
- ciphol 5y agoLeaflet is literally my favorite piece of software. So refreshing compared to any other web framework I have had to work with. Thank you for creating it and of course go Ukraine and fuck Putin!
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- david422 5y agoHi Vlad. I want to wish you safety and hoping for peace. I read about setting up defenses and waiting to repel invaders, but I was wondering if you know about any Ukrainian army offensives. I wasn't sure if it wasn't possible, or if they were waiting for a better time, or maybe it just isn't a better strategy than remaining in a defensive position, or maybe they just aren't being reported.
- mourner 5y agoI heard some reports of limited offensives, notably in Horlivka and near the border around Sumy, although they still seem to serve defensive purposes. Ukrainian Army avoids offensives because the Russians often set up positions in densely populated civilian areas.
- network2592 5y agoIn what ways do you find your work on maps to be translatable to the Ukrainian defence effort? Stay safe...
- mourner 5y agoNot translatable at the moment. Military command is obviously behind a closed curtain. Any public mapping efforts may help the enemy as much as Ukrainians, so so far they've been semi-private — e.g. official one-way sites / messenger bots to report enemy sightings / positions.
- ivansanchez 5y agoYou work for Mapbox, a US-based company with offices around the world. Do you still perform your day-to-day work? How's the relationship with your colleagues these days? I'm curious about the people in Belarus in particular.
- mourner 5y agoNo, Mapbox has been very supportive, trying to help however they can and obviously not expecting me (or anyone else in Ukraine) to work any time soon. Same for colleagues from Belarus and even Russia — they are strongly pro-Ukraine and anti-war, although stating this publicly can easily get them in jail (already happened multiple times).
- 69Represente 5y agoare they still paying you?
- mourner 5y agoYes. Although I’m intentionally delaying invoices so that I have unrealized funds outside of the country, just in case.
- jacquesm 5y agoI'll have your back regardless, let me know and if you and/or your wife and kids need to come to the West I'll be more than happy to pay your way/assist in any way that is required. Mail me: jacques@modularcompany.com Hang in there and stay safe, all of you. Scary times!
- Shalomboy 5y agoHave you thought about what will be left of your home and your family's belongings when you return to Kyiv? Have you thought about what returning to Kyiv will be like? The closest approximation to what you're going through in my life is tornadoes: the eerie siren out of nowhere, taking everybody close to you to shelter, calling loved ones to make sure they're safe. But at least the storm passes after an hour or two. I'm so sorry that this is happening to your family, Vladimir.
- mourner 5y agoI accept the possibility that I could return to a bunch of rubble, but I would very much like to return home if/after the war stops and Putin's regime collapses, and rebuild and create with renewed vigor. Most of the things we left behind aren't critical and could be reacquired elsewhere. The most important thing is that my wife and kids are safe and by my side.
- petre 5y agoThank you Mr. Agafonkin. I hope you and your family are safe. I also hope you can return to your home country one day, otherwise you are always welcome in ours.
- __app_dev__ 5y agoGood luck Vladimir Agafonkin. I seems trivial with the current events but I wanted to let you know that I consider Leaflet to be one of my favorite programming projects and one of the most useful projects of all time; several years ago I wrote generic Web Components and JS code to handle it because I consider it such a useful and great project. I live in Los Angeles, California, USA and while I'm far I will find a way to help. There are many Ukrainians where I live so I will find something to volunteer for ideally (I saw something recently), or I will donate money, or both. I hope that you, your family, and friends live through these hard times. In 2022 I's unbelievable what is happening. Stay safe and good luck.