“We were the only international journalists left in the Ukrainian city, and we had been documenting its siege by Russian troops for more than two weeks. We were reporting inside the hospital when gunmen began stalking the corridors. Surgeons gave us white scrubs to wear as camouflage. Suddenly at dawn, a dozen soldiers burst in: ‘Where are the journalists, for f-ck’s sake?'” 20 days in Mariupol: The team that documented city’s agony.

+ Russia is targeting journalists because this war is, among other things, a battle over what is true. That’s why I’m running a NextDraft fundraiser for journalists covering Ukraine. The response has been so excellent that I may also sends fund to Russian journalists trying to get the truth in front of their own citizens. Here’s how it works. You buy a customized NextDraft Ukrainian Superhero shirt at cost. I personally donate $20 to Media Lifeline Ukraine. Let’s go. Spread the word.

+ The Ukraine invasion is not going as Putin has planned. So, like any autocratic sociopath, he’s shifted strategy and is targeting hospitals, children’s shelters, apartment buildings, and shopping malls. The shameful attacks are leading to mass destruction, rising death counts, and remarkably, 10 million Ukrainians who have fled their homes since invasion began. The main target for Russia’s military is Mariupol, a city Putin has demanded that Ukraine surrender. Ukraine has rejected that demand.

+ Putin isn’t just destroying Ukraine, he’s destroying Russia, too. Masha Gessen in The New Yorker: The Russians Fleeing Putin’s Wartime Crackdown. “Resisters are leaving Russia because the country they worked to build is disappearing—and the more people who leave, the faster it vanishes.”

+ What are hypersonic missiles and why is Russia using them? (Short answer: To kill more civilians and to show the world they work.)

+ In Kyiv, eight people are reported dead in shelling on a residential area and shopping centre. In Mariupol, an estimated 90% of the city’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Here’s the latest from BBC.