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New footage from Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb hitting Russian bombers

New footage from Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb hitting Russian bombers

by Kyiv Independent

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has published new drone footage from Operation Spiderweb – the remarkable special operation targeting four Russian airbases with low-cost FPV drones. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces confirmed on June 3 that Russia lost 41 military aircraft as a result of the operation. The estimated damage inflicted upon Russia is estimated to exceed $7 billion.

Inside Ukraine’s 1,000 for 1,000 POW swap with Russia

Inside Ukraine’s 1,000 for 1,000 POW swap with Russia

On May 23, Ukraine and Russia began the largest prisoner exchange since 2014. Over three days, 1,000 prisoners of war (POWs) from both sides will return home in a deal agreed upon during direct Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul earlier this month — the first such talks between Moscow and Kyiv since 2022. The Kyiv Independent went to the site of exchange.

Ultimate guide on how drones changed warfare in Ukraine

Ultimate guide on how drones changed warfare in Ukraine

The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrel provides an ultimate guide on how drones have changed the warfare in Ukraine — starting with an embed with a drone unit of the National Guard’s 14th Chervona Kalyna Brigade and providing even more insights with a step-by-step simulation on how fighting for an average village in Ukraine looks like now, three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Historian Timothy Ash on the 'new West' after 'Trump shock'

Historian Timothy Ash on the 'new West' after 'Trump shock'

by Martin Fornusek

With the fading U.S. global leadership under Donald Trump, Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, and growing populism at home, Europe faces a stark choice: step up or fall into irrelevance. Speaking with the Kyiv Independent on May 16, British historian Timothy Garton Ash paints a picture of a West in transition.

Putin’s Victory Day and White House chaos | Ukraine This Week

Putin’s Victory Day and White House chaos | Ukraine This Week

This week, the world watched in anticipation for Russia’s Victory Day parade after President Volodymyr Zelensky commented that he could not guarantee the safety of those attending. Meanwhile, the European Union moves one step forward to banning Russian gas from the European continent. It is also revealed this week that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has fallen out of step with the White House.

A day with Ukraine’s rescuers under Russian fire

A day with Ukraine’s rescuers under Russian fire

by Nick Allard

The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.

What Putin won’t tell you about Russia’s ‘Victory Day’

What Putin won’t tell you about Russia’s ‘Victory Day’

The Kyiv Independent’s Chris York sat down with author, historian, and Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which mark the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II, are one of the country’s biggest public events of the year. President of the Ukrainian Society of Switzerland Andrej Lushnycky who sheds some light on the things Putin would rather you didn’t know about World War II.

One night with 3rd Assault Brigade medics in a new age of war

One night with 3rd Assault Brigade medics in a new age of war

The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko spent a night at the stabilization point of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, one of Ukraine’s most battle-hardened units now fighting in Kharkiv Oblast. As drones reshape modern warfare, medics face mounting challenges: evacuations get harder and slower, turning survivable wounds into potentially fatal ones.

Crunch time for Republicans on Ukraine, says ex-US State Senator

Crunch time for Republicans on Ukraine, says ex-US State Senator

The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell sits down with retired U.S. Army officer and former Nebraska State Senator Tom Brewer in the front-line city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, to discuss U.S.-Ukraine relations under the Trump administration, why Nebraska is interested in Ukraine's post-war recovery and why it's important for U.S. politicians to visit Ukraine to counter myths by Russian propaganda.

Recognition of Crimea’s annexation and Kursk situation | Ukraine This Week

Recognition of Crimea’s annexation and Kursk situation | Ukraine This Week

by Anna Belokur, Nick Allard

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur breaks down the late Pope Francis’ complex legacy in Ukraine, marked by a refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion outright amid statements of support for Ukraine’s struggle. Meanwhile, the deadliest attack on Kyiv in months leaves a dozen civilians dead and many more injured, as U.S. leadership reportedly considers recognizing Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine’s Crimea.

Chornobyl isn’t safe anymore... again

Chornobyl isn’t safe anymore... again

Chornobyl disaster occurred in the early hours of April 26, 1986, in Soviet Ukraine. Nearly 39 years after the worst nuclear disaster in history, Russia’s brazen attack on the $2 billion New Safe Confinement (the sarcophagus enclosing the destroyed reactor) in February 2025 poses a new potential radioactive danger as engineers race to repair the damage. The Kyiv Independent’s Kollen Post dives into why the restoration is not as simple as it may seem.

Ukrainians react to US proposal of recognizing Crimea as Russian

Ukrainians react to US proposal of recognizing Crimea as Russian

The U.S. media outlet Axios reported on April 23 that the U.S. President Donald Trump administration's final proposal for ending the Russia-Ukraine war included the U.S. de jure recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea and de facto recognizing its control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. We asked Kyiv residents for their reactions to the U.S. proposal.

4 days of hunting Russian drones

4 days of hunting Russian drones

by Nick Allard

The Kyiv Independent contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent four days following an air defense unit guarding the skies over a region in eastern Ukraine, seeing how they live, work, and save civilians from the dozens of Russian drones flying toward Ukrainian cities each night.

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