The Kyiv Independent's Chris York sits down with George Barros, team lead for the Russia and Ukraine portfolio at the Institute for the Study of War, to discuss what Russia’s approaching one million casualties mean for its war effort in Ukraine. They explore how the Kremlin might generate more forces — and what impact this could have on Russia’s economy.
The Kyiv Independent has visited the apartment complex in one of Kyiv's residential districts that was damaged overnight, and spoke to its residents about why they chose to stay in Ukraine's capital, despite Russia's intensifying attacks.
Egyptian-born Russian fighter, callsign "Cobra," signed a contract with the Russian army in 2024, abandoning his young wife, university studies and comfortable lifestyle. Now in Ukrainian prison, he's rethinking his choices. Subscribe to our channel for more independent reporting from Ukraine.
Janine di Giovanni, a veteran war reporter and author who has covered decades of conflicts in Rwanda, Syria, Iraq, and Bosnia, reflects on her work in Ukraine and other conflicts.
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.
Ukraine was jubilant on June 1 as news filtered through of a stunning drone attack targeting Russian heavy bombers that simultaneously attacked four air bases, two of them thousands of miles inside Russia. The Kyiv Independent's Chris York explains everything we know about Operation Spiderweb.
The Security Service of Ukraine, SBU, conducted a major special operation targeting four Russian air bases across the country on June 1. We asked Ukrainians on the streets of Kyiv to share their reactions to the operation.
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur breaks down the top stories of the week, from Germany’s increased military aid to last weekend’s unprecedented attacks on Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent’s Chris York sits down with Michael Carpenter, former U.S. Ambassador to OSCE and senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, to discuss the current lagging U.S. military support for Ukraine amid the ongoing ceasefire talks with Russia. Carpenter also offers his predictions for the future of Ukraine’s occupied territories.
The Kyiv Independent’s Kollen Post sits down with retired U.S. astronaut Col. Terry W. Virts to discuss his time aboard the International Space Station alongside Russian colleagues in 2014–2015, during Russia’s annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine's eastern regions.
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur shares key takeaways from Monday’s phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Wednesday’s assassination of a controversial Ukrainian ex-official. Also, Russia is advancing in Sumy Oblast.
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.
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.
The Kyiv Independent’s Asami Terajima sits down with Estonian ambassador to Ukraine Annely Kolk to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and why there’s little trust in Russia honoring any ceasefire agreements.
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.
In this week’s episode, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur breaks down the back-and-forth developments surrounding peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey. As negotiations stall, the battle rages on in multiple sectors of the front.
The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko spent a day with one of Ukraine's most effective drone units, "Peaky Blinders." As Russian forces continue to push across the front line, Peaky Blinders are tasked with stopping Russian assaults near the embattled city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast.
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel speaks about the future of the EU-led special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and its role in bringing Russia to justice.
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.
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.
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.
The Kyiv Independent’s Chris York discusses with Jonathan Brunstedt, associate professor of history at Texas A&M University, how Russian President Vladimir Putin has weaponized the Soviet myths about World War II to help him justify Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur dives into the top stories of this week from the intensifying Russian spring offensive to the shocking torture and murder of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roschyna. Also, the long-gestating minerals deal has finally been signed, what is in it and is it a good deal for Ukraine?
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.
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.
The Kyiv Independent's Natalia Yermak speaks to James Rubin, a former diplomat who led the Global Engagement Center in 2022-2024, about how deeply the Russian propaganda influences U.S. politics and why the center's closure "disarms" the country in the information war.
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 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.
Russia's devastating missile and drone attack on Kyiv on April 24 killed at least 12 and injured 90 people. The Kyiv Independent visited the residential district where a missile struck an apartment building to speak with witnesses and see the aftermath.
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.
Ukraine brought home another 277 soldiers in a major prisoner exchange with Russia ahead of the Easter holiday on April 19.
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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