We covered the controversy around 'Russians at War' film: Here's what you helped us achieve in the last week

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support!

This week, a member of the community, Mark, visited our office in Kyiv. Mark is from the U.S. and makes frequent trips to Ukraine, but this was the first time he had come to our office (pictured above). Later in the week, we were lucky enough to have a visit from two more members, Nate and Peter. It's always great to see members of the community in person.

We'd also like to give a warm welcome to our 154 new members this week. We're proud to be reader-funded.

Here are some highlights from the Kyiv Independent this week:

• We covered the release of the new documentary 'Russians at War,' which caused controversy at the Venice and Toronto film festivals for whitewashing Russian war crimes and ignoring the context of the full-scale invasion, despite receiving Canadian government funding. Toronto International Film Festival announced on Sept. 12 it would pause upcoming screenings but seven people in the film industry who have seen the film told us their impressions.

• One of our most widely-read stories this week was Asami Terajima's assessment of Sweden's Gripen fighter jets, after Stockholm signaled that their possible transfer to Ukraine is still on the table once the F-16 program is complete.

• Another popular story was Maria Yeryoma's article about how Russia's biggest ally, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, has so far reacted to Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast. We also looked at how Ukraine's operation has exposed Russian troop shortages and how Russia's recently-launched counteroffensive in the region might play out.

• We looked at how Ukrainian drone attacks deeper into Russia are causing issues for Russian air defense. Since early September, Ukraine has conducted two mass attacks on Russia, highlighting the Kremlin's vulnerabilities.

• We reported on the news that Iran has delivered ballistic missiles to Russia. Chris York explains why Tehran decided to supply the weapons, how Russia might use them, and what it means for Ukraine. 

• We reported on how Russia and Ukraine treat their prisoners of war, following the news that Ukraine would no longer allow Russian POWs to make phone calls to relatives. Andrea Januta's article looks into the different ways each side treats those in captivity.

• We covered the long-awaited U.S. presidential debate, during which Trump refused to say that he wanted Ukraine to win the war. In Kyiv, we asked five prominent Ukrainians about their impressions of Trump's comments.

Thank you for standing by our side as we bring independent, locally sourced news about Ukraine to the world.