We confirmed what Putin’s top spy chief really looks like: Here's what you helped us achieve in the last week

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support.

We have an update for you on how our War Crimes Investigations Unit has contributed to holding those who commit war crimes accountable.

This week, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced suspicions against people involved in the deportation of a group of 31 children, including Svitlana Maiboroda, Denys Pushylin, and Eleanora Fedorenko. Our War Crimes Investigations Unit identified Maiboroda in the documentary "Uprooted" and, after publication, passed some materials to our prosecutors, which were used their investigation.

This is what your support helps us accomplish. Thank you for standing with us.

We'd like to give a warm welcome to our 85 new members this week. Your contributions keep our work sustainably funded! We wouldn't be here without you.

Here are some highlights from the Kyiv Independent this week:

• We published an investigation on Putin’s top spy chief Sergey Korolev. Alisa Yurchenko's story strips the FSB's deputy spy chief Korolev of a significant portion of his long-lived anonymity, confirming what he really looks like as well as his birth date, removing a level of secretiveness that may be helping him evade sanctions. Pictured above is an illustration by Karolina Gulshani, used to depict the investigation.

• Our most popular stories this week was Chris York's story about the backlash the Kremlin faces from military bloggers as Russian losses surge. Russian casualties likely averaged over 1,000 per day in September, making it the second-deadliest month since the start of the full-scale invasion, and as these losses mount, some pro-Kremlin Russian military bloggers have accused authorities of using specialist troops as cannon fodder, revealing that Russia's military strategy hasn't changed in decades.

• Ukraine celebrates Defenders Day on Oct. 1 – we covered the memorial service on Kyiv's Independence Square and recognized some of the young Ukrainians killed defending their country.

• We reported from Kherson about the Russian drones hunting Ukrainian civilians. Locals refer to this new strategy – Russian pilots on the eastern bank of the Dnipro using a reconnaissance drone, followed by a FPV drone to drop grenades or other explosives on civilians – as “a human safari.” 

• Last week, Portnov – a former official who was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2021 – won a case against Ukrainian media, including the Kyiv Independent. Our editor-in-chief Olga Rudenko and other defendants will appeal the ruling. “It’s a sad irony that an ex-official sanctioned over allegations of holding undue influence over Ukrainian courts wins a case against journalists — in a Ukrainian court," Olga said.

• We interviewed Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili at the Warsaw Security Forum. Zourabichvili discusses Georgia’s stalled EU accession, rising anti-Western rhetoric, and the ruling party’s troubling alignment with Russian interests, while affirming the Georgian people’s support for Ukraine. 

• This week Belarus Weekly look at Lithuania's formal request for the International Criminal Court to investigate Lukashenko and his regime for crimes against humanity, citing mass repression, deportations, and persecution of Belarusians.

• We launched our new newsletter: Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan.  Every Tuesday, Kate, our cultural reporter, will delve into different facets of Ukrainian culture, history, and sociopolitics to help you better understand contemporary Ukraine. Sign up here to have it delivered directly to your inbox.

• Our next KI Insights briefing will focus on Ukraine's 2025 budget. Join KI Insights director Jakub Parusinski on Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. Kyiv time for a discussion and Q&A about Ukraine's 2025 budget and macroeconomic prospects. You can register here and reach out to insights@kyivindependent.com with any questions.

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