We published an investigation into how Russia is preparing its missile production for 'eternal war' — Here's what you helped us accomplish this week
Dear Kyiv Independent community members,
Thank you for your continued support.
This week, we published an investigation into how Russia is preparing its strategic missile plant for "eternal war." Alisa Yurchenko's investigation reveals how Russia's state-owned Votkinsk Plant, which serves its nuclear forces, has been quietly expanding, bypassing international sanctions, and significantly increased its missile production. The plant is not just replacing the missiles used in the current war, it's also stockpiling for a prolonged conflict — and doing so with the help of China.
Pictured above is an illustration that ran with the investigation, depicting Putin and an Iskander-M ballistic missile, by Nataliia Shulga.
It's thanks to the support of readers like you that we have a stable source of funding for our reporting, including investigations like these.
We'd like to give a warm welcome to the 204 new members who joined this week. We're grateful that you're a part of our community. Thank you for your solidarity.
Here's what you helped us accomplish at the Kyiv Independent this week:
We reported on Ukraine's Special Operations Forces. Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko spoke with fighters from the Third Regiment of the Special Operations Forces about the role of special forces in some of the most decisive engagements of the war and how drones have transformed what can be accomplished in the operations.
Our most widely read story this week was about Russia's decision to pull its scientists out of Iran's only functional nuclear power plant amid Israeli strikes. Kollen Post's article takes a look at Iran's Bushehr reactor, built and maintained by Russia — and the first nuclear reactor in the Middle East — and the extensive collaboration between the two countries.
We reported from The Hague on the NATO summit. Martin Fornusek's article shows how NATO maintains transatlantic unity — by appeasing Trump with flattery and deprioritizing topics like Ukraine, although Zelensky did get his much-desired meeting with Trump.
We published an explainer on how prisoner of war exchanges with Russia work. As of early June, Ukraine has already brought over 5,700 people, both soldiers and civilians. Ukraine has stated that its goal is to bring home all POWs before the war ends, especially as Russia prepares for a longer war. Daria Shulzhenko explains how Ukraine negotiates these prisoner swaps with Russia.
We also published an explainer on how three years of Russia's war have ravaged Ukraine's forests and ecosystems. Over a third of all carbon emissions in Ukraine stem from warfare, and since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, nearly 5 million acres of grassland and forest have burned, ignited by missile fire, artillery shelling, and explosive devices.
We wrote about the pressure on Putin to declare war, though experts say Russia is unable to do so. After over three years of referring to Russia's war in Ukraine as a "special military operation," Putin might be stuck with the term, as a formal declaration of war risks domestic upheaval. Similarly, we wrote about how last week, two high-ranking Moscow officials have issued warnings about Russia's economy, though Putin insists that the situation is fine.
We reported on how dual citizenship might be legalized in Ukraine. Kate Tsurkan's story explains the introduced legislation and what dual citizenship would mean for foreigners living in Ukraine, some of whom have been in the country for years.
Our next community event will be a Q&A about why Russia is able to continue producing weapons, while the West lags behind. Join defense reporter Kollen Post and deputy chief editor Oleksiy Sorokin on Thursday, July 3 at 7 p.m. as they answer your questions about how Russia has reconfigured its economy to fuel its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — and how Ukraine can sustain its war effort, even with no new aid packages from the U.S. on the horizon. Register and submit your questions here.
Finally, to end on a positive note, we recently tried an experiment, where we let our members on Discord vote on story ideas that would then be assigned to a reporter. The first winning topic was the Ukrainian military's first-ever female recruitment drive — you can read Natalia Yermak's story about the Khartiia Brigade here and join our Discord here, in case you aren't yet there.
Thank you for standing by our side as we bring independent, locally sourced news about Ukraine to the world.