Do you have unanswered questions about the war? Ask us
Dear Kyiv Independent community members,
We are excited to announce that we have decided to make our written war Q&A a recurring format. You can read the previous Q&A here.
In the same format as before, we will collect the questions and our journalists will answer them. The answers will be published as a Q&A on our website. We won’t publicly identify who asked the questions.
If you have any questions about the war, please leave a comment below! You can also message us on Patreon or email your questions to community manager Brooke at brooke@kyivindependent.com.
If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know. We look forward to hearing from you!
Comments (15)
Dear Kyiv independent. I've been trying to understand how "the business model" for Russian PMCs during the Russian invasion works? I understand the deal in e.g The Central African Republic, then they get lucrative deals on natural resources. But in the context of Ukraine I do not find answers. There are multiple PMCs popping lately, so there must be come sort of frame-work for how it works. That is it is not an exclusive deal for Wagner. Do they get paid/soldier or per some pre-determined operative goal, or are they defacto just part of the Russian army but operating under a different brand name? That is, how is their incentive structure set up? To me it almost seem to behaves a start-up scene.
Hi Max, Thank you for your questions! I have added this to the list for the next Q&A :)
Regarding my previous question about what needs to be done to take out the Russian Black Sea fleet: https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1635694625661890577 Russia has made a move that clearly allows us to stand against their treating the Black Sea as Russian territory.
What are your views on the conflict between Wagner and the Russian Army? What could be the impact on the war?
Outside of UK has any other nation provided Ukraine with Naval Vessels. I know Ukraine recently commissioned the new Corvette from Turkish shipyards but is anything else in the pipeline?
Last I knew Ukrainian troops were landing on the Kinburn spit on inflatable rrubber boats. All infantry, of course. No armor, no artillery. What is the military position on the Kinburn peninsula now?
Has the situation improved after your article about lack of protection for troops in Bakhmut were published? To be more specific, has the BMP terrorizing Ukrainian defenders for a month taken care of for good?
Yes corruption in some form is a universal trait of all countries. Ukraine had more in the past would be a fairly safe answer. The past being with more Russian business influences. Interesting that if a serious effort was made to measure corruption, again a safe bet that Russia would come out as number one in the world based on monetary value involved. I had forgotten it was Trump who helped to spread this line in the west, regarding Ukraine.
What needs to be done to take out the Russian Black Sea fleet?
NATO would have to get involved for Ruzzin Black fleet to disappear. If it did happen, about 24hrs would probably be enough time to complete the task.
I find the quote "Ukraine is the most corrupt country in the world” has spread though out western social media. The people who post this message, back it up with no evidence. But as these false messages gain more and more views they gain acceptance as fact. Is the original source of this quote known? And where can evidence to be found as a counter argument for this statement quoted as fact?
I've seen this said in Russian media, and then through Russia, Trump said it. This statement is like when teachers are told 'this is a bad student', and then everything that student does is viewed through a negative filter. Also, people forget that everywhere there is people there is some corruption. People also forget to look at the corruption in their own countries, taking it for granted while putting Ukraine under the microscope.
One thing I never see online is the casualty numbers of Ukraine and its foreign volunteers aka the Good Guys. Is this done on purpose?
I think in order not to disclose war effort-related losses to the enemy.
Do we hear about all of the POW exchanges that take place in the news? If not, how often do they actually happen? Who negotiates them, in each case (as much as anyone can know)?