Here's what you helped us achieve in the last week

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support. We've been working hard to bring you the latest news, and we couldn't do it without your support. Pictured above are Kyiv Independent team members working in the office this week.

We'd like to give a warm welcome to our 66 new members this week. Every contribution makes a difference!

Here are some highlights from the Kyiv Independent over the last week:

• We reported from Donetsk Oblast front lines. Asami Terajima's articles look at both the soldiers who have just left Bakhmut and their worries that Russia might soon "taste victory" and those who are training, about to be sent back to the embattled city, and how they cope with their anxiety as their families wait for their return.

• The legendary commander "Da Vinci" was killed near Bakhmut last week. Anastasiia Lapatina's story explains who the 27-year-old Dmytro Kotsiubailo was and how the legendary commander of the “Da Vinci Wolves,” will be remembered.

• Another popular story this week was Kate Tsurkan's op-ed "The problem with lionizing Navalny and snubbing Zelensky at Oscars," which explains why the West's ignorance of the inherent imperialism in Russia's narratives, present even among the so-called Russian opposition, is a cause for outrage among Ukrainians.

• We published another investigation into Russia's plans to undermine a country in Eastern Europe, this time Moldova. A leaked document outlines Russia's 10-year plan to gain more influence over the country, including increasing the presence of the Russian language and decreasing trust in NATO.

• We wrote about how the outcome of Russia's war on Ukraine can influence international order. Alexander Khrebet's piece explains how a Ukrainian defeat would embolden Russia and other authoritarian regimes and affect China's approach to Taiwan.

• This week's Belarus Weekly includes Lukashenko's visit to Iran and the mass arrests in the wake of the late-February aircraft explosion on an airfield near Minsk.

• We also created a video explainer on how some Western anti-war protests help Russia. Iryna Matviyishyn explains how these protests can jeopardize the support for Ukraine.

• We answered your questions about the war. Our written war Q&A is now recurring, and here are the most recent questions and the responses from our reporters. Thank you to our members who participated!

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