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 news. Pictured above is our reporter Asami Terajima (center) with two soldiers from the 406 Separate Artillery Brigade she met while reporting from eastern Ukraine this week.

We'd like to give a warm welcome to our 47 new members this week! We really appreciate every contribution, and we're glad you're with us.

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

• We reported from Zaporizhzhia Oblast on how one of Ukraine's drone units defends the south. Alexander Query's piece looks at the team of 15 people, ranging from 22 to 61 years of age, and how they use drones in war, just kilometers from Russian positions.

• Our most popular story last week was Igor Kossov's story about a celebrated tank brigade now facing difficult battles in Donbas. Members from the 1st Tank Brigade discuss their experiences on the front lines and Ukraine's need for more tanks.

• Another story that shows the reality of war in the east is Francis Farrell's piece from Avdiivka, a city near Donetsk, that has been deemed a "second Bakhmut" as Russia intensifies its attacks.

• We wrote about a 22-year-old Ukrainian civilian who was forced to dig trenches for Russian soldiers. Daria Shulzhenko's piece follows the story of a college student, who was kidnapped from his occupied hometown in August and held captive for three months. He said about his experience "I wanted to jump on a mine and end it."

• This week, Belarus Weekly takes a look at calls for more sanctions from European Parliament, as well as the sentencing of more members of Belarusian independent media and the reports of a suicide attempt by jailed Belarusian journalist Ihar Losik.

• We interviewed the Estonian defense minister. Hanno Pevkur said in an exclusive interview that "the Russian army has not changed in 100 years."

• We're growing as a company; we've hired seven people since the start of the year. We're still hiring – take a look at our job opportunities here.

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