Here's what you helped us achieve last week

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support! Pictured above reporter Francis Farrell (left) and Sazha pose for a photo in our office earlier this week. Sazha is a frequent guest, and we're happy to have him here to cheer us all up.

We'd also like to welcome the 88 new members that joined us this week. It's your contributions that make us financially sustainable to keep telling the truth about Russia's war. Thank you for continuing to stand with us.

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

• We wrote about Ukrainians, forcibly conscripted by Russia, who are now POWs in Ukraine. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has reportedly forcibly conscripted tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens in the occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to fight against their own country – a war crime. Alexander Khrebet's story follows how some are trying to prove they were forcibly conscripted.

• Our most popular story last week was Igor Kossov's piece about the state of Ukraine's southern counteroffensive, and how it is running out of steam as the West scrambles to deliver aid.

• We reported on the antisemitic riots in Russia’s North Caucasus. Oleg Sukhov's article explains that despite Russia's claims that it's fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine, the truth is that antisemitism and neo-Nazism have been rampant in Russia for decades. There is also a video version of the story: watch it here.

• We wrote about how volunteers have had to get creative to keep raising funds for military, including a Ukrainian cover of a Backstreet Boys song by four Ukrainian comedians and a singer, which raised $138,000 in just 12 hours, even as donations decline and it becomes harder to keep audiences' attention.

• We also wrote about how the recent change of U.S. Speaker of the House might affect aid to Ukraine. Representative Mike Johnson was elected to the position on Oct. 25 and has historically voted against aid for Ukraine, though this may change as some say he may now be single-handedly responsible for what happens next in the war.

• This week Belarus Weekly includes Lukashenko's invitation to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to visit Belarus, as the country sinks into deeper isolation amid its involvement in Russia’s war.

• Episode 32 of "This Week in Ukraine" takes a look at Ukraine's successes against Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Host Anastasiia Lapatina and reporter Francis Farrell sit down to discuss how Russia is losing superiority in the Black Sea, with your questions starting at 22:00.

• We're launching a journalism school. We recently announced the Kyiv Independent J-School – a 10-day training course for English-speaking Ukrainian journalists aspiring to report for international audiences. If you know anyone who might be interested, they can apply here.

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