The Kyiv Independent

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, As promised, here is your exclusive link to watch our new documentary, "Last Seen in Crimea": https://youtu.be/4rs2diGcxO0 After watching, we'd love to hear your questions. Our War Crimes Investigations Unit reporters, Olesia Bida and Myroslava Chaiun, will a

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our War Crimes Investigations Unit is preparing to present "Last Seen in Crimea," a new documentary uncovering Russia's network of secret prisons on the occupied Crimean peninsula. Before the film's public release, we invite our community members to exclusive

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, As Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine grinds on, the dynamics on the battlefield are continuing to evolve. After months of difficult fighting and defensive operations, Ukraine is increasingly taking more initiative on the front lines — reshaping the temp

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, One year on from the shocking scenes between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, Washington's approach to Kyiv — and to Moscow — continues to surprise and unsettle. But like it or not, the U.S. will continue to sh

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Thank you to everyone who joined us for the exclusive screening of our documentary “Torture Culture” and the live Q&A with its author, Danylo Mokryk of the War Crimes Investigations Unit. We’re now sharing the recording with you, so you can watch the discussi

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our War Crimes Investigations Unit is preparing to present "Torture Culture," a powerful new documentary investigating the systematic torture of Ukrainian civilians in Russian captivity. Before the film’s public release, we invite our community members to an

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Join us for our next Q&A, where we’ll talk about Russia’s wartime economy and its sustainability, and why the West struggles to keep up in arms production. Defense reporter Kollen Post and deputy chief editor Oleksiy Sorokin will answer your questions about h

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our War Crimes Investigations Unit is getting ready to release “No God But Theirs,” its latest documentary uncovering how Russia targets Ukrainian Christian churches in occupied territories — and exposing Kremlin propaganda that casts Russian President Vladim

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, We’d like to invite you to our next Q&A “Is Europe ready for war?” with deputy chief editor Oleksiy Sorokin and senior news editor Martin Fornusek. As the world order is upended and Russia continues to make advances on the front line, we want to answer your q

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, The news cycle has been moving fast over the past weeks, so we want to help you better understand what’s been going on — and what it means for Ukraine. Our next Q&A for our members will be with our research branch KI Insights on March 27 at 7 p.m. Kyiv time.

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Monday, Feb. 24 marks three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As Russia continues to advance on the front line and U.S. President Donald Trump’s team moves ahead on peace talks, the future of the war, and Ukraine, is as uncertain

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, We’re getting ready to present the latest documentary from our War Crimes Investigations Unit “Curated Theft,” which reveals how Russian forces looted two local museums in Kherson, committing the largest robbery of its kind in Europe since World War II. Befor

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, The Kyiv Independent is going on a tour of 10 European capitals for the release of our upcoming documentary about the mental health of Ukrainian military medics — and we’d like to invite you to a screening. “Can You Hear Me? The Invisible Battles of Ukrainian

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, We’re getting ready to present our documentary “Can You Hear Me? The Invisible Battles of Ukrainian Military Medics.” The film follows a group of Ukrainian military medics as they journey from the heat of battle in war-torn Ukraine to the serene forests of Sw

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, We're excited to invite you to our next community event: a Q&A about what awaits Ukraine after the 2024 U.S. elections, politically and on the battlefield. Deputy chief editor Oleksiy Sorokin and reporter Francis Farrell will answer your questions about the c

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, We'd like to invite you to an upcoming discussion: "Cruelty Cascade: How Russia’s Double-Tap Strikes Escalate the Brutality of War." In nearly three years of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces have systemically used one of the cruelest tactics known as “

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our War Crimes Investigations Unit is getting ready to release its next documentary, “Shadows Across the River,” which investigates Russian war crimes in the occupied territory of Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast. Danylo Mokryk, the film’s author, investigat

Dear Kyiv Independent members, Our next community event will be a Q&A with our New-York based reporter Owen Racer about the upcoming U.S. elections and how the results could impact Ukraine. The U.S. is one of the largest supplies of military aid to Ukraine, a policy which could change depending who

Dear Kyiv Independent members, We’re here to announce our next community event: a Q&A about the state of press freedom in Ukraine during the war. Next Thursday, join our editor-in-chief Olga Rudenko and reporter Dinara Khalilova as they answer your questions about the pressure Ukrainian journalists

Dear Kyiv Independent members, We’re excited to announce our next community event: a war update with our reporter Francis Farrell. Francis will answer your questions about the war and discuss the current situation on the battlefield, including Russia’s new offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine’s adva

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our War Crimes Investigations Unit is getting ready to release its next documentary, “He came back.” The film is about two cases of sexual violence committed by Russian soldiers during the occupation of Kherson and Kyiv oblasts in 2022 – and the process of id

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, We’re excited to welcome our former defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko back for another Q&A, centered on the release of his memoir “I Will Show You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv.” In the days leading up to Russia’s full-scale invasion, experts frequen

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our War Crimes Investigations Unit is getting ready to release its next documentary, “Destroy, in whole or in part,” which takes a close look at whether Russian war crimes in Ukraine amount to genocide or not. Before the release next week, we are holding an o

We’re excited to announce our next community event: a Q&A with Tim Mak, the founder of The Counteroffensive, a Kyiv-based publication focused on telling the human stories of war during Russia’s full-scale invasion. On March 14, Tim Mak will join our Deputy Chief Editor Toma Istomina to answer your q

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next community event will be a Q&A with our deputy chief editor Oleksiy Sorokin and news editor Nate Ostiller about the 2024 U.S. presidential elections and its impact on aid for Ukraine. Trump’s recent win in the Iowa caucus, where he secured over 50% of

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next community event will be a Q&A with our reporter Francis Farrell about the state of Russia’s full-scale invasion and a look back at the major developments of 2023. Read Francis’ popular op-ed explaining how Ukraine might still lose the war, due to the

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, We are thrilled to announce an exclusive community event centered around the upcoming documentary by our War Crimes Investigations Unit. We invite you to join our upcoming community event on Dec. 7: a Q&A with the documentary’s author and head of the unit, Ye

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, We’re happy to announce our next community event. Join us on Friday, Oct. 13, for a discussion with business editor Lili Bivings and reporter Dominic Culverwell about how the business sphere in Ukraine is doing in wartime and the challenges it faces. We recen

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next community event will be a discussion about life in Kyiv during wartime with deputy chief editor Toma Istomina and chief operating officer Zakhar Protsiuk. They will discuss how Russia’s war has affected day-to-day life in Kyiv, including air alarms a

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next community event will be a Q&A with our reporter Francis Farrell. Francis has been covering Russia’s war from many areas on the front line, including Bakhmut and flooded Kherson Oblast. On Thursday, he will answer your questions about the current stat

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Thank you to those who sent in suggestions for our next event – one topic that was often requested was Ukraine’s government and how it functions during the war. Join us on Thursday, Aug. 3, for a discussion with senior editor Oleksiy Sorokin and editor-in-chi

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next community event will be a Q&A with Kyiv Independent contributor Maria Yeryoma and senior editor Oleksiy Sorokin about the current situation in Belarus, including the rumors surrounding the arrival of Wagner mercenaries and the transfer of tactical nu

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Earlier this month, we joined the Frontline Club in London, for an in-person panel discussion and Q&A about building the Kyiv Independent amid Russia’s war against Ukraine. The panel consisted of the Kyiv Independent leadership team, CEO Daryna Shevchenko, ed

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, For the past months, the world’s attention has been turned to Ukraine’s anticipated counteroffensive – with many experts predicting that the degree of success of this operation will determine the course of the war. Without a decisive Ukraine victory, the war

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next community event will be a Q&A with our reporter Francis Farrell about one of Russia’s “private” military companies, the Wagner Group, and its role in the Battle of Bakhmut. Bakhmut – a town in Donetsk Oblast with a pre-war population of around 70,000

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next community event will be a Q&A with our defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko about the current state of Russia’s full-scale invasion and what we can expect next. Illia has been reporting on Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014. He has also worked on

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next event will be a Q&A with reporters Francis Farrell and Asami Terajima about the front-line conditions in Donetsk Oblast, where they have recently traveled. They will answer your questions and discuss the planned counteroffensive, what it’s like on th

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next event will be a Q&A about corruption and oligarchs with editor-in-chief Olga Rudenko and senior editor Oleksiy Sorokin. Over the past few months, we’ve received a lot of questions from our community about corruption in Ukraine, how the war has affect

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next event will be a Q&A about Ukrainian history – a topic suggested by our community members and the focus of our upcoming project. Deputy chief editor Toma Istomina and senior editor Oleksiy Sorokin – who holds a BA in history from the University of Tor

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next community event will be a Q&A with our defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko about the current state of Russia’s war, one year after the full-scale invasion began. Illia has been reporting on Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014. He has also worked o

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Our next community event will be a Q&A with our reporter Francis Farrell about civilian life in Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Oblast. Francis traveled to the salt-mining town, the center of the war’s heaviest fighting, in January. Read his recent story

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, We want to say thank you again for all the great suggestions for community events that we received in response to the poll. We chose the topic for our next event based on your comments and messages you’ve sent in. This Friday, contributing editor Lili Bivings

Dear Kyiv Independent community members, Thank you to everyone who voted in our poll and left suggestions for our next community event! We’ve decided that our first community event of the year will be about life and culture in Ukraine (we received a lot of votes for “forward looking war analysis,” b

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began nearly 10 months ago. Then, many believed that Kyiv would fall in three days. Just last month, Ukraine liberated Kherson, the only regional capital that Russia managed to capture during its full-scale invasion. On Thursday, Dec. 22, we invite you to join

In August, we published our first investigation – and one of our most popular articles this year – a story about alleged leadership misconduct inside Ukraine’s International Legion. The first part of this investigation looked into the legion, created for foreign fighters defending Ukraine, and the a

Dear KI community members, We have two updates for you. The first is that, unfortunately, we have to reschedule our community event – the Q&A with Anastasiia Lapatina, one of the co-hosts of our podcast “Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World.” The new date is Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m. Kyiv time,

A few months ago, we launched our most recent podcast Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World. The podcast looks at why Ukraine is geopolitically significant and the effects of Russia’s invasion, from food security and energy to Ukrainian identity. Our next community event will be a Q&A with one of t

Dear community members, Unfortunately, we have to reschedule our Q&A “What the West gets wrong about Ukraine” with our Editor-in-Chief Olga Rudenko and CEO Daryna Shevchenko. The new date is Friday, Nov. 4. We apologize for the inconvenience. We hope to see you Friday, and we will also be recording

During August and September, our Editor-in-Chief Olga Rudenko and CEO Daryna Shevchenko traveled to attend conferences and events in Western Europe and North America – and found that a lot of misconceptions about Ukraine and Russia’s war still exist. Our next community event will be a Q&A with Olga

Our next community event will be a Q&A with our staff writer Francis Farrell, who reported from newly liberated Izium, as well as Balakliia, Kozacha Lopan, and Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast. Francis will talk about his experience in these towns immediately after the Kharkiv counteroffensive, what it’s