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Francis Farrell photo

Francis Farrell

Senior Reporter

Francis Farrell is a senior reporter at the Kyiv Independent. He is the co-author of War Notes, the Kyiv Independent's weekly newsletter about the war. For the second year in a row, the Kyiv Independent received a grant from the Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust to support his front-line reporting for the year 2025-2026. Francis won the Prix Bayeux Calvados-Normandy for war correspondents in the young reporter category in 2023, and was nominated for the European Press Prize in 2024. Francis speaks Ukrainian and Hungarian and is an alumnus of Leiden University in The Hague and University College London. He has previously worked as a managing editor at the online media project Lossi 36, as a freelance journalist and documentary photographer, and at the OSCE and Council of Europe field missions in Albania and Ukraine.

f.farrell@kyivindependent.com
For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

War

What Russia's military buildup during Oleshky ceasefire could mean for Kherson Oblast

by Kateryna Hodunova, Francis Farrell
After several days of quiet, the familiar buzzing of FPV drones and near-constant rumble of artillery fire have returned to Kherson. The sounds quickly drowned out the sense of security that had settled in during a ceasefire, replacing it with fear and uncertainty. For five days, from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, the ceasefire in Kherson Oblast, intended to evacuate civilians from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, gave Kherson residents a short reprieve from constant Russian strikes. Separated from R
Video

Kyiv ‘torture chamber’ debunked: Rumors, Russia, and what really happened

by Francis Farrell, Kateryna Hodunova, Oleksandra Diachenko
What really happened during the clash at a National Guard facility near Kyiv and how did it become a major disinformation story? The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell and Kateryna Hodunova examine what happened that night, the provocation at the center of the incident, and the role of online misinformation in escalating the situation. They discuss the legal gray areas in Ukraine’s mobilization system, public frustration over forced mobilization, and how Russia exploits these tensions to underm
War

100 days in, what changed for Ukraine's soldiers under Commander-in-Chief Drapatyi?

by Asami Terajima, Francis Farrell, Jimmy Rushton
Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi marked 100 days as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in late October, as Ukraine regains ground in the northern part of Donetsk Oblast and seeks to improve defensive positions before winter. Drapatyi, one of Ukraine's most popular generals, was appointed in July with high expectations that he would deliver much-needed reforms to the armed forces. His promotion to commander-in-chief came after President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed his unpopular pr
War

What really happened during the clash at a National Guard facility near Kyiv?

by Francis Farrell
KYIV OBLAST — A clash between an angry mob and Ukraine's National Guard and law enforcement on a sleepy street in the Petropavlivska Borshchahivka suburb of Kyiv on Nov. 2 has fueled the information war around Ukraine's mobilization. The incident, involving roughly 200 people attacking law enforcement officers, military personnel and vehicles, prompted a response that included tear gas and warning shots fired into the air. The arrival of President’s Office Head Kyrylo Budanov further underscor
War

'Life simply returned' – Oleshky ceasefire gives Kherson short respite amid years of Russian terror

by Francis Farrell
Editor's note: Ukrainian journalist Daria Litovchenko contributed to reporting on the ground in Kherson, while Francis Farrell compiled the material from Kyiv. In all of Ukraine, perhaps no city has suffered as much, for as long, during Russia's full-scale war as Kherson. From the initial eight months of brutal Russian occupation in 2022 — with all of the associated torture, looting and deportation — to Russia's man-made flood caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, to the systematic "h
Ukraine

'It's a miracle' — Oleshky residents reach Ukrainian-controlled territory after escaping Russian occupation

by Yuliia Taradiuk, Kateryna Denisova, Viacheslav Ratynskyi, Francis Farrell
CHERNIHIV OBLAST — Evacuees from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky have reached Ukrainian-controlled territory on Oct. 31 after an arduous 19-hour journey. The city's residents, who had been trapped in a worsening humanitarian crisis for months on end, arrived to an emotional reception at the border crossing with Belarus by relatives, health workers with ambulances, aid organizations, police, and media. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the mission was successful, thanking all parties
War

Reporter's notebook: Visiting a POW camp is the strongest antidote to sympathy for Russian soldiers

by Francis Farrell
Once our eyes adjusted to the aggressive glare of the freshly painted white walls around the yard, we began to make out figures, dozens of them dressed in navy blue, clinging to the inner walls of this surreal space. It was a scorching June day in western Ukraine, and we had just been released, like kids in a petting zoo, into a courtyard full of prisoners of war from the Russian military. Who we decided to walk up to and talk to, and what we wanted to talk about, was up to us. Whether these

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