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Anastasiia Verzun photo

Anastasiia Verzun

Junior Reporter

Anastasiia is a junior reporter at the Kyiv Independent. She is an alumna of Ukrainian Leadership Academy Mariupol 2022 and holds a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from Kyiv National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. Before joining the team, she studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. She previously worked at the NGO Kriegsbilder, organizing screenings of Ukrainian cinema and curating music and cultural events.

For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

Russia’s next war crime: After a winter of blackouts, Ukraine braces for summer water outages

by Anastasiia Verzun
Even as warmer weather reduces the disruptive impact of blackouts and lowers heating demand, Ukrainian officials and utility experts warn that Russia may be shifting its focus to a new pressure point: the country’s water infrastructure. That warning is now being echoed by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, HUR, which told the Kyiv Independent that "the selection of targets by the adversary is driven, among other factors, by a decrease in electricity consumption associated with the end of t
Antonina Rybalenko is seen in the apartment on the Left Bank of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 27, 2026.

As Kyiv's social services strain to meet needs this winter, volunteers step in

by Anastasiia Verzun
Valentyna Popova, an 85-year-old retired mathematician, lives in an apartment block on Kyiv’s east bank that is only minutes away from a city-installed "Invincibility Point," an emergency winter heating hub offering warmth, a place to charge devices, and sometimes tea or hot meals. She, however, is unable to reach the hub. While her flat is on the ground floor, mobility issues keep her inside, forcing her to rely entirely on volunteers stepping in to support residents that fell through the crac

Rage, panic, and a glimmer of hope in Ukraine as corruption scandal unfolds

Ukraine is being rocked by the biggest corruption scandal of President Volodymyr Zelensky's term. In the halls of power in Kyiv, the mood is one of dread and uncertainty about what to expect next. "It's a huge blow, but the worst part of it is that I'm not sure that we are at the end of it, it might still be unfolding," a pro-government Ukrainian lawmaker speaking on condition of anonymity told the Kyiv Independent. "What I would recommend the president to do right now is to take serious acti