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Andrea Januta

Reporter

Andrea Januta is a Kyiv-based reporter for the Kyiv Independent. She previously spent six years as an investigative reporter with Reuters in New York, where she won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. While at Reuters, her work led to multiple federal investigations, congressional hearings, and new legislation. Before becoming a journalist, she worked as a financial data analyst at Goldman Sachs.

Articles

'Last chance' — Witkoff effort in Russia unlikely to change Trump’s course, analysts say

by Andrea Januta
As U.S. President Donald Trump trades barbs with Russian officials amid growing tensions, he has announced he may send his special envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia this week. The visit, which Russia has yet to confirm, would likely take place on Aug. 6 or 7 — immediately before a deadline Trump imposed on Moscow to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or suffer secondary tariffs targeting its oil exports. "I think this is an effort to give (Russian President Vladimir) Putin one last chance" before the

As Ukraine's government reverses course on anti-corruption crackdown, here’s what to expect next

After massive nationwide protests and fierce international criticism, President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed a new bill to restore the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption authorities. The new bill, submitted July 24, has yet to be passed but would reverse the decisions that sparked the nation’s biggest political crisis since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The protests began after Ukraine's parliament voted on July 22 to give the prosecutor general new powers over t
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Washington, D.C., U.S. on April 8, 2025.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is spreading lies about Ukraine’s protests. Russia is taking note.

by Andrea Januta
On July 22 and 23, Ukrainians took to the streets in the country’s first mass anti-government protests since the outbreak of Russia's full-scale invasion three and a half years earlier. Thousands of citizens rallied in cities across the country on the first night with a clear goal: to urge President Volodymyr Zelensky to veto a bill passed in parliament that guts anti-corruption reforms, and to express anger with recent government attacks on anti-corruption figures. But that didn’t stop the fr

‘Point of no return’ — Ukraine’s democracy under threat as new bill guts anti-corruption efforts

by Andrea Januta
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect the fact Zelensky signed the bill into law on the evening of July 22, as shown on the Parliament's website. "Dark times ahead." "Peak of corruption." "Point of no return." Ukrainian society sounded a code red for the country's democracy on July 22, as the final votes were tallied on a bill in Ukraine's parliament that strips independence from anti-corruption bodies, which was then signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelensky later that
U.S. President Donald Trump in East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. on July 13, 2025.

'Russia doesn't care' — Trump's 50-day Ukraine ceasefire deadline dismissed by Moscow pundits

by Andrea Januta
After U.S. President Donald Trump on July 14 threatened to impose “severe” tariffs on Russia in 50 days if there is no peace deal with Ukraine, the highly-anticipated statement was met largely with indifference and even relief among Russian commentators. In the first response from a senior Russian official, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, dismissed the announcement on X. "Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin," the former Russian Pr

'You think the end has come' — as Russian attacks on Ukraine escalate, Kyiv grapples with terrifying new normal

In the early hours of July 10, many Kyiv residents were jolted awake by the thundering sound of ballistic missiles shaking their buildings. Others were already lying awake in beds, bathtubs, and underground shelters across the city, as residents endure a new normal of intensified Russian strikes on the capital. "You lie down, look into the abyss of night, and hear the loudest attack," Hryhorii Matsebok, a 47-year-old artist, told the Kyiv Independent. "And you think the end has already come."

'Some are forged into poets during hostilities' — Medic, former POW, and poet on how war is shaping Ukraine's writers

by Andrea Januta
Before her harrowing footage of life in Mariupol under siege from Russian invaders was viewed around the world in 2022, Yuliia Paievska — call sign "Taira" — was already well known to Ukrainians for leading a volunteer medical unit in Donbas. Now, the volunteer, soldier, athlete, global activist, and former POW is being lauded once again – as a poet whose debut collection, Nazhyvo (Live), has captured audiences in Ukraine with its fervent writing, inspired by some of the war's most brutal episo
Attendees of the Meridian Czernowitz literary festival in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on June 28–29, 2025.

‘Not many events like this left’ — A Ukrainian literary festival in a city falsely claimed by Russia

by Andrea Januta
When Russia illegally declared ownership in 2022 over all of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast – despite never fully capturing or controlling much of it — it only strengthened the case for holding a literary festival there, says Svyatoslav Pomerantsev, president of the international literary corporation Meridian Czernowitz. Hosting a cultural event in the region, despite the risks, was a way to push back against Russia's territorial claims by affirming Ukraine's presence and identity. “In the eyes
U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. on June 27, 2025.

Ukraine scrambles to clarify extent of US military aid pause and 'whether everything will continue'

When the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) halted the transfer of critical air defense missiles and other weapons to Ukraine, Kyiv and its partners were caught off-guard and are now left scrambling for clarity on the scope and length of the Trump administration's decision. The White House confirmed the halt after a July 1 report by Politico said shipments were paused due to concerns over the size of domestic stockpiles. The decision "was made to put America's interests first following a DOD rev

Ukrainian deputy prime minister hit with travel ban, $2.9 million bail in major corruption case

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksii Chernyshov was restricted from traveling abroad without permission after a court ruled on June 27 to set bail at Hr 120 million ($2.9 million) while awaiting trial in a high-profile corruption case. “This is a huge challenge for me,” Chernyshov told reporters during a press briefing after the hearing, adding that he believed the bail was “too high.” Chernyshov is the highest-ranking official in Ukraine’s history to face corruption charges while in offic