Team

Anna Belokur
Social Media Manager, Video HostAnna Belokur is a social media manager and video host at the Kyiv Independent, and can most often be seen in “Ukraine This Week” every Sunday. She has eight years of experience in nonprofits and newsrooms across Eastern Europe, most recently serving as a digital strategist at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Originally from the U.S., she is now based in Kyiv.
Articles

Leaked calls expose US-Russia peace deal | Ukraine This Week
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur covers leaked calls showing U.S.-Russia coordination on a controversial peace plan and reports on backlash to Reese Witherspoon’s Moscow-set novel.

Trump's new push for peace deal – what's different this time | Ukraine This Week
by Anna Belokur
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on the devastating Russian strike on the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, which killed 33 people, including six children.

Major corruption scandal and Russian deepfakes | Ukraine This Week
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on a major corruption scandal shaking up Ukraine’s government and involving people from President Volodymyr Zelenky's circle.

Negligence scandal in Ukrainian military | Ukraine This Week
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on a deadly Russian strike that killed Ukrainian soldiers and civilians allegedly during a military ceremony, prompting outrage and an internal investigation into security lapses.

Last stand for Pokrovsk | Ukraine This Week
by Anna Belokur
This week, major developments from Ukraine’s front lines, Russia violates NATO airspace and Russia kills journalists reporting on front lines.

Russia’s war on civilians | Ukraine This Week
by Anna Belokur
The episode covers Russian war crimes in Pokrovsk and continued attacks on Ukrainian cities, including missile strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv. While Moscow continues to reject a ceasefire with Ukraine, has President Trump finally shifted his approach to Russia?

International Gymnastics Federation’s ‘neutral status’ is a sham that legitimizes Russian pro-war athletes
by Anna Belokur
A lot happened this week. Russia hit a kindergarten in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, where 48 children were sheltering. A Russian fighter jet violated Lithuanian airspace. And a former political candidate of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, Angelina Melnikova, won all-around gold at the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Kremlin released a congratulatory statement to Melnikova, which read “Your outstanding performance in the individual all-around event

Trump holds back Tomahawks | Ukraine This Week
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on another Trump–Zelensky meeting in Washington, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intervention to dissuade the U.S. from supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles.

Tomahawks for Ukraine and Nord Stream investigation | Ukraine This Week
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur breaks down renewed U.S. discussions about supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles — and Russia's reaction.

Ukraine's nuclear plants at risk, Russian drones in Europe | Ukraine This Week
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on the wave of unidentified drone sightings across Europe — from Denmark to France — that have sparked airport closures, military investigations, and renewed calls to shoot them down.

Trump backs shooting Russian jets as provocations rise | Ukraine This Week
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur covers U.S. President Donald Trump’s shift in rhetoric after meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York, including his support for NATO allies shooting down Russian jets entering the alliance's airspace.

High-stakes autumn for Ukraine | Ukraine This Week
This week on Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur covers the ongoing response to the Sept. 9 violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones — the first instance of NATO engaging Russia militarily on its own soil since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia tests NATO defenses | Ukraine This Week
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur breaks down Russia’s largest drone and missile attack on Ukraine, as well as the shocking incursion of Russian drones into Poland, which marked the first direct NATO engagement with Moscow since the full-scale invasion began.

China backs Russia as Trump's peace talks stall | Ukraine This Week
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur looks at the two summits that took place in China and France, delivering two starkly different messages about the future of Russia’s war — and the world.

Russia’s oil infrastructure under fire | Ukraine This Week
U.S.-Ukraine peace talks, Russia’s massive missile strike on Kyiv that killed 25 civilians, and Moscow’s first reported occupation of villages in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Also, Ukraine’s escalating drone attacks on Russian oil refineries.



