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Asami Terajima photo

Asami Terajima

Reporter

Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military issues, front-line developments, and politics. She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter. She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post focusing on international trade, infrastructure, investment, and energy. Originally from Japan, Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in the U.S. She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize, awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023. She was also featured in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: Young and Bold” 2023 list of emerging media makers in Ukraine.

a.terajima@kyivindependent.com

Articles

War

Ukraine war latest: 170,000 Russian troops deployed in Pokrovsk sector, Zelensky says

by Asami Terajima
Hi, this is Asami Terajima reporting from Kyiv on day 1,346 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today's top story: About 170,000 Russian troops are deployed in the Pokrovsk sector in eastern Donetsk Oblast to aiming capture the semi-surrounded city, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on Oct. 31. "All their forces are there," Zelensky told journalists in a briefing, as cited by Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform. "There are Russians in Pokrovsk. Our guys are destroying them, d
War

Russia keeps hitting Ukraine's training centers — and Ukraine doesn't have an answer

by Asami Terajima
A Russian missile strike this week on a Ukrainian training ground — the latest in a series of deadly strikes on training centers across the country — has heightened scrutiny and sparked criticism of the Ukrainian military command’s ability to protect recruits. Training centers, especially those near the front line or the border, often lack proper air defense, failing to protect recruits from recurring Russian strikes. While the Ukrainian military claims that it is reassessing its safety protoc
Geran-2 transported across Red Square during a Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russia, on May 9, 2025.
War

Russia is ramping up Shahed-type drone strikes on the front line in Ukraine

by Asami Terajima
Russia is increasingly using Shahed-type drones to target Ukrainian front-line positions, likely looking to conserve KAB guided aerial bombs where possible to prepare for a long war ahead, soldiers and experts have told the Kyiv Independent. Russian troops have been deploying these relatively cheap, self-destructing loitering munitions for nearly a year on the front, but they appear to be building additional launch sites, such as at the Russian-occupied Luhansk airport, to further intensify dro
Supporters of the ANO party hold a Czech flag during a campaign rally in Prague, Czech Republic, on Sept. 30, 2025.
Eastern Europe

As Czechs head to polls, Ukraine's ammunition supply is on the line

by Martin Fornusek, Asami Terajima
Czech voters are heading to the polls in a vote that could have significant implications for the country's foreign policy — particularly its steadfast support for Ukraine. Latest surveys indicate that the ruling pro-Western coalition has a slim chance of retaining a majority after the parliamentary elections scheduled for Oct. 3 and 4. The parties hoping for a takeover have not only pledged to limit or scrap military aid to Ukraine, but some have even challenged Czechia's membership in NATO an
A Ukrainian serviceman monitors the sky near Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine, on July 19, 2025.
War

Russia presses advance in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, threatening Ukrainian supply lines

by Asami Terajima
Russian forces are pressing their advance in central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in an effort to disrupt Ukrainian supply lines that support adjacent front-line sectors, military analysts say. Even as attention shifted to other sectors to the east enduring heavier fighting, Russian forces continued to advance at a slightly faster pace in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in recent weeks, Emil Kastehelmi, an analyst at the Finland-based Black Bird Group, which monitors open-source war footage, said. The l

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