Top notch imageTop notch mobile image

Introducing our new merch collection

“Ukrainian Trident: Through History and Modernity”

Shop now

Team

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.

Articles

Infantry recruits undergo basic training at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Oct. 11, 2025.

Ukraine troop cap contentious as US pushes for peace deal to end war

by Asami Terajima
Cutting Ukraine's military might has been raised as one of the key points in U.S. President Donald Trump's latest push to end the war at all costs. The original 28-point peace proposal, criticized in Ukraine for aligning with Russia's sweeping demands, envisioned a 600,000-cap for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Within days, European leaders sent a counterproposal, which reportedly included a push to increase the limitation to 800,000 instead. While imposing such restrictions on Ukraine, a country
U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 18, 2025.

Outrage, disgust, but little surprise — Ukraine reacts to bombshell Witkoff leak

An explosive leak implicating top U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff in shady dealings with Russia has sparked shock and astonishment not only in the U.S. but also in Ukraine. According to conversations leaked by Bloomberg on Nov. 25, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Witkoff advised a Russian official on how to sway the White House. Ukrainian lawmakers, soldiers, and experts told the Kyiv Independent that the leak proves Witkoff could be a tool of the Kremlin rather than a neutral mediat