TORTURE CULTURE: Investigating Russia’s use of torture throughout history

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Tuesday, February 17, 2026
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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
For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

Valentyn, a 26-year-old platoon commander in the 25th Air Assault Brigade, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on Jan. 23, 2026.
War

'If you stop, you die' — Inside Ukraine's last fight for Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad

by Asami Terajima
DONETSK OBLAST — Walking through the mine-infested field under intense Russian drone surveillance was the scariest part of the mission for 22-year-old infantryman Mykola. "If you stop, you die," said Mykola, a small-framed soldier with dark circles under his eyes and a tired stare. "When we were walking to get to the positions, it wasn't hard to walk — it was hard to realize that you may not walk out alive because there were a lot of our dead around." The walk to his positions near the easter
War

'She loved fighting on the zero line' — The stories of 4 women killed defending Ukraine

by Asami Terajima
Ukraine is still mourning Lana Chornohorska, a 26-year-old drone pilot beloved by many as a "catalyst" in art and cultural activism who never seemed to run out of energy. Chornohorska, who went by her callsign "Satie," was fatally injured by a Russian drone in southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast on Jan. 1. Her unit, Ukrainian Volunteer Army, praised her as a devoted and courageous person who was not only a soldier, but "a prominent cultural figure." The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in March 20
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. on Feb. 3, 2026.
Politics

Kyiv groans a collective ‘WTF?’ to Trump’s latest Putin comments

by Chris York, Martin Fornusek, Tim Zadorozhnyy, Asami Terajima, Kateryna Hodunova, Oleg Sukhov, Yuliia Taradiuk
U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that his Russian counterpart "kept his word" by not launching mass missile and drone strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure for a week has been met with bewilderment and dismay in Kyiv. "I believe this is either a mockery of our misfortune, a lack of understanding of the situation, or wishful thinking," Volodymyr Ariev, a lawmaker from the opposition European Solidarity party, told the Kyiv Independent. The confusing saga of a supposed truce on stri
War

Ukraine war latest: Russian forces trying to 'bypass and infiltrate' Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast, military says

by Asami Terajima
This is Asami Terajima reporting from a very cold Kyiv on day 1,440 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today's top story: Russian troops are trying to "bypass and infiltrate" the destroyed town of Vovchansk in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, and the situation is "frankly difficult," Viktor Tregubov, a spokesman for Ukraine's Joint Forces in charge of the area, said on Feb. 2. Speaking on national TV, Tregubov said Russian troops are pressing on Ukrainian positions on the outskirts of Vo
Energy crisis

'Russians are to blame' — Moldovans react to mass power outage after Moldova-Ukraine line malfunction

by Paula Erizanu, Asami Terajima
Moldova suffered a major power outage on Jan. 31, leaving most of its capital without electricity in the morning and halting trolleybuses and traffic lights. Parts of Moldova experienced power disruptions when Ukraine reported "a cascade shutdown" in its power grid due to technical malfunctions on high-voltage lines connecting the two countries' power systems. Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said transmission lines between Romania and Moldova, as well as between western and central Ukraine, were

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