Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command reported on Sept. 6 that several settlements in Kherson Oblast were liberated by the Armed Forces. Operational Command’s spokeswoman Natalia Humeniuk said that the military is now conducting demining in those areas and will give more details shortly. Ukraine has also been active in
Fierce battles continue as Ukrainian Armed Forces push Russians out of three villages in the east and south. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces liberated two villages in Kherson Oblast, and one village in Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian forces have also advanced, gaining new heights. Despite not naming the liberated villages,
As an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team carried out a mission to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine’s major counteroffensive continued in the south. Tensions remained high around the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant while the inspectors continued to assess the safety and security of the damaged facility,
Despite obstruction from Moscow, the UN-led International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission finally reached the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Sept. 1. As the IAEA team of 14 experts headed through the battlefield to Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Russian forces began shelling the occupied city of Enerhodar and
It's the first day of school. Even as fierce battles raged in the east and south of Ukraine, many Ukrainian children returned to classrooms for the first time since their offline education was disrupted by the full-scale war. While Education Minister Serhiy Shkarlet said nearly 3 million school-aged children were
Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. After visiting the war-torn areas near Kyiv, British barrister Sir Geoffrey Nice said he was disappointed with one Ukrainian decision. Even as Ukraine focuses its main efforts on defending itself, it shouldn’t be relying on its international
Ukrainian forces continue to target Russian strategic positions in Kherson Oblast amid a new ongoing southern counteroffensive that could be a major turning point in the war. As the war enters a new phase, the Kremlin’s troops are continuing their onslaught in the eastern Donetsk Oblast, while signs of
Fighting rages in Kherson Oblast as Ukraine’s military begins an offensive aimed at retaking territory captured by Russia in the early days of the full-scale war. But as more reports of the unfolding counteroffensive in the south appear, Russia intensifies its attacks on a number of Ukrainian cities, including
As signs that Ukraine had launched its long-awaited counteroffensive to liberate Russian-occupied Kherson began to emerge on Aug. 29, the Ukrainian government once again called on the remaining residents in occupied Kherson Oblast to evacuate. The Ukrainian military launched its counteroffensive in “many directions” in the south, Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson
Many Ukrainian schools will be reopening on Sept. 1 for the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The whole idea of children going back to school sounded surreal in the early stages of the war. Education was abruptly disrupted and children who had access to the
A nearby fire sparked by Russian shelling disconnected the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the Ukrainian grid for the first time in its history, Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom reported on Aug. 25. The two operating reactors at the plant suffered a "complete disconnection” from the grid, according to
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include the new number of casualties. A Russian missile strike hit a railway station in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on Aug. 24, killing at least 15 people and wounding about 50 others, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his address to the UN Security Council.
On a cold day in 1918, a young student battalion began digging trenches to fortify their positions near Kyiv. They were filled with dreams of independent Ukraine and stood up to another of Russia’s attempts to subjugate their land. As about 5,000 Bolshevik troops came to seize Kyiv,
Even with a semblance of normalcy returning to liberated areas around Kyiv, burial ceremonies continue for unidentified victims killed under Russian occupation early in the full-scale war. Another 21 bodies of unidentified victims were buried in Bucha on Aug. 17. Instead of names, they were put to rest with number
A series of explosions were reported in the northern part of Russian-occupied Crimea early on Aug. 16. According to the Crimea Inform news site, a fire broke out at a transformer substation in the town of Dzhankoi, and in the nearby village of Maiske ammunition detonated at a depot. Sergey
Months after the Russian military retreated from Kyiv Oblast, a 21-year-old Russian soldier confessed to killing a civilian man in the then-occupied village of Andriivka on March 12 by order of his commander. Speaking to a journalist from Russia-focused investigative news site iStories, Daniil Frolkin confessed to committing atrocities during
Editor's note: The photos were provided by Alex Chan Tsz Yuk, a Hong Kong-based photojournalist, now covering the war in Ukraine. Heavy Russian bombardment continues to pummel eastern Donetsk Oblast nearly six months into the full-scale war. Russian forces have fired missiles and shells across the entire region, indiscriminately killing
Editor’s Note: The names of some of the people interviewed by the Kyiv Independent for this story have been changed to protect their identity as they have shared sensitive information that could place them and their families in danger. Three months after Russia’s brutal months-long siege of Mariupol
A series of loud blasts were heard from the direction of a Russian military airbase in the western part of occupied Crimea in late afternoon on Aug. 9, according to multiple media reports. Shortly after the explosions took place, videos of black smoke rising above what is believed to be
Ukraine and Russia on July 22 signed agreements to resume exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, a deal aimed at unblocking crucial grain exports and easing fears of a looming global food crisis. During a ceremony at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov
As Russia wages its war in Ukraine, it also continues to weaponize its energy resources, throwing the European continent into one of the worst energy crises in decades. After 10 days of waiting to see if Russia would resume gas supplies through the Nord Stream pipeline, the main route of
Delegations from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey met with United Nations representatives in Istanbul on July 13 for the first time to discuss the safe export of grain, as Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports persists and fears of a global food crisis continue to mount. After much anticipation, Turkey’s
The stakes are becoming increasingly high for the companies that have refused to pull out of Russia following its brutal invasion of Ukraine. A quarter of the world’s 200 largest companies are at risk of having key assets seized by the Russian government, according to a new report from
Russian missile attacks hit several regions of Ukraine on the morning of July 11, killing dozens and damaging or destroying homes and infrastructure. Attacks were reported in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Odesa oblasts. In Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, Russian missile strikes resulted in a total of at least six
Leaders of the world condemned the July 8 assassination of Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in Japan’s history. Abe was fatally shot during a campaign speech in Nara, a city popular with tourists near Kyoto. The gunman was arrested by the police and admitted to shooting the politician.
Mayor of Sloviansk Vadym Liakh on July 6 urged remaining residents to evacuate, as the city appears to be Russia’s next target in its plans to capture Donetsk Oblast and civilian evacuation becomes increasingly difficult. After seizing the city of Lysychansk on July 3, Ukraine’s last major stronghold
Early on the morning of June 26, Kyiv resident Bogdan Lega was awoken to the loud whistling sound of a missile flying toward his apartment. A split second later, the first missile struck the apartment building. Lega told the Kyiv Independent that the powerful blast threw him out of his
Ukrainian farmers begin the July harvest knowing there may be nowhere to store their grain or export it, as Russia’s naval blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports enters its fifth month. According to Ukraine's estimates, 22 million tons of grain already stockpiled across the country remain in their silos.
Russia will focus on capturing all of Donetsk Oblast after seizing Lysychansk in neighboring Luhansk Oblast, Governor of Luhansk Oblast Serhiy Haidai said on July 4. Ukrainian forces were forced to withdraw from Lysychansk, Ukraine’s last holdout in Luhansk Oblast, on July 3, after months of fierce fighting. Both
Russian forces have captured Lysychansk, the final Ukrainian holdout in Luhansk Oblast, after heavy fighting, both sides confirmed on July 3. The General Staff of the Ukrainian military reported in the evening that its troops were forced to withdraw from Lysychansk after fierce fighting, a significant victory for Moscow whose
Ukraine’s eastern city of Lysychansk is now the center of competing claims, with both Ukraine and Russia claiming to be in control of it. Lysychansk was the last major city under Ukrainian control in Luhansk Oblast before the contradicting statements appeared. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed on July
KHARKIV – Oleh Puteshenko walked through the ruins of his former workplace, a restaurant in Kharkiv, barely holding back tears. The 46-year-old, who used to work as a security guard, spoke proudly of the restaurant as he showed the terrace where he spent most of his days taking care of the
