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Francis Farrell

Reporter

Francis Farrell is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. He is the co-author of War Notes, the Kyiv Independent's weekly newsletter about the war. For the second year in a row, the Kyiv Independent received a grant from the Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust to support his front-line reporting for the year 2025-2026. Francis won the Prix Bayeux Calvados-Normandy for war correspondents in the young reporter category in 2023, and was nominated for the European Press Prize in 2024. Francis speaks Ukrainian and Hungarian and is an alumnus of Leiden University in The Hague and University College London. He has previously worked as a managing editor at the online media project Lossi 36, as a freelance journalist and documentary photographer, and at the OSCE and Council of Europe field missions in Albania and Ukraine.

f.farrell@kyivindependent.com
For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

Photos

Road to the kill zone: With Ukrainian troops on the lifeline from Kramatorsk to Kostiantynivka

by Serhii Korovayny, Francis Farrell
Editor’s note: Ukrainian photojournalist Serhii Korovaynyi made two trips on foot toward the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast in spring 2026. Francis Farrell, who has also traveled to the area recently, helped put the article together from Kyiv. In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first name or call sign only. This April in Donbas, daffodils and tulips are blooming near courtyards destroyed by glide bombs
Video

How drones erased the front line in Ukraine, explained

by Francis Farrell
Ukraine’s recent counterattacks in the south were officially presented as a major success, with Kyiv claiming hundreds of square kilometers recaptured from Russian forces. But most battlefield maps barely changed. So what is really happening on the front line? The answer lies in the growing “gray zone” — vast contested areas where drones dominate the battlefield, infantry infiltrates enemy positions, and traditional front lines are becoming increasingly difficult to define. As both Russia and Uk
War

Russia's test of 'Satan 2' missile 'to compensate for international embarrassment,' expert says

by Francis Farrell, Lucy Pakhnyuk
Russia has allegedly conducted a successful test of its nuclear-capable RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), following a series of failed launches that exposed weaknesses behind Moscow's repeated nuclear threats. News of the claimed launch was delivered to Russian President Vladimir Putin by Strategic Missile Forces Commander Sergey Karakayev, Russian state news agency TASS reported on May 12. According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Moscow warned the U.S. and "other
Ukrainian recruits at a training center in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on March 27, 2026.
War

Analysis: Is Ukraine starting to win the war again?

by Francis Farrell
Who is winning? Since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the information space around the war has been obsessed with this deceptively simple question, and the constant new iterations of answers to it. In the hands of those fighting the narrative war, from officials on both sides, online cheerleaders, armchair generals, and a certain world leader who likes to talk about who has the cards, the answers differ radically, but all are delivered with consistent venom, emotion, and

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