On the evening of May 9, just half a day after a single T-34 tank rolled through Red Square during Moscow’s subdued Victory Day celebrations, something unexpected happened. Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, announced that units of the Russian regular army’s 72nd Separate Motorized
KYIV – At first, everything about the small, solemn gathering in the grounds of Kyiv’s St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery had all the signs of a traditional Ukrainian military funeral. A guard of soldiers, a Ukrainian flag held over the coffin, the rolling verse of Orthodox prayers, the national anthem,
After seeming to have calmed down over early spring, the internal conflict between Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Defense Ministry has escalated dramatically. In the early morning of May 5, Prigozhin recorded a video in front of what he claimed to be the bodies of dozens
Editor’s Note: Some of the soldiers interviewed in this piece declined to give their last names for security reasons or because they had relatives in occupied territory, and are identified by first names and callsigns instead. KHARKIV OBLAST – At an undisclosed part of the front line in Ukraine’s
Episode #5 of the video podcast "This Week in Ukraine" is dedicated to Ukrainian attacks deep behind enemy lines – on Russian soil, and in occupied Crimea.
Two months after Ukraine’s defense of Bakhmut seemed doomed, the bloodiest battle of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine is still going against all expectations. Making rapid advances at the end of February, Russian forces seemed to be on the cusp of surrounding the city, as the only roads
DONETSK OBLAST – Climbing to a firing position through trenches dug into black Ukrainian soil, the relative quiet in the air is only reassuring to an extent. At the most forward point, a Soviet-era recoilless rifle stands watch, dug into a shallow depression in the ground. Bohdan, a company commander of
Episode #1 of "This Week in Ukraine" is dedicated to Ukraine’s military strategy in Bakhmut, an embattled city in Donetsk Oblast in the east of Ukraine. The battle for Bakhmut has already proven to be one of the most brutal and costly fights of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Kyiv Independent reporter Francis Farrell speaks to John Spencer, U.S. veteran and chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point.
In the second year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, Moscow has shown its intent to fight and win the war without regard for the lives of its servicemen, or the damage caused to Russia’s economy and social fabric. The Kremlin’s choice to announce “partial” mobilization in
AVDIIVKA, Donetsk Oblast – Avdiivka is an eerie city to drive into in March 2023. One year into Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, but nine years into the Donbas war, the compact city just 10 kilometers from the center of occupied Donetsk is barely holding on. There is little choice
On the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, with the first days of March came the all-consuming mud. Videos of trucks and armored vehicles bogged down in fields heralded the arrival of a time traditionally known in Ukrainian as bezdorizhzhia, or “roadlessness.” Though the mud may present a brief challenge to both
The search for the identity of the alleged Ukrainian prisoner of war executed in a video that emerged on March 6 appears to be coming to an end. On March 6, a video was shared by popular Ukrainian bloggers in which an unarmed man in a military uniform with a
For many Ukrainians young and old, perception of time, memories, and dreams are split between two worlds, that before Feb. 24, 2022, and that which came after. Even in cities far from the front lines, wartime Ukraine is a world of sirens, blackouts, curfews, donation drives, and an enduring wish
Editor’s Note: This piece tells the story of the lives of civilians and first responders in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, directly through the personal experience of a Kyiv Independent reporter who stayed overnight in the embattled city in January, traveling together with a colleague from Moldova. BAKHMUT, Donetsk Oblast – Moments
Key developments on Jan. 14-15: * Death toll in missile strike on Dnipro currently at 30 as first responders continue to rescue civilians from rubble * Energy Minister: Russia's Jan. 14 mass missile strike hits energy infrastructure in 6 oblasts * UK announces Challenger 2 tanks and 155mm artillery in major new military
Editor’s Note: The Ukrainian soldiers featured in this article are identified by first names and callsigns to protect their identities. BAKHMUT, Donetsk Oblast – On the screen of a large handheld remote control, a Ukrainian drone operator scans a gray, washed-out landscape of ruined houses and muddy trenches. It isn’
Former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and ex-сhair of space agency Roscosmos Dmitrii Rogozin was wounded along with top proxy official Vitalii Khotsenko in an attack on a restaurant outside occupied Donetsk on the evening of Dec. 21. According to Russian media outlets as well as Rogozin himself, two people were
This holiday season, as people celebrate with their families and stroll brightly-decorated streets across the world, Russia's war against Ukraine has reached a crucial point. Ukraine's autumn campaign has been a resounding success, with counteroffensives in Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Kherson oblasts liberating thousands of square kilometers of territory. More importantly,
Water-logged trenches, shredded tree lines, and an undulating, colorless landscape of mud: The visual experience of the battles outside Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast have proved to transcend centuries. When Ukrainian machine-gunner Viktor Borinets’ photos of conditions on the first line of defense went viral, the comparisons to the notoriously grim
Editor’s Note: This story contains descriptions that some readers may find graphic. Standing in line in liberated Kherson for a box of pasta and canned goods with a handsome black dog on a lead, Valerii Hnedov doesn't look like someone who only three weeks prior was languishing in a
From the indiscriminate killings of civilians in Bucha, Izium and Mariupol, to the everyday terror of long-range missile strikes, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world in its devastation and brutality. Behind the tragic headlines, Ukrainian state institutions are faced with the mammoth task of documenting and
KHERSON — Housed in a grand imperial building with a view out onto the Dnipro River, the Kherson Fine Arts Museum once hosted one of the richest collections in all of Ukraine. As with the rest of Kherson, which had its electricity infrastructure destroyed by withdrawing Russian forces in early November,
In the Kyiv office of the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion, two flags hang on the wall next to each other: the yellow-and-blue flag of Ukraine and the green-white-and-red flag of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. The battalion, named for the first president of the short-lived Chechen republic, Dzhokhar Dudayev, who led
KHERSON — As Maksym Nehrov sat in the back of a vehicle, tied up, with a bag over his head, he overheard the Russians talking and he knew at once where he was headed. They’d hunted him all over Kherson, kicking down doors and tearing through the apartments of his
When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed his 10-point peace plan to G20 leaders in Bali on Nov. 15, he had only recently returned from a historic visit to Kherson, the liberation of which marks another great step towards the return of all Russian-occupied territory. Touching on factors such as food
KHERSON – When liberation came, many Kherson residents could barely believe the ordeal was over. Kherson was the only regional capital that Russians managed to capture, back in the first days of the full-scale invasion. A brutal occupation then ensued, with many residents being suppressed, robbed, abducted, tortured or killed. In
Russia's gradual retreat reached a sudden climax on Nov. 9, when Moscow announced the withdrawal of its forces from the right bank of the Dnipro River, including the city of Kherson. Upon the recommendation of Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the
In the early hours of Oct. 29, the famous naval harbor of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was rocked by a series of mysterious explosions. Details were scarce at first, but with the coming of dawn, remarkable footage was released of sleek, black maritime
SVIATOHIRSK, Donetsk Oblast – For centuries, the gleaming whitewashed walls of the Sviatohirsk Dormition Lavra, peeking out of the hilly forest above the Siverskyi Donets River, attracted pilgrims from across the Eastern Orthodox world. Now, in an obscene imitation of a Jackson Pollock painting, they stand in many places splattered with
PERSHOTRAVNEVE, Kharkiv Oblast – Less than two kilometers from front-line positions on the border with Luhansk Oblast, silence is deceptive and never lasts long. In one moment, the scene in any given village in this gray zone can be described as almost peaceful, as children play on sunny streets and flocks
LYMAN, Donetsk Oblast – On a quiet road lined by pine forest leading into the city of Lyman, the remains of a frantic but unsuccessful escape clutter the roadside. Four repurposed civilian cars, burnt-out and upturned, mark the spot where the flight of Russian soldiers met an abrupt end. Just beside
