In two years of total war, Moscow has tried every trick to keep the death march going. It held a draft, expanded state-sponsored mercenary companies, recruited convicted prisoners, integrated proxies from occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and forcibly conscripted Ukrainians in occupied territories and Ukrainian POWs. Lately, Russia has seized
Russia’s war machine has shown remarkable stamina despite the hundreds of thousands of troops it is estimated to have lost in Ukraine. But under the hood, it may be less resilient than it looks. With its high oil export revenues, Russia has been able to replace its losses and
Ukraine faces a challenging problem: how to stop a resurgent Moscow in its tracks long enough to rotate the troops, resupply, and fortify. Part of the answer is playing out right now in the skies over Russia. Over the past two weeks, at least dozens of Ukrainian drones reportedly struck
Editor’s Note: This story is based on dozens of interviews with Ukrainian active servicemen, veterans, and experts with knowledge of Ukraine’s military medical system. Some of the soldiers and veterans in the story are identified by their first name or callsign only because they fear retribution as they
Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klimenkov has been given one of the most sensitive jobs of his incoming team: reforming and managing Ukraine’s troubled military procurements. His overloaded daily schedule barely hints at the scope of the issue. Former Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and his entire team were fired after
As Western sanctions designed to cripple Russian energy exports barely slow them down, the Kremlin continues to make enough money to keep its war against Ukraine going indefinitely, just by selling oil to China and India. After pivoting away from Europe, Moscow found enthusiastic buyers in Beijing and New Delhi.
The capture of Avdiivka is Russia’s first major achievement in nine months, but it doesn’t leave any side looking good. For Russia, it was a Pyrrhic victory that consumed an army’s worth of equipment and killed or mangled estimated tens of thousands of Russian men to capture
Russia’s invasion of 2022 may have shocked the world with the brutality of the fighting but it was only a preview for what was coming in 2023. To start with, 2022 had variety. It kicked off with a disastrous Russian blitz into Kyiv Oblast, stalled and picked apart by
Stanislav Haider was hired to fix the defense ministry’s institutional problems just as Ukraine entered the most difficult period of the war to date. The 37-year-old deputy minister looks youthful but for his graying strands of hair and he whimsically refers to the invading Russians as “the northern tribes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Finland is "now going to have problems" because it joined NATO, on the same morning that he claimed not to be interested in fighting any NATO members.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Dec. 17 denied that he has designs to attack any NATO country, reacting to the speech of U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this month. Putin has made multiple threats in the past to neighboring states. Russia is currently occupying parts of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.
Episode #35 is dedicated to the wave of personnel replacements in Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and the military.
However, it would be impossible for Igor Girkin to be registered as a candidate in the March 17, 2024 presidential election without the Kremlin's approval, according to independent observers. Candidates in Russian elections are vetted by the Kremlin beforehand, and voting is heavily rigged.
As fall weather arrives, observers are looking at the status of Ukraine's three-pronged counteroffensive, which continues to move very slowly. Ukrainian forces have yet to fully break through Russia's defensive lines and fight to their target cities — Tokmak, Berdiansk, and Vasylivka. Their tempo is heavily limited by minefields, airstrikes, shortages
Russia's Education Ministry reportedly told universities not to openly discuss "negative political, economic and social trends" in Russia in the course of their academic activities, according to the latest update from the U.K. Defense Ministry.
Over the past year, allied nations Poland and Ukraine went from displays of enthusiastic support and gratitude to trading veiled accusations in the UN General Assembly. When Russia launched a full-scale invasion, Poland took the initiative to provide weapons to Ukraine and called on others to do the same. Poland's
Plagued by weapon and ammo shortages, Ukraine is not able to export anything defense-related at this time but is looking to return to being one of the world's leading armorers. The production of Ukrainian weapons on African soil is seen as an alternative to currently-impossible exports, Kuleba said, calling it a "new trend."
Among other capabilities, the alliance will eventually pave the way for Ukraine to localize production of licensed foreign weapons on Ukrainian soil, said Andriy Yermak, head of the president's office. During his recent visit to Washington, Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to have their teams hammer out a roadmap for this kind of localization.
Episode #27 is dedicated to the recent Ukrainian attacks in Russia-occupied Crimea.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hinted on Sept. 24 that his country can no longer rely on Russia's protection after Azerbaijan's forces quickly defeated ethnic Armenian forces in the restive Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The past month has not been kind to Russia's forces in occupied Crimea. In a span of weeks, a ship, a submarine, and multiple air defense systems were destroyed. Ukraine said these targets included Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, optimistically named the Triumph. Purported videos of attacks on Aug. 23
The Zaporizhzhia front has been abuzz with news of Ukrainians breaking through Russia’s first defensive line and chiseling away at a breach in the second. “They’re widening that breach at this stage to enable the flow of armored vehicles and logistics so they can exploit it,” Michael Kofman,
Damage from the overnight drone attack on Kyiv Oblast is more serious than previously reported, according to the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration.
Ukrainian forces liberated 1.5 square kilometers of territory near Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in the past 24 hours, Tavria grouping spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun said on Sept. 10.
Ihor Kolomoisky's recent arrest is the latest episode in a prolonged, hard-fought slide from grace for one of Ukraine's most notorious oligarchs. At his height, he governed a region, controlled huge chunks of multiple industries, made good use of his massive TV network, and a cadre of loyal politicians. Now,
Ihor Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine's most infamous oligarchs, was officially charged with fraud and money laundering. The Security Service said in its official statement that Kolomoisky is alleged of laundering over Hr 500 million ($13.5 million) in 2019-2020.
Editor’s Note: Soldiers in this story are stationed on the front and are identified only by their first name due to the nature of the information they are sharing. KHARKIV OBLAST – Fighting throughout Ukraine is grueling, even for hardened veterans. For inexperienced troops recently plucked from civilian life, it's
Editor’s note: Due to security concerns, the Kyiv Independent isn’t publishing the real name or the photo of the police officer at the center of this story. He is identified in the story as Oleksandr. KUPIANSK, Kharkiv Oblast – Kupiansk police officer Oleksandr doesn’t like remembering the time
Editor’s note: Some soldiers, local police officers and residents of Kupiansk district, Kharkiv Oblast, are not identified by name due to security concerns. All of the reporting and interviewing for this story was completed before the order was announced on Aug. 10 to evacuate 12,000 district residents from
Ukraine made a "tactically significant" advance along two lines of attack towards the southern coast, according to the Russian and Ukrainian sources.
Work to dismantle the Soviet emblem on Kyiv's Motherland Monument has started, the Culture Ministry reported on July 30. The monument will instead be fitted with a Ukrainian trident, which will reportedly be finished by Ukraine's Independence Day on Aug. 24.
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited a rehabilitation center in Ivano-Frankivsk on July 30 to meet with soldiers undergoing treatment. The president reportedly awarded the recovering soldiers state medals of courage.
