Editor’s Note: We don’t reveal the real names of the people interviewed for this story due to the sensitive nature of their activities that puts them in direct danger. In the story, names were assigned to them for storytelling purposes. KHERSON – Kherson was liberated because Ukraine forced Russians
The war in Ukraine is being decided on the battlefields in the south and east of the country. But how it’s discussed in America helps shape those battlefields. Military aid from the West has helped Ukrainian forces turn the tide. Economic aid has allowed the Ukrainian economy to cling
Ukraine may have a chance to reshape this war — if it can solve its wartime production challenges. Earlier this week, two airbases deep inside Russia were struck by explosions. Several Russian strategic bombers were damaged. While Ukraine has not claimed responsibility, most observers and analysts agree that these were most
KHERSON – When Russia captured Kherson in March, disrupting supply chains to the city, local Ukrainian volunteers kept it running. When people had no food, they set up free hot meal cafeterias. When people had no medicine or hygiene goods, they brought them in from Odesa. When children needed to take
KHERSON — Huge numbers of Ukrainians were detained by Russians occupying Kherson. Many of them were interrogated by torture. The chief prosecutor of Kherson Oblast, Volodymyr Kalyuga, said that locals were tortured at four sites throughout the city. According to interviews with local officials and residents, these included a pre-trial detention
KHERSON — Svitlana Dosenko stood dangerously close to the edge of the platform, anxiously waiting for her son to arrive on the first train from Kyiv to Kherson since Russia’s invasion engulfed the entire country. “I left home in a hurry because I was worried that the platform would be
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
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
If Moscow was hoping the U.S. midterm elections would sway military aid to Ukraine, it’s likely to be disappointed. Helping Ukraine fight off Russia continues to have support from both main parties in Washington, analysts said. “Support for Ukraine is a bipartisan position supported by the vast majority
The Kyiv Independent spent some time with units of the 59th Mechanized Brigade who are defending Mykolaiv Oblast and attacking the Russian forces in neighboring Kherson. These are testimonies of four soldiers, officers and enlisted men, about their day-to-day experiences during the battle for the South. Only first names and
MYKOLAIV OBLAST — The low November sun slips in and out of the clouds near the regional border between Kherson and Mykolaiv. The last of the autumn leaves, the color of rust and flame, blow across the barren field as a handful of Ukrainian soldiers climb a small tree and go
Eight months into the full-scale war, a scandal ripped through Ukraine’s defense industry. Two top executives of Ukraine’s most famous defense contractor, Motor Sich, were detained on Oct. 22 for allegedly collaborating with Russia. Motor Sich is a storied Ukrainian company, whose creation predates the Soviet Union. It
Russia's been shelling civilian housing and infrastructure since the war escalated on Feb. 24 and has a body count in the thousands to show for it. But recently, Moscow prioritized attacking power plants throughout Ukraine, damaging more than a third with big missile and loitering munition attacks. Oleksandr Kharchenko, head
As Ukrainians push toward occupied Kherson, the Russian occupiers on Oct. 18 said they would move up to 60,000 Ukrainian civilians to occupied parts of Ukraine or Russia. The occupation authorities called it an “evacuation,” saying that Ukrainian forces are likely to attack the city. The Russians have already
KYIV — For the second Monday in a row, central Kyiv awoke to the sound of explosions caused by a Russian attack. Five blasts interspersed with Ukrainian defenders’ frantic small arms fire echoed through this downtown district early in the morning on Oct. 17. A week ago, Russia struck the same
Russia lashed out on Oct. 10, striking many Ukrainian cities with 84 missiles and 24 exploding drones. The places they hit were all civilian — multiple power plants but also a children’s playground in the center of Kyiv. Most strikes seemed to be timed to the Monday morning rush hour,
KYIV — The morning of Oct. 10 in Kyiv was like no other since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Starting just after 8 a.m., explosions were heard throughout Ukraine’s capital, and it was soon apparent that not all incoming missiles were being shot down
Ukrainian forces are gaining ground in Kherson Oblast. They are liberating villages and pushing towards the western bank of the Dnipro River, to squeeze the Russian forces against it. The Russian lines in the region are collapsing as their position west of the river gets less tenable by the day.
Ukraine’s successful counterattack in Kharkiv was important in many ways. The armed forces liberated a vast territory, inflicted serious damage to Russian formations there, and sent Russian morale plummeting, as Ukrainian spirit soared. But it also brought a big haul of Russian vehicles and weapon systems, which will make
The infamous “Rotterdam plus” case is being reopened by Ukraine’s new top anti-corruption prosecutor. The case’s closure was “illegal and unfounded,” according to Oleksandr Klymenko, the new head of the Special Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), appointed in July after the position was vacant for nearly two years.
Humiliated on the battlefield, the Kremlin now wants to quickly annex occupied Ukrainian territories and add them to the Russian Federation. Russian proxies in the occupied parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts have announced that between Sept. 23 and 27, they will rush sham “referendums” on these areas
Ukraine’s surprise counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast forced Russian soldiers to beat a hasty retreat, abandoning ammunition and equipment to be captured by Ukrainian forces. Since the beginning of the advance on Sept. 7, Ukraine has liberated about 3,000 square kilometers, or over 40 settlements, in Kharkiv Oblast, according
Liz Truss, UK’s future prime minister, is expected to be just as committed to helping Ukraine as her outgoing predecessor and fellow Tory, Boris Johnson. Truss has vowed to make sure that “the flame of freedom in Ukraine continues to burn bright,” and that Russian President Vladimir Putin will
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
The combat effectiveness of Russian forces in Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast will be noticeably affected by Ukrainian strikes on the bridges and crossing points there, military analysts said. With multiple recent strikes against three main bridges across the Dnipro, Ukraine’s largest river, Russian forces in Kherson Oblast were
Ukraine said it’s coming to liberate Kherson and Russia listened. Large Russian forces have been streaming into southern Ukraine over the past several weeks, centered around Kherson Oblast, where Ukraine is expected to be conducting a counter-offensive, per President Volodymyr Zelensky’s order to liberate the south. Analysts estimate
Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz defaulted on a portion of its debt on July 26 after a government decision caused it to miss the deadline for Eurobond payments. The company, which accounted for 17% of Ukraine’s public revenue in 2021, was due to repay a $335
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have been the stars of Ukrainian battlefields since the beginning of the war, detecting and destroying Russian forces. If the Ukrainian armed forces have their way, this is only the beginning. The goal now is to have drones and skilled operators in “every platoon, every battalion, every
Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, once deemed the most powerful businessman in the country, was allegedly stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship, according to Ukrainian media and several top officials and politicians. The news was first reported on July 20 by Ukrainska Pravda, citing its sources in the presidential administration. What first seemed
The National Bank of Ukraine has devalued the hryvnia against the dollar by 25% on July 21. The new official rate is Hr 36.57 per dollar. The previous rate of Hr 29.25, established in February at the start of the invasion, "no longer corresponds to reality and is
VINNYTSIA – Of the more than 100 people who sought medical attention at the local hospital after Russian missiles struck the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on July 14, Tetyana Drobotyn was looking for just one, her husband. “It was just a mess. Doctors were performing CPR right in the hallway,
Will the end of Boris Johnson’s tenure as the UK’s prime minister significantly impact Britain’s commitment to help Ukraine fight off Russia? Probably not, believe experts and UK officials who spoke to the Kyiv Independent. They pointed out that, with few exceptions, there’s a cross-party consensus
