As we mark 1,000 days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, members of the Kyiv Independent’s staff have paused to reflect. These reflections offer a glimpse into the profound impact of war — not only on a nation’s struggle for survival but on those who bear
For Russian liberals, late opposition leader Alexei Navalny represented a glimmer of hope for a democratic future. Yet for many Ukrainians, especially in the context of a decade of war, he was a more complex figure, often casting doubt on whether Russian opposition to Vladimir Putin necessarily aligned with support
Democratic nations have grappled with a range of pressing issues in recent years, including the inherent flaws of long-established political systems, the erosion of international alliances, and global economic challenges, all while autocracies have been gaining power by exploiting this instability. American journalist and historian Anne Applebaum’s latest book,
At the start of Russia’s full-scale war, Kyiv-based Swiss filmmaker Marc Wilkins, like many artists in Ukraine, was struggling to create. “The violence around me left me feeling paralyzed,” Wilkins, who has lived full-time in Ukraine since 2016, told the Kyiv Independent. But then Wilkins learned of an admirable
After announcing on Sept. 12 that screenings of the controversial documentary “Russians at War” would be paused due to “significant threats to festival operations and public safety,” the film is set to return to the Toronto International Film Festival’s lineup on Sept. 17. The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)
The documentary “Russians at War” has sparked controversy since its debut on the festival circuit, with many accusing it of whitewashing Russian soldiers and their crimes in Ukraine. Canadian-Russian director Anastasia Trofimova has defended the film, calling it “anti-war.” After facing backlash, the Toronto International Film Festival pulled screenings of
Editor’s note: This story contains graphic descriptions. The accounts of elderly Ukrainian civilians who survived the hardships of World War II in their youth, only to face the brutality of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, underscore the cyclical nature of history’s relentless and unforgiving course. It’s
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect Canadian broadcaster TVO's statement. TVO has withdrawn support from the documentary "Russians at War" following protests from the Ukranian community. Hot Docs contacted the Kyiv Independent on Sept. 11 to clarify that the 85,000 Canadian dollars was the total sum
After two and a half years of brutal aggression and growing evidence of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers, some people abroad still cling to the hope that the reality of what’s happening in Ukraine isn't as grim as it seems: a nation of nearly 150 million people can’
Controversy over the film only grew louder with the revelation by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) that the film is set to be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, and has previously received Canadian government funding.
The Ukrainian Fashion Week returned to Kyiv for its 55th season from Sept. 1-4 for the first time since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Over the past two and a half years, Ukrainian designers put out showcases in cities like London, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, Lisbon, and Berlin
At the opening of an art exhibition in Kharkiv’s Yermoliv Center on Aug. 29, 18-year-old artist Veronika Kozhushko, also known as Nika, could be seen jumping on a small trampoline before she landed on her feet with a breathless smile. The following day, Russia killed her. Russia launched glide
The propaganda surrounding Russia’s 2014 invasion of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts has been so pervasive that, even a decade later, people continue to parrot lines about the need to "protect the Donbas people from the Kyiv regime." It’s time for the voices of people from both regions to
The wail of the air raid siren in Ukraine, which signals potential or incoming attacks, has become as burdensome and commonplace a sound as that of traffic or construction work. More than 40,000 air raid sirens lasting from minutes to hours throughout the day and night have sounded across
Despite the contrasting opinions surrounding her life’s work and sometimes contentious public statements, the assassination of linguist and former right-wing lawmaker Iryna Farion on July 19 came as a shock to Ukrainians. Sixty-year-old Farion was shot in the head by an unknown assailant outside of her home in the
“How should I manage this anger? Or should I?” Ukrainian author Oleksandr Mykhed asks himself following the start of Russia’s all-out war. In his book “The Language of War,” the first major Ukrainian prose work published by a Penguin imprint, Mykhed recounts how the lives of Ukrainians were upended
My child was just a few days old when they heard the air raid siren for the first time. We were still in the maternity hospital, and I was enjoying a moment of much-needed rest. I glanced over nervously into their crib to see if the sound would wake them
At a bar in Moscow leading up to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reporter Jen Stout interrupts a local parroting lines of propaganda from state-controlled television about so-called Ukrainian Nazis by asking him if he’s ever actually been to Ukraine. He seems taken aback by such a simple
Ukraine has a thriving contemporary literature scene with writers from across the country working in multiple genres. There’s a wide variety of texts for readers to choose from, whether they prefer the immersive realm of a science fiction novel or a work of thought-provoking literary criticism. This persistence of
Like any true detective novel, Andrey Kurkov’s “The Silver Bone” starts off with a brutal murder and endeavors to maintain high stakes until its final pages. The novel, now available to English-language readers in translation by Boris Dralyuk, was recently longlisted for the International Booker Prize, one of the
Editor's note: All the photographs in this article are featured for illustration purposes only. “I’m a photographer,” writes U.S. combat veteran and photojournalist J.T. Blatty, “But really, I’m just a human drawn toward the truth, in snapshots of truth.” Blatty’s new memoir "Snapshots Sent Home:
In nearly every village, town, and city across Ukraine today, you can spot some kind of monument to the 19th-century poet and artist Taras Shevchenko. Following Ukraine’s independence in 1991 and the Euromaidan Revolution in 2014, many of them replaced statues of 20th-century Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin that
Editor’s Note: The young people featured in this article are either quoted by first name at their family’s request for privacy reasons or, in the case of service members active on the front line, for their safety. “The past two years have flown by. It’s hard to
Editor’s Note: This story contains descriptions of graphic scenes. “My brain will desperately want to forget all this,” narrates journalist Mstyslav Chernov over footage he filmed of city workers adding bodies to a mass grave in Mariupol, “but the camera will not let it happen.” At the start of
Editor’s Note: The full names and some of the locations of the Belarusian citizens quoted in this article have been omitted at their request to protect their identities and those of their loved ones. After participating in protests and later witnessing the defeat of the Belarusian revolution in 2020,
“We are dealing with a powerful state that is pathologically unwilling to let Ukraine go,” President Volodymyr Zelensky tells journalist Simon Shuster on a train from the front line back to Kyiv in 2022. “(Russia sees) the democracy and freedom of Ukraine as a question of their own survival.” Originally
Editor’s Note: The servicemember and volunteer quoted in this article are referred to by first name only at their request for security reasons. A day after Russia attacked Kharkiv in mid-October with drones that damaged residential buildings, several dozen local residents gathered at an undisclosed venue to attend a
Unity Day, observed on Jan. 22 in Ukraine as a state holiday, typically commemorates the 1919 unification of eastern and western Ukraine. But this year, the date garnered attention for a decree signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky relating to modern-day Russian territories that were historically populated by Ukrainians. The decree
In the midst of a full-blown agoraphobic episode, the unnamed narrator of Tanja Maljartschuk’s novel “Forgottenness,” becomes engrossed in reading old newspapers. Asked by her increasingly concerned partner what she’s looking for, she simply tells him: “I want to understand what time is.” “Time consumes everything living by
Warning: This book review contains graphic descriptions. While embedded with Ukrainian forces entering Bakhmut in December 2022, the bloodiest battle to date in the Russo-Ukrainian war, journalist Yaroslav Trofimov encountered anti-Kadyrov Chechen fighters fighting on the side of Ukraine. “It’s like Mariupol all over again,” one of the men
Ukraine’s authors should have been able to dedicate their lives to honing their craft. Instead, many of them have stepped up to contribute to the war effort and fight back against Russian aggression. Like any other member of society, Ukrainian authors have lost loved ones and colleagues to Russia’
A historian by profession who has studied war for over a decade, Olesya Khromeychuk found her research spilling over into real life when her older brother Volodymyr was killed in 2017 near Popasna in Luhansk Oblast, nearly two years into his military service. The Russian invasion of Ukraine’s Donbas
