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Monday, March 9, 2026
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Kateryna Hodunova photo

Kateryna Hodunova

News Editor

Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

k.hodunova@kyivindependent.com
For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

Russia

Russia back at Paralympics under national flag, its war veterans eye 2028 games

by Kateryna Hodunova
For the first time in 12 years, Russia will compete under its national flag at the 2026 Paralympic Games — a return that comes despite its ongoing all-out war against Ukraine and a pattern of doping scandals that led to the initial ban. "There is simply no justification for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to allow Russia and Belarus back while the invasion of Ukraine continues," Global Athlete Director General Rob Koehler told the Kyiv Independent. "The IPC has blood on its hands
Olena Chuieva in a women's penal colony in Southeastern Ukraine on Feb. 5, 2026.
War

'I betrayed my country' — the Ukrainian prison where women collaborators wait for Russia

by Kateryna Hodunova
Nelia Checheta served the state for decades — first with the Soviet military in Turkmenistan and later in Ukraine's Emergency Service — earning official honors along the way. At 62, her story continues not with commendations, but with a long prison sentence for collaboration. Checheta was convicted of passing information on Ukrainian troops and aircraft movements to an agent of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). She insisted the case was fabricated, but the evidence presented in court sug

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