The war they play: Russia’s militarization of Ukrainian children

Watch documentary now
KI logo
Friday, October 24, 2025
Back

Team

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

Articles

People inside the damaged apartments, following a Russian overnight attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 28, 2025.
War

Ukrainians brace for another harsh winter as blackout fears return

by Kateryna Hodunova
As the first cold weather set in across Ukraine, Russia ramped up its attacks on the country's energy grid, which was already under growing strain with every drop in temperature. On Oct. 10 — exactly three years to the day after Russia's first major strike on Ukraine's energy sector in 2022 — Russia launched nearly 450 drones and 30 missiles, causing power outages across nine regions, including Kyiv. Over 20 people were injured across the country, and a child was killed in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
The recruits undergo initiation in the 92nd Assault Brigade in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, on March 16, 2025.
War

Nearly a year on, Ukraine army's shift to corps command struggles to deliver

by Kateryna Hodunova
Ukraine's move to a corps-based command structure aimed to boost military efficiency. Almost a year later, the promised improvements remain out of reach. "It turned out to be an unfounded, hasty pseudo-solution," said Bohdan Krotevych, the former commander of Ukraine's Azov Brigade. The Ukrainian army, which entered the full-scale war in 2022 with brigades as its largest standing units, has spent the past year restructuring into a corps-based system. Under this new structure, corps, typically

Editors' Picks