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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

Smoke from a Russian drone strike rises over a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 23, 2026.
War

In pictures: A week of Russian jet drone terror in Kyiv

by Kateryna Hodunova
Editor's note: The Kyiv residents quoted in the story asked to be identified only by their first names. Russian drones have filled the skies over Kyiv, striking at the city around the clock, making it feel increasingly like there is nowhere safe to hide. The attacks once came in waves, followed by periods of relative calm. Now, Russian strikes are coming almost nonstop. Using newer jet-powered versions of Shahed-type drones, the onslaught began last month, but has increased in intensity each d
Russian citizens drafted during the partial mobilization in Moscow, Russia, on Oct. 10, 2022.
War

We asked Ukrainian soldiers about Russian losses passing 1.5 million

by Kateryna Hodunova, Jimmy Rushton, Tania Myronyshena, Yuliia Taradiuk, Asami Terajima
Russia's total military losses in Ukraine have reached 1,500,870, Ukraine's General Staff said on Sept. 9, marking another grim milestone in the war for the Kremlin. It took roughly two years and three months for the Russian Armed Forces to incur their first 500,000 casualties. Moscow has now suffered roughly the same number in just the past 15 months, as technology increasingly shapes the battlefield and drones expand the kill zone almost daily. The Kremlin's total personnel losses in Ukraine
War

Can women solve Ukraine's manpower problem?

by Kateryna Hodunova
During a routine assignment in Mykolaiv Oblast in 2022, Nataliia Lishchyshena suffered an injury that would change her life. Jumping out of a vehicle, she landed hard, badly bruising her chest. At first, Lishchyshena thought little of the injury, aggravated by body armor designed without women's bodies in mind. But doctors later linked it, along with stress and hormonal changes, to the development of a benign tumor. The condition ultimately led to a mastectomy. A military medical commission lat

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