Tehran declares full closure of Strait of Hormuz after renewed US-Iran strikes
Iran and the U.S. traded strikes for the second day in a row, raising concerns about the fragility of a ceasefire.
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Martin Fornusek
ReporterMartin Fornusek is a reporter for the Kyiv Independent, specializing in international and regional politics, history, and disinformation. Based in Lviv, Martin often reports on international politics, with a focus on analyzing developments related to Ukraine and Russia. His career in journalism began in 2021 after graduating from Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, earning a Master's degree in Conflict and Democracy Studies. Martin has been invited to speak on Times Radio, France 24, Czech Television, and Radio Free Europe. He speaks English, Czech, and Ukrainian.
Articles
How Trump failed to force Ukraine into a bad 'peace' deal
The Kyiv Independent’s Martin Fornusek speaks with Phillips O'Brien, a U.S. historian and professor of strategic studies, about U.S. policy on Ukraine under President Donald Trump, the future of transatlantic relations, and the state of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
History haunting Ukraine-Poland relations, again
History is rattling Ukraine-Poland relations, yet again.
The new round of historical grievances erupted in Poland when President Volodymyr Zelensky named a Ukrainian special forces unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) — an organization that fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, but which evokes painful memories in Poland.
In Ukraine, the UPA represents a historical struggle against Moscow's domination — a legacy that feels especially alive amid Russia's full
'Time to sit at the negotiating table' — Bulgaria to stop sending arms to Ukraine
The shift comes after Rumen Radev — a Russia-friendly former president and a longtime critic of military aid to Kyiv — won the Bulgarian parliamentary elections in April.
Here's what Candace Owens gets wrong on Russia
Candace Owens billed her trip to Russia last week as a family vacation. It turned into something far more useful for the Kremlin.
The U.S. far-right conspiracy theorist — boasting 35 million followers across all social media platforms — ended up appearing at Russia's flagship economic forum, talking to Russian propaganda outlets, and praising the country's "traditional values" while dismissing Western coverage of it as lies.
Her visit also exposed a fresh fault line within the MAGA movement, d
Why Zelensky's letter wasn't about Putin as Kremlin rejects meeting
President Volodymyr Zelensky's letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin was never meant only for the man whose name was written at the top.
According to a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the planning, the message was aimed at a much wider audience, including Putin's inner circle, Russian elites increasingly weary of the war, and even ordinary Russian citizens.
The letter, sent on June 4, marked the first direct outreach from Zelensky to Putin since 2022. In it, the Ukrainian presiden
Stray Ukrainian naval drone explodes at Romania's Black Sea port
The Ukrainian Navy confirmed that it lost control of one of its drones in the Black Sea due to electronic warfare, causing the unmanned vessel to drift to the Romanian coast.
Russia is flooding Ukraine with fake migrant stories — and it's working
Claims of an alleged migrant "influx" have become increasingly common in Ukraine in recent months, in what experts describe as a coordinated disinformation operation.
The central theme in these claims is that foreign labor migrants are allegedly arriving in Ukraine to replace the country's population while Ukrainian men continue fighting at the front.
The claims have spread quickly across social media and Telegram channels, and even appeared in mainstream reporting.
Although Ukrainian media o
Orban ordered Ukrainian gold seizure for political reasons, Hungarian media says
Viktor Orban ordered the seizure of the Ukrainian bank convoy in retaliation for the suspension of oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, undisclosed sources told Telex.
Update: NATO chief arrives in Kyiv day after mass Russian strike
The visit comes only a day after one of Russia's heaviest attacks killed over 20 people and injured over 100 across Ukraine.
Hungary's Magyar hopeful that 'technical talks' on minority rights in Ukraine will wrap up this week
If an agreement is reached at the "technical-level" talks, Peter Magyar said he is ready to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky as early as next week.
Polish far right calls for blocking Ukraine's EU bid over military unit name controversy
Far-right opposition MP Krzysztof Bosak also said that Warsaw should stop paying for Starlink satellite communications systems used by Ukraine and opt out of EU loans to Kyiv in order to "exert real pressure."
Russia demands access to investigation into its own drone strike in Romania
Moscow has sought to deflect blame after Bucharest said a Russian Shahed-type drone injured two civilians in the Romanian city of Galati.
Exclusive: EU aiming to advance Ukraine's membership slightly faster than planned
The next step on Ukraine and Moldova's EU accession path could happen slightly earlier than expected, with EU and national diplomats confirming to the Kyiv Independent that everybody is working towards June 15 as the day to open the first of six so-called "enlargement clusters."
Ukraine and Moldova's EU applications are proceeding in tandem, and further formal progress has been blocked for a year by Hungary, chiefly over 11 demands from the government in Budapest to grant additional rights to t
Ukraine's path to EU runs through this small Hungarian community in Carpathians
Soon after taking office, Hungary's Prime Minister Peter Magyar appeared ready to normalize bilateral relations with Ukraine.
Soon, however, the newly elected prime minister played his predecessor's tune, declaring that the Hungarian minority in Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast "lacks basic rights," and complaining that its linguistic and cultural freedoms are being curtailed.
Magyar signaled he would obstruct the launch of Ukraine's formal EU accession talks until the issue is resolved — potentia
