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Oleg Sukhov photo

Oleg Sukhov

Reporter

Oleg Sukhov is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. He is a former editor and reporter at the Moscow Times. He has a master's degree in history from the Moscow State University. He moved to Ukraine in 2014 due to the crackdown on independent media in Russia and covered war, corruption, reforms and law enforcement for the Kyiv Post.

For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

Who are Usmanov and Fridman, the Russian oligarchs France helped remove from the EU sanctions list?

by Oleg Sukhov
The European Union is expected to lift sanctions on two high-profile Russian oligarchs — Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman. The ruling will come after days of intense negotiations that could have seen the entire package of EU sanctions, imposed since 2022, go to waste. The push was spearheaded by Slovakia, yet it was France that held the new round of sanctions extensions hostage. The Financial Times previously reported that Paris wants to delist Usmanov because Azerbaijan has made it a condi

Russia's rigged election gives Putin a mandate for all-out war

by Oleg Sukhov
Observers described the Sept. 18-20 parliamentary election as the "dirtiest" vote in Russia's modern history. In a country that has not held free and fair elections for nearly three decades, that might seem like a difficult result to achieve. All independent media were banned soon after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, ensuring a media landscape where no criticism of the authorities is allowed during elections. All genuine opposition parties were also banned from running. Even a mode

Inside Russia's 2026 parliamentary election: Banned opposition, rigging, and war

by Oleg Sukhov
A parliamentary election kicked off in Russia on Sept. 18 in what is expected to be a rubber-stamp ritual intended to legitimize President Vladimir Putin's rule. The election will be held over several days and will be completed on Sept. 20. The voting is taking place amid growing frustration among Russians with the war as its costs mount, and Ukraine intensifies drone strikes on Russian territory. However, there is little opportunity for voters to express their discontent since anti-war parti

Disgraced top prosecutor’s attack on anti-corruption bodies may trigger a political crisis

Ukraine’s disgraced Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko’s Sept. 14 revenge charges against the country’s top anti-corruption official could trigger a major political crisis if this becomes a full-on crackdown on anti-corruption institutions, analysts say. But everything depends on whether Kravchenko’s announcement of the charges was a desperate tantrum intended to save himself or part of a crackdown backed by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration. The charges against Semen Kryvonos, h

Explainer: How Ukraine’s biggest corruption scheme persisted despite all odds

by Oleg Sukhov
Ukraine's largest corruption scandal in years came to light last year with a wave of arrests, sanctions, and a political shakeup. New revelations over the past few weeks suggest that produced little result. Last November, Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities' Operation Midas uncovered a $100 million money-laundering and bribery scheme that implicated high-ranking officials and associates close to President Volodymyr Zelensky, largely through state-owned energy company Energoatom. At the cente

Explainer: How a corruption scandal and loyalty to Zelensky brought down Ukraine’s prosecutor general

by Oleg Sukhov, Kateryna Denisova
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko once helped lead the crackdown on Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). On Sept. 7, a corruption scandal ultimately led to his downfall after the same bureau broke through the gates of his office. Kravchenko, long seen as a staunch loyalist of President Volodymyr Zelensky, resigned on Sept. 7 after NABU detectives exposed an alleged scam call center protection racket run from the Prosecutor General's Office — only the latest in a string of scanda

Explainer: What's behind the standoff between Ukraine's two intelligence agencies?

by Oleg Sukhov
The violent standoff between Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and the military intelligence agency (HUR) on Sept. 2 exposed two dysfunctions of Ukraine's law enforcement and security system. One is the long-running conflict between the two intelligence agencies: although competition among secret services is common worldwide, shootouts that result in injuries are far more troubling than a routine institutional rivalry. The conflicts between Ukraine's two security agencies "have gotten out of co