
Team

Olena Goncharova
Special CorrespondentOlena Goncharova is the Special Correspondent for the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Articles

In what is potentially the world's most expensive parking ticket, a Russian-registered Antonov An-124 has remained locked in a frozen embrace with the tarmac at Toronto Pearson Airport.
Stranded for almost four years, the aircraft has racked up over $1.5 million Canadian dollars ($1.1 million) in parking fees. Parked so long, in fact, that it has found its way onto the infrequently updated satellite views of the airport in both Apple Maps and Google Maps.
But for an international community tha

Russian drone strikes hospital in Kyiv, kills 1, injures 4
Russian forces launched 165 strike drones overnight, of which roughly 100 were Shahed-type drones, according to Zelensky. Two of the four wounded victims are in serious condition.

'We don't believe that happened' — Trump dismisses Putin’s claim of Ukrainian attack on his residence
Russia had publicly accused Ukraine of launching 91 drones toward a residence used by Putin — a claim Putin personally conveyed to Trump during the phone call.

After US attack on Venezuela, Trump's Greenland ambitions spark renewed alarm
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Jan. 4, Trump said: "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security."

Ukraine сonfirms strike on Russia's Ilsky oil refinery, multiple military targets in New Year attack
Several fires were reported at oil facilities in Kaluga Oblast and Krasnodar Krai overnight on Jan. 1, according to Telegram monitoring channels.

Russia launches New Year’s Day drone attacks across Ukraine
Russia attacked several Ukrainian regions with drones overnight on Jan. 1, striking energy infrastructure in southern Odesa Oblast.

'We want the end of the war — not the end of Ukraine,' Zelensky says in New Year address
"A Budapest-style piece of paper will not satisfy Ukraine. Ukraine does not need a Minsk-style meticulously drafted trap. My signature will be under a strong agreement," Zelensky said in his address on Dec. 31.

'We can't just withdraw from our territories' —Zelensky says following his meeting with Trump
Zelensky tells Fox News' Bret Baier that Ukraine has demonstrated concrete steps toward peace over the past month and raised the possibility of a referendum on the peace plan. At the same time, a referendum would not legitimize withdrawing from Ukrainian territory, given the current security realities.

Trump says Russia-Ukraine peace has 'good shot,' New York Post reports
"I think they want to do it now, and I think that Russia wants to do it. But every time one wants to do it, the other doesn’t," Trump told the New York Post in a Dec. 26 phone call.
'It was horrifying, like an earthquake' – Kyiv recovering from mass Russian attack that left 2 killed, 32 injured, ahead of peace talks
Several waves of explosions were heard across the capital, according to Kyiv Independent reporters on the ground, as well as in Kyiv Oblast, where power outages were reported in the town of Brovary and surrounding areas following the strikes.

Russian officials claim 16 drones headed for Moscow were downed on Christmas Eve
Russia's Defense Ministry reported that between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Moscow time on Dec. 24, its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 132 Ukrainian drones.

'May he perish,' — Zelensky voices Ukrainians' wish in his Christmas Eve address
"'May he perish,' each of us may think to ourselves," Zelensky said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "But when we turn to God, of course, we ask for something greater. We ask for peace for Ukraine."

US Senator Graham says Tomahawks should go to Ukraine if Putin rejects peace deal
"If Putin says no, we need to dramatically change the game, including giving Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine to hit the drone and missile factories that exist in Russia. I would go all in if Putin says no," U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Dec. 21.

Ukraine confirms 2 ships, oil pipeline damaged in drone strike on Russia's Krasnodar Krai
Drone debris hit a pipeline at a terminal in Volna, a village in the region's Temryuk district, the Krasnodar Krai Emergency Headquarters said. A fire broke out as a result of the attack.

Explosions near Veliky Novgorod chemical plant as Russia reports mass drone attack
Novgorod Governor Alexander Dronov said 19 drones were shot down over the region — located between Moscow and St. Petersburg — amid what Russia described as a major Ukrainian drone attack.
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