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Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at 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

Sumy receives first UN aid convoy.

Sumy receives first UN aid convoy.

by Olena Goncharova

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement on March 18 that it “hopes this is the first of many shipments.” The aid convoy includes 130 metric tonnes of essential aid for around 35,000 people and supplies to repair water systems to help an estimated 50,000 people.

CNN: Google Maps has blocked two features in Ukraine

CNN: Google Maps has blocked two features in Ukraine

by Olena Goncharova

that provide information to users in real time, the company confirmed to reporters on Feb. 27. The disabled features include Google Maps' live traffic overlay and Live Busyness, a feature that displays how popular a location may be at a given time. Google reportedly made the change in an effort to help keep Ukrainians safe.

Russian ruble hits record low,

Russian ruble hits record low,

by Olena Goncharova

and is now 40% against the U.S. dollar after Western nations stepped up sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The ruble was indicated as low as 117.8170 per dollar based on data compiled by Bloomberg on Feb. 27.

Kazakhstan denies Russia's request for troops.

Kazakhstan denies Russia's request for troops.

by Olena Goncharova

Kazakhstan, one of Russia's closest allies and a southern neighbor, is denying a request for its troops to join the offensive in Ukraine, NBC reports citing its sources. Kazakhstan also said it is not recognizing the Russia-created breakaway republics upheld by Russia's President Vladimir Putin, as a pretext for its aggression in Ukraine. The U.S. National Security Council praised the decision, saying "we [...] welcome Kazakhstan’s refusal to send its forces to join Putin’s war in Ukraine."

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