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Team

Olena Zashko photo

Olena Zashko

Video Creator

Olena Zashko is a videographer at the Kyiv Independent. She has previously worked as a videographer at the Suspilne Kultura documentary unit. The Kyiv Independent received a grant from the Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust to support Olena's front-line videography reporting for the year 2025-2026. She also has experience working as a journalist at Hromadske news outlet and has worked as a freelance journalist with different Ukrainian media. Olena has a master’s in journalism from the Ukrainian Catholic University.

o.zashko@kyivindependent.com

For media & speaking inquiries:
press@kyivindependent.com

Articles

Can Ukraine fix its mobilization problems?

by Kateryna Hodunova, Olena ZashkoOctober 11, 2026

In this interview, the Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Hodunova speaks with Pavlo Kazarin, a Ukrainian journalist, publicist and serviceman, about Ukraine’s mobilization crisis, draft evasion, soldiers going absent without leave (AWOL), and the growing divide between those serving and those remaining in civilian life.

Inside Ukraine’s robot army fighting Russia

by Francis Farrell, Olena Zashko, Dominika OzynskaOctober 10, 2026

The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell joins the Alter Ego Battalion of Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade to see how Ukrainian soldiers are developing and deploying unmanned ground vehicles in the war against Russia.

Why Russia needs a new round of mobilization

by Tania Myronyshena, Jason Blevins, Olena ZashkoSeptember 25, 2026

The Kyiv Independent’s Tania Myronyshena examines why Russia’s manpower advantage is under pressure, what a new mobilization campaign could look like, whether Russians could resist it, and how hundreds of thousands of additional troops could affect the war.

Who has the upper hand in Ukraine’s evolving drone war?

by Francis Farrell, Olena Zashko, Oleksandra DiachenkoSeptember 2, 2026

In this interview, the Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell speaks with “Schweiger,” a Ukrainian drone operator from the Signum UAV Battalion of Ukraine's 59th Separate Assault Brigade – one of the country's pioneering FPV drone units.

Ukraine's 35-year fight for independence | Ukraine This Week

by Anna Belokur, Jason Blevins, Olena ZashkoAugust 23, 2026

In this episode of Ukraine This Week, Anna Belokur examines 35 years of Ukrainian independence and the centuries of Russian attempts to control, suppress, and ultimately deny Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Life in Ukraine’s last Donbas strongholds as Russia closes in

by Francis Farrell, Olena ZashkoAugust 8, 2026

What is life like for Ukrainians in Donbas as invading Russian forces inch closer? In this report, the Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko travel across Donetsk Oblast to document life in the remaining areas of Ukrainian-controlled Donbas.

Laura Loomer on her U-turn on Ukraine

by Jimmy Rushton, Olena Zashko, Jason BlevinsJuly 29, 2026

The Kyiv Independent’s Jimmy Rushton speaks with MAGA influencer Laura Loomer during her visit to Kyiv about the dramatic shift in her stance on Ukraine after years of opposing U.S. military aid to the country, spreading Russian propaganda narratives, and cooperating with Russian state media outlets such as Russia Today (RT).

Unable to take Dobropillia, Russia is burning it to the ground

by Francis Farrell, Olena ZashkoJuly 25, 2026

The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko embed with the 15th Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard, also known as Kara Dag, part of the 1st Azov Corps, joining an FPV drone team living and fighting out of the city’s basements.

Inside Ukraine's elite unit hunting Russian soldiers with fiber optic drones

by Francis Farrell, Olena ZashkoJune 26, 2026

The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko embedded with the Signum Battalion of Ukraine's 59th Assault Brigade, one of the country's pioneering FPV drone units operating in northern Donetsk Oblast.

On the last road to front-line Kostiantynivka as Russian troops enter the city

by Francis Farrell, Olena ZashkoJune 13, 2026

We followed Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Brigade on the "road of life" between the front-line cities of Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka.

These Ukrainian drone pilots took out NATO forces during drills

by Francis Farrell, Olena ZashkoMay 29, 2026

At NATO's Aurora 2026 military exercises in Sweden, a group of Ukrainian drone pilots was tasked with playing the role of attackers. The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell spoke with drone pilots from Ukraine's 20th National Guard "Lubart" Brigade, part of the 1st Azov Corps, shortly after they returned from Sweden.

Ukraine’s gun control dilemma | Ukraine This Week

by Anna Belokur, Olena ZashkoApril 26, 2026

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, Anna Belokur examines Ukraine’s growing debate over gun control and how the war is reshaping the country’s approach to weapons and safety.

Ukraine's nuclear lifeline in the shadow of Chornobyl

by Dominic Culverwell, Jason Blevins, Vladyslav Samusenko, Olena ZashkoApril 25, 2026

The Kyiv Independent’s Dominic Culverwell visits the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant and the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant to see how Ukraine’s nuclear system operates during wartime — and what risks come with that.

Inside a Ukrainian prison for women who sided with Russia

by Kateryna Hodunova, Olena ZashkoMarch 6, 2026

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian courts have convicted thousands of people of collaboration and treason. The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Hodunova and Olena Zashko report from a penal colony in southeastern Ukraine that holds women who sided with Russia.

Inside the Battle of the Dnipro River

by Olena Zashko, Francis FarrellJanuary 2, 2026

Along the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, the front line has remained largely static, but fighting continues every day. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko embedded with Ukraine’s forces in Kherson Oblast, following FPV drone and night bomber teams tasked with defending river islands.

Editors' Picks

Lee Jae Myung at a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 18, 2026.

'Blown out of proportion' — Domestic politics at the core of South Korea's rift with Ukraine

Exclusive: 'It felt like a trap.' How Ukraine was blindsided by Trump's Putin pivot

Exclusive: 'It felt like a trap.' How Ukraine was blindsided by Trump's Putin pivot

Drones above, robots below — inside Operation Vivaldi, Ukraine’s push to recapture territory in Donetsk Oblast

Drones above, robots below — inside Operation Vivaldi, Ukraine’s push to recapture territory in Donetsk Oblast

Demonstrators gather at the Kyiv City State Administration in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 23, 2026.

In Kyiv district battered by Russian strikes, a protest to save trees turns ugly