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Founder and co-host of Telegraph Ukraine podcast dies aged 32

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Founder and co-host of Telegraph Ukraine podcast dies aged 32
David Knowles, second to the right, alongside Kyiv Independent reporter Francis Farrell, far left, during a recording of a Ukraine: The Latest episode in Kyiv in February 2024.

David Knowles, the founder and co-host of the Telegraph's Ukraine: The Latest podcast has passed away aged 32, the Telegraph said on Sept. 9.

Knowles died while in Gibraltar on Sept. 8 "following what was believed to be a cardiac arrest," the Telegraph wrote in an obituary.

Knowles launched Ukraine: The Latest as a Twitter space on the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Ukraine: The Latest grew into a popular and award-winning weekday podcast that Knowles hosted alongside the Telegraph's Associate Editor Dom Nicholls and Assistant Comment Editor Francis Dearnley.

Editors and reporters from the Kyiv Independent frequently joined the podcast as guests. In February, the Telegraph recorded the podcast from the Kyiv Independent's office when Knowles and the team visited Ukraine.

Liliane Bivings, the Kyiv Independent's business editor, described his passing as "a huge loss for all of us."

"David was a crucial part of keeping the world informed about Ukraine. He was a great journalist, but more importantly a great person who was a joy to be around," Bivings said.

"It's hard to imagine someone who, through their work and sheer devotion to this fight every single day, made for a stronger antidote to Ukraine fatigue than David," Kyiv Independent reporter Francis Farrell said.

The Ukrainian Embassy in London said that Knowles' "dedication to reporting the truth about the war in Ukraine and his commitment to telling the stories of those affected by it will never be forgotten."

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Elsa Court

Audience Development Manager

Elsa Court is the audience development manager at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a news editor at the Kyiv Independent and was an intern at the Kyiv Post in 2018. She has a Master’s in Conflict Studies and Human Rights from Utrecht University. Elsa is originally from the UK.

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