Five years of telling Ukraine's story.
The next chapter starts with you

At the Kyiv Independent, reader contributions are our main source of revenue. By becoming a member, you pledge a certain amount of money per month. Your monthly support allows us to bring independent, locally-sourced news about Ukraine to the world.

Membership and one-time donations keeps us sustainable as a news organization and allows us to keep our journalism free and accessible to everyone. It also allows us to connect and engage with our community of readers. Our monthly or annual members get ad-free reading, access to commenting, exclusive newsletters, and a 15% Kyiv Independent Store discount. Higher plans add a community chat with the newsroom, Ukrainian lessons, free merch, and meetings with our leadership. You can learn more about exclusive benefits by reviewing our tiers or writing to us at community@kyivindependent.com.

We encourage our readers to become a member and support us monthly or annually – this form of support allows us to better plan our expenses and be more sustainable as an organization.

Your payment security is our priority. We utilize Stripe, a reputable international payment processor, to handle all transactions. This means we do not store or have access to your credit card details. Stripe employs advanced security measures, including encryption and compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), to protect your information.

If you have any concerns about payment security, please contact us at community@kyivindependent.com. You can also read more about how Stripe handles payment security at the Stripe Privacy Center.

There are two ways to support the Kyiv Independent. A single payment is a one-time contribution – you will only be charged once, but you won't receive membership benefits.

Membership is a monthly payment, with recurring billing, meaning you will be charged on the same day each month. By choosing this option, you will receive membership benefits, including our special weekly email blast with behind-the-scenes updates and reading recommendations. Different membership plans come with different benefits.

You can also join as a member with an annual payment. You will also receive membership benefits, but you will only be charged once a year on the date you signed up.

As a member, you will see all the benefits included in your plan on the "Benefits" page in your account on the website.

You will also receive benefits via email. Any relevant links — such as Zoom sessions, recordings, or questionnaires — will be shared with you directly.

If you have a Patreon membership, you can receive most of your benefits there. We can also offer you a free Gift membership on our website, which gives you ad-free reading and commenting on articles.

To request this or if you're having trouble accessing your benefits, contact us at community@kyivindependent.com.

Yes, there are lots of opportunities to get in touch with the Kyiv Independent team. For our members on the Champion plan and above, we have a community chat on Discord — an exclusive space to connect directly with the team. You can ask us questions, reach out to specific team members, participate in polls, share memes, and much more. Partners and Insiders can also have regular one-on-one calls with our leadership and Partners join annual strategy sessions with our leadership team.

1. Click "Account" in the top right corner, then go to "Billing information."
2. Click the "Change" button next to your current card details.
3. You will be redirected to a secure Stripe page, where you can enter your new card information and save the changes.

We accept debit and credit card payments from around the world, including:

• Mastercard
• Visa
• American Express
• China UnionPay (CUP)
• Discover & Diners
• Japan Credit Bureau (JCB)

You can also pay using Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.

All prices are available in US dollars, euros, British pounds, Canadian dollars, and Australian dollars.

We also accept payments in other currencies. We use the payment system Stripe, which supports 135 currencies from most countries worldwide. Simply select whichever of our five currencies is closest to yours, and Stripe will automatically convert it using the daily mid-market rate — that converted amount is what will be charged to your card. All payment processing and currency conversion fees are covered by the Kyiv Independent and are not passed on to members.

If you would like to change your contribution amount, please see the steps below :

1. Sign in to your account using your Google, Microsoft, or Apple account. You can also enter your email and receive the confirmation link in your inbox.
2. Click "Account" in the top right corner and go to "Membership plans."
3. Scroll to find the plan you want to switch to, e.g., Believer, and click "Change to Believer."

When you change your plan, your benefits change to those of the new plan.

If something goes wrong and your payment doesn’t go through, you will receive an email letting you know there’s been a problem.

If you need help resolving the problem, please email us at community@kyivindependent.com.

If you’re already a member on Patreon, that’s totally fine! Thank you for supporting us. Even though we have our own membership program now, nothing will change for you. We will still maintain our Patreon account and you will receive all the benefits, the same as before. If you do want to move to our new membership system, we’d be happy to have you!

If you need any help setting up your account with the Kyiv Independent please reach out to us community@kyivindependent.com and we’ll help you.

If you need help with signing in to your account, please follow these steps:

1. Select “Sign in” or “Account” located in the top right of the kyivindependent.com homepage.
2. Enter the email address associated with your account, then select “Sign in.”
3. If you created an account using Google, please use whichever login you registered with.
4. Check your email. A login link will be sent to your inbox (email from Kyiv Independent with the subject “Secure sign in link for Kyiv Independent”). If it doesn't arrive in 3 minutes, be sure to check your spam folder. Open the link to sign in automatically. This link expires in 24 hours.

If you’re experiencing any difficulties with signing in, please email us at community@kyivindependent.com and we’ll help you.

If you would like to cancel your monthly or annual membership, please follow this guide:

1. Sign in to your existing account. You will need to sign in using the email address you registered with.
2. Once you’re signed in, go to your account and click the “Cancel Membership” button located at the bottom.

If you’re experiencing any difficulties with canceling the membership, please email us at community@kyivindependent.com and we’ll help you.

It is now possible for you to buy a Kyiv Independent membership for someone else. You can find all the information here: https://kyivindependent.com/membership/gift