News feed

7:28 AM

Moscow court sentences Ukrainian-born film producer to 8 and a half years in absentia for reporting on Russian war crimes.

Moscow's Basmanny district court sentenced Ukrainian film producer Alexander Rodnyansky, on Oct. 21, to 8 and a half years in absentia for "spreading fake information" about the Russian Army.

5:25 AM

Germany's Finance Minister suggests revising legal status and benefits for Ukrainian refugees.

Germany's Finance Minister Christian Lindner has proposed reevaluating the legal status of Ukrainian refugees, German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported on Oct. 23.

Russian electronics plant reportedly on fire after drone strike in Bryansk

11:54 AM

(Updated: October 24, 2024 3:37 am)

Russian electronics plant reportedly on fire after drone strike in Bryansk.

"Kremniy EL" is one of the largest microelectronics plants in Russia that produces components widely used in Russian defense production, including for Pantsir air defense systems and Iskander missile systems.

1:36 AM

Ukraine risks delay in receiving $4.3 billion instalment from EU's Ukraine Facility due to reform shortcomings, Foreign Ministry says

Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Perebyinis issued a letter to cabinet ministers on Oct. 23 warning that the European Union has notified Ukraine that the next tranche of 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) from the EU's Ukraine Facility may be delayed until next year unless expected aspects of corruption reforms are completed by the end of this month.

11:48 PM

Controversial chief of staff for Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces dismissed months after appointment, Ukrainska Pravda reports.

Roman Hladkyi, the controversial Chief of Staff of the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), was dismissed from his position just months after being appointed to the post in August 2024, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Oct. 23, citing Ukraine's Defense Ministry.

11:04 PM

Belarus schedules next presidential election for January 2025.

Belarus has scheduled its next presidential election for January 26, 2025, the country’s Central Electoral Commission announced on Oct. 23. Incumbent Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is widely expected to hold on to power following the election's result.

Ukraine war latest: US confirms North Korean troops in Russia; Zelensky preparing plan to withstand war

10:59 PM

War update

Ukraine war latest: US confirms North Korean troops in Russia; Zelensky preparing plan to withstand war

Key developments on Oct. 23: * Zelensky preparing action plan for Ukraine to withstand war, source says * North Korean troops are in Russia, US defense secretary confirms * Ukraine has stabilized situation in Toretsk, but Russia is concentrating troops in town's east, military says * UK to allocate $155 million for naval coalition

Finishing off the defenseless: How the Russians execute Ukrainian soldiers

10:28 PM

Investigations

Finishing off the defenseless: How the Russians execute Ukrainian soldiers

Warning: This article contains graphic photos and descriptions of graphic scenes. A decomposed human hand with the remains of flesh, bleak and brown save for one splash of color — two thin blue-yellow rubber bracelets. The colors of the Ukrainian national flag. The hand was from a body of the hundreds

10:19 PM

US to provide $20 billion loan to Ukraine as part of G7 pledge.

Daleep Singh, the White House deputy national security adviser on international economics, said that Joe Biden's administration intends to split the funds between helping the Ukrainian economy and the military.

9:31 PM

UK prepares another group of future Ukrainian F-16 pilots, bringing total number of trainees to 200.

"The next step is advanced fast jet training and conversion to F-16 with partner nations," the statement read.

9:14 PM

South Korea

Why South Korean weapons are unlikely to be heading directly to Ukraine anytime soon

South Korea has hinted it could change its long-standing stance on not providing Ukraine directly with weapons in light of the dramatic escalation of North Korea's role in Russia's full-scale invasion. So far, Seoul has only provided humanitarian and non-lethal military aid to Kyiv, but on Oct. 22, a South

Russia's wartime economy delivers growth, but will the bubble burst?

8:54 PM

Russian Economy

Russia's wartime economy delivers growth, but will the bubble burst?

A draft budget submitted to the Russian parliament last month has outlined the Kremlin's plans to keep spending high in its wartime economy, with ambitions to maintain the steady levels of growth the country has seen since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Surging government spending on war

8:16 PM

Ukraine has stabilized situation in Toretsk, but Russia is concentrating troops in town's east, military says.

"The situation in Toretsk has relatively stabilized. We (Ukrainian forces) are now holding the line unchanged," Anastasiia Bobovnikova, a spokesperson of the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk, said.

7:36 PM

About 3,000 North Korean troops were sent to Russia to participate in war against Ukraine, South Korean intelligence says.

"Signs of troops being trained inside North Korea were detected in September and October," Park Sun-won, a member of a parliamentary intelligence committee, said.

'Moscow is desperate' — Expert on North Korean troops in Russia

7:13 PM

Video

'Moscow is desperate' — Expert on North Korean troops in Russia.

The Kyiv Independent spoke with former U.K. Defense Attaché in Moscow, John Foreman CBE, about what this development might mean for the future of Russia's war and the global landscape.

6:46 PM

Ukraine's 'I Want to Live' project posts Korean-language video message, calls on North Korean soldiers to surrender.

Launched in September 2022 by Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence, the 24-hour "I Want to Live" hotline helps Russian soldiers willingly surrender themselves or their units to the Ukrainian army.

5:53 PM

Ukraine denies Russia breached Chasiv Yar defense line following conflicting reports.

Hours prior, Ivan Petrychak, a representative of the 24th Mechanized Brigade's press service, said on national television that the Russian military managed to breach the defense, but there were no signs of the city's potential loss.

5:21 PM

Opinion

Opinion: Putin’s drone strategy shows the cracks in Russia’s war machine

Russia shot down one of its own drones — a large and stealthy S-70 — after it flew uncontrolled into Ukrainian territory in early October, sparking speculation about how Moscow lost control of this valuable asset so publicly. It’s an unforced error that will be keenly felt in Moscow, whose high

4:05 PM

North Korean troops dispatch was secret clause of Moscow-Pyongyang pact, WSJ reports.

The secret clause reportedly allowed North Korea to send the first 1,000 of its soldiers to Ukraine to gain military experience. More North Korean troops are expected to be engaged, the source told the WSJ.

4:01 PM

Opinion

Opinion: Ukraine’s war is the reckoning with empire Europe can no longer avoid

Thirty years ago, in a Ukrainian churchyard where my Russian ancestors are buried, I knelt beside a very old woman leaning on a stick, her hair covered in a black kerchief. Behind us stood the Russian church that my great-grandfather built on his estate and where he lies buried. The

3:43 PM

3 companies of Russian soldiers killed, injured in assaults on Selydove, National Guard says.

Ukraine's National Guard troops repelled 13 Russian assault attempts near the town of Selydove in Donetsk region over the past day, spokesperson Ruslan Muzychuk told Ukrainska Pravda on Oct. 23.

3:21 PM

Many Russians support Putin despite favoring opposing policies, survey shows.

Around 61% of Putin's supporters said they favored peace in Ukraine under mutual concessions, according to the poll conducted by the independent Levada Center between Sept. 10 and 17.

2:37 PM

France's first batch of Mirage 2000 jets for Ukraine to include 3 planes, media reports.

The planes will reportedly be equipment with ground strike capabilities, namely SCALP/Storm Shadow long-range missiles and French guided bombs AASM.

1:41 PM

North Korean troops are in Russia, US defense secretary confirms.

"There is evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

1:33 PM

Georgia denies journalist entry to cover elections amid rising Russian influence.

Czech journalist Ray Baseley was denied entry to Georgia without an explanation after arriving at Tbilisi airport on Oct. 22 to cover the upcoming parliamentary elections.

1:17 PM

Ukraine receives $1.1 billion from IMF.

"The funds will be used to cover important non-military budget spending," PM Denys Shmyhal said.

1:06 PM

Ukraine Business Roundup — Losing Pokrovsk

The following is the Oct. 22, 2024 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. As Russia makes its slow and steady advances in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk Oblast, its troops are closing

1:00 PM

SBU says it foiled terror attack in Kyiv, detained suspects.

According to the SBU, the suspects reportedly planned to detonate improvised explosives in a crowded place in Ukraine's capital to cause "the maximum number of civilian deaths" and sow panic.

12:48 PM

UK to allocate $155 million for naval coalition to protect Ukraine's ports.

The U.K. is looking for partners to co-finance the supply of "hundreds" more naval drones as well as surveillance radars to protect Ukraine's grain corridor.

11:37 AM

Zelensky preparing action plan for Ukraine to withstand war, source says.

The document will address Ukraine's military, political, economic, and other areas, including certain decisions regarding law enforcement, a source close to the Presidential Office told the Kyiv Independent.

10:51 AM

Russia helping North Korea with sanctions evasion, nuclear technology in return for soldiers, arms, Budanov says.

Russia's support in nuclear capabilities includes providing technologies for smaller tactical nuclear weapons and submarine missile-launch systems, military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov claimed.

10:12 AM

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 5, injure 14 over past day.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 57 of the 81 Shahed-type drones launched overnight, the Air Force reported. Fifteen drones were lost, and nine are still present in the Ukrainian airspace at the time of the publication.

News Feed

9:13 AM

Ukraine's drone strike on Russia's air bases under 'investigation,' Kremlin says in first reaction to Operation Spiderweb.

"The president received information about the incident online," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

8:53 AM

For the first time, Pentagon chief to reportedly skip Ramstein-format meeting of Ukraine's allies.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will not arrive in Brussels until the conference is over and will not participate in the event online either, the AP reported.

8:35 AM

Ukraine defaults on GDP-linked sovereign debt payment.

The country's Finance Ministry announced last week it would skip a $665 million government debt payment after failing to agree on restructuring terms with creditors.

8:16 AM

General Staff: Russia has lost 991,820 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022.

The number includes 1,020 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

1:08 AM

(Updated: June 4, 2025 8:12 am)

Rare Russian A-50 spy planes damaged in Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb, Telegraph reports.

Footage reportedly shows Ukrainian drones hitting two A-50s, rare Russian spy planes that Moscow relies on to detect air defense systems and coordinate targets for fighter jets. Russia has less than 10 A-50s in its arsenal.

7:42 AM

UK to provide Ukraine with 100,000 drones by April 2026.

The UK pledged on June 4 to supply Ukraine with 100,000 drones by the end of April 2026, marking a tenfold increase from the previous year.

6:07 AM

Trump official who shut down counter-disinformation agency has Kremlin ties, Telegraph reports.

A Trump State Department official who shut down a U.S. counter-disinformation office has Kremlin ties, the Telegraph reported on June 3. The official, Darren Beattie, is married to the niece of a former Russian official linked to Putin and has echoed pro-Kremlin narratives.

4:06 AM

Latvia joins UN Security Council for first time.

Latvia was elected on June 3 to the UN Security Council for the first time in its history. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže called it a “historic day" for the Baltic nation, pledging the country’s commitment to upholding the rules-based international order.

3:02 AM

NATO urging Europe to ramp up air defenses fivefold in face of Russian threat, Bloomberg reports.

NATO defense ministers will discuss the air defense boost at a gathering in Brussels on June 5, sources told Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity.

2:06 AM

Orban vows to 'do everything' to prevent Ukraine from joining EU.

"I would not be able to answer my conscience...if I did not do everything now to protect Hungary and the European Union from the Brussels fever dream of Ukrainian accession."

2:14 PM

(Updated: June 3, 2025 11:53 pm)

Russia’s Crimean Bridge rocked by explosions, Ukraine’s SBU claims responsibility.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) struck the Crimean Bridge for the third time during the full-scale war, mining and damaging its underwater supports, the SBU announced on June 3.

11:48 PM

Trump didn't know about Ukraine's drone strike on Russia's warplanes, White House confirms.

During a White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked whether Trump was informed by Ukraine about Operation Spiderweb in advance of the attack. "He was not," she said.

11:06 PM

War analysis

Inside Russia, calls for peace come with conditions — and Kremlin talking points

10:49 PM

Field report

In western Ukraine, ethnic Romanians grapple with war, identity, and displacement

10:47 PM

Commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces replaced.

Vadym Sukharevskyi has been dismissed as commander of the USF and will be replaced by Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of the elite drone unit "Birds of Magyar."

10:26 PM

'There was blood on the asphalt' — Russia strikes Ukraine's Sumy during morning rush hour.

10:15 PM

War update

Ukraine war latest: Ukraine attacks Crimean bridge for 3rd time since beginning of all-out war

9:47 PM

Drapatyi made Commander of Joint Forces after submitting resignation over Russian strike on Ukrainian training camp.

"I received a task from the president. I am staying in the ranks, on the front line. Where I have to be, where I can do the most," Mykhailo Drapatyi said.

9:19 PM

Video

Everything we know about Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb.

Ukraine was jubilant on June 1 as news filtered through of a stunning drone attack targeting Russian heavy bombers that simultaneously attacked four air bases, two of them thousands of miles inside Russia. The Kyiv Independent's Chris York explains everything we know about Operation Spiderweb.

9:18 PM

Photos

(Updated: June 3, 2025 6:41 pm)

Russian losses

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