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The Hidden Canon: Discover Ukrainian literary classics

A Kyiv Independent project backed by the Ukrainian Institute

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A pair of soldiers stand back-to-back as they hold their rifles in an undated photo.
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Ukraine's wartime action thriller 'Killhouse' reaches global audience on Netflix

by Kate Tsurkan

Ukraine's new action film "Killhouse" is set to reach a global audience, hitting the Netflix streaming platform on June 26 in Ukraine, with international distribution planned for autumn. Few scenes hit as hard in "Killhouse" as when Ukrainian soldiers decide to launch a high-risk mission to rescue a near-death civilian from the gray zone, a territory sandwiched between Ukrainian and Russian lines. In the film, the Russian commander watching them from his position assumes that the civilian bein

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Ukraine war latest: Ukraine brings home 160 POWs in new exchange with Russia

* Ukraine brings home 160 POWs in new exchange with Russia; * EU to restrict protections for Ukrainian men, says it's at Kyiv's request; * Russian-installed authorities in occupied Crimea announce state of emergency amid intensified Ukrainian drone attacks; * Ukraine says it struck Russian military supply vessels, air defense systems in occupied Crimea. A total of 160 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) were released in the latest major exchange with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said

Keep up the pace of Ukraine's EU accession

The European Union and Ukraine held their second intergovernmental conference and opened the first cluster of accession talks, known as "Fundamentals", in Luxembourg on June 15. The name seems mundane, but the substance is anything but. This cluster is the spine of the whole process. It covers the rule of law, democratic institutions, public administration, and economic criteria, and contains five negotiation chapters: judiciary and fundamental rights; justice, freedom, and security; public pro

President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Berlaymont, the European Commission headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, on Aug. 17, 2025.

Burning tradition — How Mykhail Semenko ignited a new path forward for Ukrainian poetry

Editor's Note: This story is part of the "Hidden Canon"  – a special series celebrating Ukrainian classic literature and aiming to bring it to a wider international audience. The series is supported by the Ukrainian Institute. Literary giants are typically regarded with an almost sacred reverence. For the 20th Ukrainian poet Mykhail Semenko, however, reverence was overrated. He was prepared to set tradition ablaze — literally — to clear the way for a new artistic future. “I want to tell you th

About Culture

Our reporting on literature, films, art, and traditions from Ukraine and the latest news on culture in Eastern Europe.

Ukrainian culture
Ukrainian culture has survived centuries of Russian attempts to appropriate Ukrainian art, silence Ukrainian artists, and erase the Ukrainian language. Modern Ukrainian writers, filmmakers, and musicians — some of whom are serving on the front lines — continue to develop Ukrainian culture and fight for Ukraine’s future.

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Ukraine turns to strangling Russian logistics in Crimea — and it's working

Ukraine turns to strangling Russian logistics in Crimea — and it's working

Ukraine's siege of Crimea has been a long time coming. Crimea is under an effective siege as Ukraine has been systematically isolating the occupied peninsula with a multipronged campaign of drone strikes. "Hell is beginning," Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a June 17 interview. "Logistics are being cut off. Crimea is being isolated." Ukraine plans to fully isolate the peninsula, cutting it off from Russian supply while destroying critical infrastructure — ultimately allowi

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