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A Venetian Gothic facade adorned with banners for the 2026 Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, on Feb. 25, 2026.
Culture

What's on at the Venice Biennale? Russian soft power

by Kate Tsurkan

In the fifth year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the Russian pavilion is set to return to the Venice Art Biennale with a “musical festival come to life” that serves as “a space for dialogue and exchange.” The pavilion was effectively canceled in 2022 after the artists and curator chosen to represent Russia withdrew in protest of the invasion. At the time, the organizers of the Biennale released a statement praising the decision and condemning “all those who use violence to prevent

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News from occupied Ukraine: Moscow to relocate nearly 114,000 Russians to occupied territories

This weekly update from the Kyiv Independent aims to shed light on the situation facing Ukrainians living under Russian occupation and the tight control of information imposed by the Kremlin. Key news as of March 21: * Russia unveils plans to resettle occupied Ukrainian territories * Russian occupation court jails 69-year-old woman for donating to Ukrainian army * From street detentions to car seizures, Russia intensifies conscription of Ukrainians in occupied territories * Russia uses fai

‘Broke a barrier’ — Swarmer IPO tests Wall Street appetite for Ukrainian defense tech

Ukrainian-American drone AI startup Swarmer made a blockbuster debut on the NASDAQ on March 17, offering a first major test of whether Wall Street is ready to buy into Ukraine's wartime defense tech boom. Initially priced at $5, Swarmer shares closed at $31 on March 17, a 520% first-day jump far above the norm for U.S. IPOs and one of the most dramatic market debuts in recent years. The debut is a major milestone for Ukraine's defense tech sector, which has grown rapidly since Russia's full-sc

A Ukrainian serviceman operates a drone in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine, on Oct. 5, 2025.

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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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In Ukraine’s drone-dominated battlefield, critically wounded face slim chance to survive

“Panda,” a medic with Ukraine’s 60th Mechanized Brigade, sits inside the ambulance in Donetsk Oblast on Jan. 24, 2026.

For Ukrainian medics, one of the hardest parts of the drone war is accepting that critically wounded soldiers often cannot be saved. "If it's a critical injury, it's usually lethal," Ukrainian medic Dmytro, who goes by his callsign Winnie, told the Kyiv Independent in his evac vehicle not far from the front. Wounds in areas where tourniquets can't be used are often the deadliest, such as the head, chest, torso, or groin injuries, he explained. "We would like to do something, but there is just

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