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Russia-Ukraine War

People on a Black Sea beach in Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine, on July 15, 2022.
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'This is unusual' – How Ukrainian strikes upended Crimea's tourist season

by Yuliia Taradiuk

"We spent the whole night in a shelter." "The cafes are all open… but they ask for cash or a bank transfer; many cafes don't have electricity." "As for fuel, I still recommend bringing some with you whenever possible." "Those who traveled to Crimea every year can't be scared by anything." These are just a few messages from a Telegram group where tourists in occupied Crimea discuss conditions on the peninsula. Nighttime explosions, long queues at gas stations, and oil slicks along the coast h

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If Europe wants real peace, it must make a frozen war unattractive

A negotiated ceasefire that produces a de facto freeze of the war would be the worst outcome for Ukraine and the best outcome for Russia. To understand why, one needs only to look at what the war itself is revealing. Moscow is on a losing trajectory, and a freeze would lock in conditions that let Russia avoid the political and economic costs of defeat, while denying Kyiv the space it needs to prevail and rebuild. The human impulse to stop the fighting is understandable, but ending active comba

Zelensky-Nawrocki feud fails to overshadow Ukraine’s biggest recovery conference yet

"See you at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC)" was the departing note after many meetings in Kyiv during the weeks leading up to Ukraine’s largest annual business and economics event. From June 25–26, it felt like half of Ukraine had descended upon Gdansk on Poland’s Baltic coast as a record 7,500 officials, business leaders, entrepreneurs, economists, activists, and journalists envisioned the war-torn country’s economic revival. Last year's conference attracted between 5,000–6,000 people.

Tusk (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister Svyrydenko (R) at the URC 2026 in Gdansk, Poland, on June 25, 2026.

Ukraine war latest: Russian attacks kill 15, injure 118 across Ukraine, as casualties rise from morning strike on Dnipro

Key developments on June 29: * Ukraine reveals new figures for North Korean troop losses in Russia's Kursk Oblast * Ukraine claims strikes on bridges, Russian command posts and logistics * 154th Mechanized Brigade's commander found dead, military say Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured at least 118 others over the past day, regional authorities reported on June 29, as the death toll rose from a Russian morning attack on Dnipro. The Air Force said Russia lau

How Ukrainian and Belarusian entrepreneurs have set new standards in Warsaw’s café scene

WARSAW, Poland — Walk into Milk Bar in central Warsaw, and you'll find the new face of the city's café scene. The lines are clean, the lighting deliberate, and the cakes arranged with gallery-like precision. Without an ear for accents, you might never guess that for its owners and staff, it is a second home, rebuilt after war in Ukraine and political repression in Belarus that forced many of them to start over in Poland. Anna Kozachenko launched the original Milk Bar in Kyiv twelve years ago.

About War

The Kyiv Independent's coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, after eight years of aggression against Ukraine that began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and fighting in Donbas. The war has resulted in tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties and displaced millions of Ukrainians. NATO and Western allies have provided military aid to Ukraine while the conflict continues across fronts in Ukraine’s south and east.

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