Culture

The Hidden Canon: Discover Ukrainian literary classics

A Kyiv Independent project backed by the Ukrainian Institute

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Symon Petliura, Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army, photographed in 1919.
Culture

The many deaths of Symon Petliura

by Kate Tsurkan

A century ago, on May 25, 1926, an otherwise ordinary afternoon in Paris’ bohemian Latin Quarter was disrupted by a barrage of gunshots, leaving one of Ukraine’s famous military leaders dead in the street. “I emptied my revolver,” Samuel “Scholem” Schwartzbard, the Jewish-Ukrainian man who killed Symon Petliura, told the court, as quoted by Time magazine in 1927. “A policeman came up quietly and said: ‘Is that enough?’ I answered: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Then give me your revolver.’ I gave him the re

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Ukraine war latest: NATO condemns 'reckless' Russian drone strike on Romanian apartment building

Key developments on May 29: * NATO condemns 'reckless' Russian drone strike on Romanian apartment building * Russia preparing new large-scale attack, Zelensky says * Oreshnik missile 'isn't cutting-edge' as Russia claims, Ukraine says after examining parts * Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 2, injure 27, hit Turkish ship over past day A Russian drone struck a residential building in the Romanian city of Galati overnight on May 29. The drone was redirected from its original course, Roma

These Ukrainian drone pilots took out NATO forces during drills

At NATO's Aurora 2026 military exercises in Sweden, a group of Ukrainian drone pilots was tasked with playing the role of attackers. The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell spoke with drone pilots from Ukraine's 20th National Guard "Lubart" Brigade, part of the 1st Azov Corps, shortly after they returned from Sweden.

Ukraine's human capital crisis is Europe's threat

During a recent visit to a newly opened underground school in a front-line town, I spoke with the children once again. What is particularly striking is that they usually talk about how happy they are to finally return to classrooms. Some of them are experiencing in-person schooling for the very first time in sixth grade (first due to COVID-19, and then because of Russia's full-scale invasion). Yet online education or learning that is repeatedly interrupted by constant attacks, displacement, bl

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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