Culture

The Hidden Canon: Discover Ukrainian literary classics

A Kyiv Independent project backed by the Ukrainian Institute

Ukrainian InstituteLearn more
Burned Ukrainian books at the site of a Russian missile attack on a publishing factory in Kharkiv, Ukraine on May 23, 2024.
Culture

Ukrainian publishers stand strong despite enormous financial losses from Russian attacks

by Kate Tsurkan

The moment Svitlana Paveletska, co-founder of Knyholav, received the news that the mass attack on July 19 had wiped out her publishing house's warehouse in Kyiv, she felt an overwhelming wave of grief that was difficult to put into words. "Every book represents months, and sometimes years, of work by our entire publishing team, including the author, translator, editor, proofreader, designer, and printer," Paveletska told the Kyiv Independent. Books are not military targets, but according to th

News Feed

Beyond the protests — How legal mechanisms became tools of pressure

"Every time I come to Kyiv, there are protests," my French colleague once told me. "That's so great that at least in Ukraine, protests work. You can't persist while fighting on both fronts." He's right: protests do work. But only to a degree. More importantly, they are symptoms of a far more problematic phenomenon: the systematic use of ostensibly legal mechanisms to undermine civil society. If left unchecked, this practice could jeopardize Ukraine's democratic future. Last July, the swift ado

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.
News Feed