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What Russia’s internet blackouts reveal about Putin’s endgame
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What Russia’s internet blackouts reveal about Putin’s endgame

by Oleg Sukhov

Russia has intensified internet censorship in recent weeks as the U.S.-Israeli efforts to kill top Iranian officials prompted concerns that the security of its own leaders could also be compromised. The official reason for the ongoing internet shutdowns is Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia. Experts, however, believe that the intensifying internet censorship is part of the Kremlin's efforts to take full control of the online space, something the regime has been preparing for since the start of

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Saturday, March 21

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.

What Russia’s internet blackouts reveal about Putin’s endgame

Russia has intensified internet censorship in recent weeks as the U.S.-Israeli efforts to kill top Iranian officials prompted concerns that the security of its own leaders could also be compromised. The official reason for the ongoing internet shutdowns is Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia. Experts, however, believe that the intensifying internet censorship is part of the Kremlin's efforts to take full control of the online space, something the regime has been preparing for since the start of

Russia kills 9 civilians, including parents of two, injures 36 over past day

In a Russian attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia on the morning of March 21, a father and mother of two girls were killed, and 6 people injured, including two girls aged 11 and 15, Fedorov said. The girls are daughters of the parents killed in the strike, Ukraine's State Emergency Service later said.

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The Kyiv Independent’s coverage of news on Russia. Spanning eleven time zones across Eastern Europe and Asia, Russia has an estimated population of 146 million people. Russia’s capital city is Moscow, which is home to almost one in 10 Russians. Russia’s official currency is the Russian Ruble.

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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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