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Exclusive: We discovered what's going on inside Russia's shadow fleet
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Exclusive: We discovered what's going on inside Russia's shadow fleet

by Tanya Kozyreva

The vessels are old, their hulls streaked with rust, and their ownership obscured behind layers of shell companies. Yet the tankers that make up Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, the armada used to move sanctioned oil across the globe, are kept running with modern Western technology including Starlink, an investigation by the Kyiv Independent can reveal. To gain an insight into how the shadow fleet operates, the Kyiv Independent spoke to two Ukrainian sailors who claim they unwittingly became p

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How oil jackpot and sanctions failure are funding Russia's war

As recently as this January and February, Russia was going through its worst fiscal period since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Oil and gas budget revenues had fallen by 50% year-on-year, and the deficit for the first two months reached $42 billion. The government was preparing to slash non-military spending by 10%. It seemed like sanctions were finally working. Then this happened: the United States struck Iran, and the Strait of Hormuz — through which one-fifth of the world'

An oil terminal in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Sept. 26, 2025.

As Russian attacks on Ukraine's railways intensify, passenger trains now targets for drones

Russian attacks on Ukraine's railways are escalating and posing a more direct threat to civilians, as Moscow increasingly shifts from hitting infrastructure to targeting moving trains, including passenger trains. Attacks on the railway system rose from 134 in January to 166 in February and peaked at 206 in March, Ukrzaliznytsia — Ukraine's national train operator — told the Kyiv Independent. "There is a clear tendency since late 2025, and especially now in spring — focused strikes on rolling s

Passenger train following russian drone strike in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine, on March 14, 2026.

About Russia

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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