According to the preliminary details about the show, named "Goodbye," an undercover "President Joe Biden" moves to Russia to investigate why Western sanctions are unsuccessful. After losing his documents, Biden is forced to become an English teacher to save up money and eventually return to the U.S.
Painter Oleksandr Dubovyk, a legend of the “Ukrainian Sixties” movement who pioneered abstract expressionism during the Soviet Union, began experimenting with the concept of “bouquet” as early as 1966. While the philosophy has evolved over the decades, drawing inspiration from German philosophers and scientists like Heidegger, Leibniz, and Heisenberg, it
As the summer is coming to an end, Kyiv residents are trying to enjoy glimpses of normalcy amid the never-ending threats of Russian missile and drone attacks and the blackouts, which often follow large-scale strikes that target critical infrastructure across Ukraine. On Ukraine's 33rd Independence Day, celebrated on Aug. 24,
Following a decade-long battle, a substantial part of Crimean artifacts is now on display in Kyiv until the occupied peninsula is liberated, officials say. After a lengthy legal struggle, the return of the so-called "Scythian gold" last year was, for Ukrainians, an important cultural milestone amid the ongoing decade-long war
“Everything in Ukraine is about pain, tears, serfdom, and wars. Of course, children don’t want to read such literature.” I still remember this conversation from back in school when the math teacher was trying to explain to the literature teacher why her class wasn’t preparing for their lessons.
Editor’s note: Daria Kolomiec is a Ukrainian cultural activist, producer, DJ, and author of the documentary project Diary of War. Since the summer of 2022, Daria has been volunteering in New York City, where she talks about and shows Ukrainian music and culture to Americans, raises money to support
The legislation could effectively prohibit the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which is legally subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church.
"This is respect. This is honor. This is dignity. It is how the state of Ukraine says thank you to its people, its heroes, its legends," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Editor's note: The article was expanded with comments by religious scholar Oleksandr Brodetskyi. Ukraine's parliament passed on Aug. 20 a much-debated bill banning activities of religious organizations with ties to Russia, a country whose armies are currently occupying large swathes of Ukraine's land. The legislation – falsely spun by pro-Kremlin actors
The Kyiv Independent will launch a travel show called “Dare to Ukraine.” In each of the six episodes, host Masha Lavrova will travel to six regions across the country to explore the local culture, architecture, food, popular activities, people, and everyday life. The first episode of “Dare to Ukraine” will
The Ukrainian parliament on Aug. 20 passed a bill banning activities of religious organizations connected to Russia.
The Nature Reserve Askania-Nova in Kherson Oblast suffered heavily under Russian occupation but has not been fully destroyed as of now, the reserve's director, Viktor Shapoval, said in a comment for Suspilne on Aug. 19
The Lesia Ukrainka Museum in Yalta, located in occupied Crimea, has been effectively erased. The museum has been repurposed under a new name, the Yalta Historical and Literary Museum, with exhibitions focusing on Yalta's history, music, and literature, as well as architect Nikolai Krasnov.
While Russian armed forces target and destroy Ukraine’s cultural heritage with missiles, rockets, and artillery, Kyiv’s developers are bulldozing historic buildings right in the city center. On July 19, videos and images surfaced of the historic Zelensky Manor being ripped apart by a bulldozer, shocking locals. Activists who
Ukrainian high jumpers Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Iryna Gerashchenko qualified for the 2024 Olympics on Aug. 2. They will represent Ukraine in the high jump finals on Aug. 4.
Kiper made the statement after Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov criticized the renaming of streets on Aug. 1, claiming that Odesa City Council had "nothing to do with this."
The wail of the air raid siren in Ukraine, which signals potential or incoming attacks, has become as burdensome and commonplace a sound as that of traffic or construction work. More than 40,000 air raid sirens lasting from minutes to hours throughout the day and night have sounded across
The city of Kharkiv has decided to rename three metro stations and 48 streets to "remove Russian markers from public space," Governor Oleh Syniehubov announced on July 26.
Despite the contrasting opinions surrounding her life’s work and sometimes contentious public statements, the assassination of linguist and former right-wing lawmaker Iryna Farion on July 19 came as a shock to Ukrainians. Sixty-year-old Farion was shot in the head by an unknown assailant outside of her home in the
I know the exact moment when Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to launch his full-scale invasion of Ukraine: Oct. 1, 2021. It was the day the opera "Vyshyvanyi: The King of Ukraine" premiered in Kharkiv. I was at the event and vividly recall all the details. The premiere proved to
“How should I manage this anger? Or should I?” Ukrainian author Oleksandr Mykhed asks himself following the start of Russia’s all-out war. In his book “The Language of War,” the first major Ukrainian prose work published by a Penguin imprint, Mykhed recounts how the lives of Ukrainians were upended
This means that Ukrainians will set their clocks back one hour for the last time on Oct. 27, 2024, and will not revert back to summer time next spring.
In the heart of Kharkiv, Kharkiv Theater for Children and Youth performs in bomb shelters under constant threats of Russian attacks. The Kyiv Independent visited one of the theater's performances in late June to meet the dedicated actors and their no less dedicated audience.
Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh set a new world record in women's high jump at the Diamond League in Paris on July 7, becoming the first woman to clear 2.10 meters.
Udmurt scholar Albert Razin ended his life in front of the Udmurt Republic’s State Council Building in Izhevsk, Russia, on Sept. 10, 2019, setting himself ablaze. His desperate act serves as a haunting emblem of Russia’s national policy under Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reign. Today, Russification has
Approximately 1.5 million museum artifacts remain in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, according to acting Culture Minister Rostyslav Karandieiev, who spoke on national television on July 4.
The removals impacted the band Lyube and singers Grigory Leps, Oleg Gazmanov, and Shaman, who sang at a concert in Moscow in September 2022 in support of the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory.
Russian occupation authorities destroyed the UNESCO-listed city of Chersonesus in southwestern Crimea and constructed an outdoor theater at the site of the excavations, a senior researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine announced on June 26.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted three resolutions related to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine on June 26, said Maria Mezentseva, the head of the Ukrainian delegation.
Mstyslav Chernov and Serhii Loznitsa were among 487 new members invited to join the more than 10,000-strong body that votes on the annual Oscar winners of the Academy Awards.
In stark contrast to the grim reality of air raid sirens and blackouts amid Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainians gathered to celebrate one of the most magical and ancient rituals of their ancestors that dates back to pagan times. Ivana Kupala falls on June 24, during the summer solstice, on the
As the day begins in late June, people collect flowers and herbs from meadows and riverbanks, fashioning them into wreaths. They craft effigies out of willow and straw of the ancient deities Kupalo and Mara, setting the stage for a nighttime ritual that honors the elemental forces of fire and
The latest on literature, films, art, and traditions from Ukraine and the region. 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.
