Editor's note: The interview has been edited for clarity. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Despite receiving popular support during the 2020 elections, the Belarusian opposition leader was kicked out of her country, her supporters were jailed en masse, while the country she wanted to
Georgia and Ukraine have long been close. Witnessing revolutions that brought democratic pro-Western governments, both countries later witnessed a Russian military attack, in the Kremlin's attempt to pull both states back into Moscow's orbit. It now looks like in Georgia, 16 years after a brief war that left 20% of
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Oct. 2 that exempts defendants from criminal liability if they join the Russian army, according to Russia's legal information portal.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the Warsaw Security Forum attended by the Kyiv Independent, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur explained that "everybody in the society will contribute a bit more."
Austrians went to the polls on Sept. 29, handing victory to the far-right, anti-migration Freedom Party (FPO). The party gained 29% of the vote, its best result to date. Founded in 1956 by Anton Reinthaller, a former Nazi SS officer, the party has long been climbing into the country's mainstream,
The Kremlin is facing a backlash from Russian military bloggers outraged at reports of specialist troops being sent to storm Ukrainian positions in order to maintain pressure on the front lines. Facing a shortage of manpower and a pressing need to maintain the grinding advances in eastern Ukraine, Russia has
In a meeting with a top Russian militant, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko admits to a decade-long cooperation with occupied Donetsk and complicity in hosting abducted Ukrainian children. The U.S. condemns Belarusian state-owned TV channel for broadcasting “repentance” of U.S. citizen turned Belarusian political prisoner Yury Ziankovich. Far-right German
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of running a "mafia state" and compared him to a slave owner during his speech at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24. Lammy, who took over as British Foreign Secretary in July 2024, has
Last October, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would strike Russia's Black Sea Fleet wherever it will be stationed — implying that could also include occupied parts of Georgia, where Russia has kept a garrison and is rumored to be constructing a naval base. "We will reach them everywhere," the president
The de facto leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party stunned Georgians — who are rarely shocked by the turbulent political situation in the country — by declaring that Georgia should "apologize" for Russia's 2008 war against the country. Oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili's statement on Sept. 14 was a campaign promise made ahead
Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian oil refineries are trying to achieve what Western sanctions couldn’t: grinding down what fuels Russia’s war machine and the backbone of its economy in an echo of the Allies' oil bombing campaign on German assets in World War II. Since the start
U.S. government legal actions targeting a network of Russian influence last week have exposed shortcomings in the country's laws designed to tackle the malign influence of foreign agents, experts told the Kyiv Independent. Treasury sanctions targeted leaders of Russian state-owned news outlet RT, formerly Russia Today, a media organization
In the wake of a Ukrainian incursion in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko began to move his country’s Armed Forces closer to Ukraine’s borders. And Ukrainian officials began to pay attention to those movements. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry warned that Belarus is "concentrating a significant number
Speaking at a press conference, Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said the perpetrators' goals were to "extort information, to blackmail individuals and institutions, and to wage de facto cyberwar."
Belarusian fighter jets reportedly shot at a Russian drone in Belarusian airspace for the first time. Sweden to review Belarusian asylum application rulings amid criticism for using outdated country information. Belarusian activist awaits Serbian court’s extradition ruling, fears persecution and torture at home. Subscribe to the Newsletter Belarus Weekly
Ukraine should become a member of the EU despite disagreements with Poland over the historical issue of the mass killings of Poles in Volyn in the 1940s, Speaker of the Polish Parliament Szymon Holownia said on Aug. 31.
Sitting on NATO's eastern frontier, Lithuania has been punching above its weight when it comes to aiding Ukraine. Ranked among the top military donors in terms of GDP per capita, the country of 2.8 million has provided Ukraine with helicopters, drones, armored vehicles, and air defenses, not to mention
Minsk rejects Kyiv's calls to remove troops from the border amid rising tensions between Ukraine and Belarus. Russian drone incursions into Belarusian airspace becoming the norm: In the latest Russian attacks on Kyiv, at least three Shahed drones entered Belarusian airspace. Belarus and China agreed to strengthen ties, signing free
In an interview with Russian state TV, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claims he deployed a third of his army to Ukraine's border earlier this year. Lukashenko pardons 30 Belarusian political prisoners, while another 1,400 remain behind bars on politically motivated charges. Lithuania builds a military base for 4,000
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Azerbaijan for the first time since the beginning of its full-scale war on Ukraine on Aug. 18, the latest significant development in the South Caucasus country's delicate balancing act between East and West. The visit comes amid a larger, historic realignment between the three countries
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said he later managed to speak to Ukrainian officials through special channels and the situation was resolved through diplomatic means.
Poland has come under particular scrutiny in recent days over the act of sabotage which is still being investigated, with a former head of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, BND, earlier this week claiming it could not have been carried out without Warsaw's support.
Minsk summons EU, Ukrainian diplomats, and addresses UN, OSCE over alleged drone incursion from Ukraine. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko pushes a bill to criminalize violence and threats against incumbent or former presidents of Belarus, unauthorized reports on movements of the Belarusian military. The U.S., and allies impose new sanctions
“Military units of special operations forces, ground forces, missile forces, including the Polonez rocket systems and Iskander (mid-range ballistic missile) complexes, were tasked with marching to designated areas.” the Belarusian defense minister said.
EU hits 28 Belarusian judges, propagandists, law enforcers with personal sanctions over human rights violations. Russian drones again cross into Belarusian airspace in Russia's most extensive drone attack on Kyiv in 2024. Belarusian political prisoners excluded from historic East-West prisoner swap, sparking despair among Belarusian opposition. Subscribe to the Newsletter
Vladimir Demchik, former head of the Property Department of the Russian Defense Ministry, is suspected of taking a four-million ruble ($46,900) bribe.
Kyiv and Warsaw have agreed to form and jointly train a new army brigade on Polish soil, betting the initiative could help recruit some of the scores of Ukrainian men living in Poland and other EU countries. The so-called Ukrainian Legion, a fresh initiative to boost Ukraine’s military manpower
Moldova's Security and Intelligence Service is conducting a search on the premises of the Moldovan Parliament due to an investigation into a case of Russian espionage, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's Moldovan Service reported on July 31.
German citizen Rico Krieger has been sentenced to death by a court in Belarus after being accused of committing six crimes, including "terrorism," and "mercenary activity."
Belarus sentences a German citizen to death for alleged terrorism, Berlin pulled into negotiations over his fate. After handing down the death sentence to a German citizen, Minsk says it will extend visa free travel to Belarus for 35 European countries. Poland gives Alexander Lukashenko’s regime three conditions to
Lithuanian authorities are drawing up plans for mass evacuations of civilians in case of armed conflict, the LRT public broadcaster reported on July 25, citing the country's Interior Ministry.
Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Poland supports Ukraine against Russian aggression as much as it can, but the relations are "not perfect" due to unresolved historical issues. Warsaw has been Kyiv's staunch supporter since 2022, although the ties have soured in the past months over trade disputes.
