Editor’s note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. DONETSK OBLAST – Sitting around in the long, dry grass outside an abandoned village house, two dozen men in summer military fatigues listen attentively to
Several months ago, most of these infantrymen were serving their sentences behind bars. Now, they are part of the 1st Separate Assault Battalion, known as "Da Vinci."
SELYDOVE, Donetsk Oblast – “Kostia! Kostia?” Despite their volume, the volunteer’s calls dissipate in the strong winds coursing through the central streets of Selydove. This is the most dangerous part of any evacuation operation in a front-line city: making visual contact with civilians who have agreed to leave. Russian soldiers
Editor’s note: Some of the Kherson locals interviewed for this story refused to be identified by last name due to fear for their safety. KHERSON – On a warm September evening, Olha Chernyshova’s day took a grim turn when she was returning home from work in downtown Kherson. Stepping
The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko visited Pokrovsk and joined volunteers evacuating civilians from neighboring Selydove, stranded due to Russia’s rapid advance.
Editor’s note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. POKROVSK DISTRICT, Donetsk Oblast – Marked by wide plumes of gray smoke on the horizon, the open fields stretching out southeast of the city of
DONETSK OBLAST – Gasping for air from a trench in eastern Ukraine, an infantryman was ready for the worst when a suffocating white smoke spread into his position. A Russian drone had just dropped a gas grenade into the trench, an internationally banned practice in warfare used to suffocate Ukrainian soldiers
Halfway down a narrow corridor painted all in gray, the guard wrestles with a bulky lock to gain entry to the prison cell. Inside are around twenty young men, sitting on a criss-crossing pattern of metal bunk beds. In the corner of the room, plastic cups and books are stacked
The Kyiv Independent got exclusive access to the POWs captured during the Kursk operation and interviewed them about their motivations and experience of fighting for Russia.
The Kyiv Independent traveled into Russia’s Kursk Oblast with Ukrainian soldiers during the ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive in the area.
Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent traveled into Russia’s Kursk Oblast with Ukrainian soldiers during the ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive in the area. Since the trip constitutes an unsanctioned crossing of the state border between Russia and Ukraine, the identities of the author of the report and of the
DONETSK OBLAST – Along a bumpy highway that used to link the cities of Pokrovsk and now occupied Donetsk, used to lie quiet and picturesque towns and villages whose names only locals would know. Yet – Novohrodivka, Selydove, Petrivka – are now well-known in Ukraine, stuck between the advancing Russian troops and their
Watch our exclusive report from Ukrainian infantry positions near Toretsk as Russia continues its push in Donetsk Oblast.
Since February, Russian forces have steadily advanced across multiple sectors of the front in Donetsk Oblast. They have occupied villages previously liberated by Ukraine, wiped out entire towns, and introduced new threats to the region's overall defense. Alongside Chasiv Yar, Niu York, and other towns, Russia aims to capture Toretsk,
Editor’s note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. DONETSK OBLAST – There was already little resembling a road in front of the driver by the time the old pickup truck’s headlights were
The Kyiv Independent visited a tank company of Ukraine's 110th Mechanized Brigade serving in one of the most intense parts of the eastern front line.
Rescuers of the Mobile Rescue Center of the State Emergency Service come to the sites of aerial attacks to sort through the most difficult rubble in search of living and dead people. We followed them to understand what it takes to be a first responder in wartime Ukraine.
Editor's Note: Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on July 9 that nine people were killed in the building in the Syrets neighborhood following a Russian missile strike a day prior. On a Monday morning, Nataliia Fedorenko and her mother felt lucky to survive their daily routine: walking their dog in
Nurse Olesia Filonenko was preparing for the first operation of the day at the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv when she heard explosions "somewhere far away." "Then, in a second, everything was blown away," she told the Kyiv Independent. "Dust, smoke. We were all blown out of the operating rooms
CHERNIHIV, Ukraine – At Ukraine’s 50th Regiment's repair and restoration facility, officers, soldiers, and volunteers watched as a self-loading container truck lowered onto the ground a black shipping container with an installed repair workshop inside. The Tvii Krok (Your Step) charity, which designed this mobile repair complex, known as Workshop
Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent months, leading to lengthy and almost daily interruptions in electricity supply all over Ukraine. In this video, the Kyiv Independent shows how Kyiv lives amid blackouts in the summertime.
ZHYTOMYR, KYIV OBLASTS — Taras Netavrovanyi, an inmate at the medium-security prison in Zhytomyr Oblast, eagerly seized the chance to break free of his two-and-a-half-year sentence. New Ukrainian legislation allowing military service for prisoners convicted of certain felonies, including manslaughter, offers a unique opportunity: parole in exchange for joining an assault
DNIPRO – Most soldiers are unconscious by the time they arrive at Mechnikov Hospital, the main gateway for the wounded fighting in Donbas. Located in Dnipro, a city of 1 million people 185 kilometers west of the front line, the massive Soviet-era medical facility works around the clock to save as
A verdant green forest has sprouted in one of Ukraine’s most unlikely locations — the Kakhovka reservoir left nearly empty after Russia blew up its dam last year. Following the destruction of the dam on June 6 last year, nearly 20 cubic kilometers of water flooded Ukraine’s four southern
Editor's Note: The Kyiv Independent is not disclosing soldiers' full names since they disclosed information without authorization from their command. DONETSK OBLAST—As public attention shifted to Moscow's renewed offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces steadily advance in the country's easternmost Donbas region, which remains Moscow's primary target. Moving west
Editor’s note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. KHARKIV OBLAST – In battles fought under a sky swarming with enemy drones, even the most minimal movement, even the quickest dash from one house
Editor's note: This article features graphic photos. Russian forces destroyed one of Ukraine's largest printing presses amid a mass missile attack on the city of Kharkiv on the morning of May 23. According to regional authorities, Russia used S-300 missiles, fired from inside Russian territory, to strike the factory belonging
KHARKIV – The first signs that something ominous is happening in Kharkiv come as soon as the train from Kyiv reaches the suburbs of the city – as two pillars of smoke appear in the distance, every single phone in the carriage erupts with a piercing electronic squawking. "I guess we've arrived,
VOVCHANSK, KHARKIV OBLAST – The glide bombs arrive in groups of three. Their flight can be heard from far away, but only in the last second before impact is it clear where it will hit. The explosions, orders of magnitude more powerful than regular artillery shells, shake the ground where the
The Kyiv Independent joined local police on their mission to evacuate civilians from Vovchansk on May 11 — the operation that was constantly interrupted by Russian launches of aerial gliding bombs.
Editor’s Note: Soldiers and military medics are introduced by first names and callsigns only due to security reasons. DONETSK OBLAST – A sunflowers-painted bus drives fast toward Dnipro, clearing the way with sirens. From the front line to the rear, from death to life, it carries wounded Ukrainian soldiers, and
Editor’s note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only. CHASIV YAR, DONETSK OBLAST – As he creeps between rubble-strewn garages near the central square of Chasiv Yar, the eyes and ears of the reconnaissance
