Editor's note: The story contains images and descriptions that some readers may find graphic. CHORNOBAIVKA, Kherson Oblast – Two 23-year-old friends, Volodymyr Prylutskyi and Denys Dudchenko, were in front of their old school in Chornobaivka when they were shot dead at around 4 p.m. on March 4. The southern village,
Key developments on Nov. 30: * Ukrainian intelligence: Russia stockpiles missiles for next mass attack * Governor: Russian shelling of Kherson kills 1, wounds 1 * Official: Russia forcibly relocates residents from Kinburn Spit on left bank of Dnipro River Ukraine is bracing itself for more Russian mass strikes targeting energy infrastructure. Vadym
Editor’s Note: This is the second part of the Kyiv Independent’s investigation into the International Legion – a military formation created for foreign fighters dedicated to defending Ukraine. Published in August, the first part of this story unmasked alleged endemic abuse of power in the leadership of the military
Key developments on Nov. 29: * Kuleba: Negotiations for Kyiv-involved weapon production in NATO territory underway * IAEA to strengthen its presence in all of Ukraine’s nuclear power plantsLiberated * Kherson again comes under Russian fire * Heaviest fighting raging in Bakhmut and Avdiivka areas, Donetsk Oblast Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba
Ukraine has two main orthodox churches, and the one run by Moscow is having a hard time. Starting from Nov. 22, Ukraine's law enforcement has raided several premises of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). The latest search occurred on Nov. 28 in western Ukraine. Ukraine's Security
“Breaking: This lettuce outlasts Russian annexation of Kherson,” reads a meme posted a few hours after Russia announced its retreat from the city of Kherson. This is a remake of a joke about the former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, whose short term in power " was compared to "the
Key developments on Nov. 28: * Nearly five million Ukrainian refugees have received temporary protection status in Europe, UNHCR says. * Russia has launched over 16,000 missile attacks at Ukraine over the past 9 months, with 97% of targets being civilian, Ukraine’s defense minister says. * Emergency blackouts resumed in all
KHERSON – KYIV – Kherson residents sat in an eerily quiet overnight train to Kyiv. It was Nov. 25, and they were leaving their hometown for the first time since February. The evacuees spent almost nine months under Russian occupation in Kherson, waiting for the arrival of Ukrainian forces. But a few
KHERSON – When Russia captured Kherson in March, disrupting supply chains to the city, local Ukrainian volunteers kept it running. When people had no food, they set up free hot meal cafeterias. When people had no medicine or hygiene goods, they brought them in from Odesa. When children needed to take
Key developments on Nov. 27: * Governor: Russia using 'terror tactics' to threaten lives in liberated parts of Kherson Oblast * General Staff: Russia concentrates main offensive to capture Bakhmut and Avdiivka * UK Defense Ministry: Russia unlikely to achieve breakthrough in Donetsk Oblast * Law enforcement raids Moscow-linked Orthodox church in western Ukraine
Days before giving birth to her first child, Ukrainian military medic Mariana Mamonova was made to board a plane in the Russian city of Taganrog. She was blindfolded, and her hands were bound with rope. “Do you know where they’re taking us?” she heard a man sitting next to
The so-called "invincibility centers" across Ukraine help people cope with the consequences of Russia's Nov. 23 missile attacks that shut down electricity, heating, water supply and mobile communications.
KHERSON — Housed in a grand imperial building with a view out onto the Dnipro River, the Kherson Fine Arts Museum once hosted one of the richest collections in all of Ukraine. As with the rest of Kherson, which had its electricity infrastructure destroyed by withdrawing Russian forces in early November,
Among the 12 released prisoners of war were four marines, two National Guard servicemen, two Border Guard servicemen, one member of the Territorial Defense Forces, and three civilians -- among them, a husband and wife, and a man who was considered missing.
Denys Shmyhal, Mateusz Morawiecki, and Ingrida Simonyte met in Kyiv on Nov. 26 as part of the “Lublin Triangle” meeting, the regional partnership established by Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania in July 2020. "Europe has noticed the threat from Russia too late, which is why today we cannot procrastinate with providing help to Ukraine," Morawiecki said.
Key developments on Nov. 25: * State grid operator says Ukraine to import electricity from EU. * Ukraine bans fuel wood exports. * Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy system have killed 77 civilians since Oct. 10, according to UN. * Forbes estimates Russia has spent $82 billion on war with Ukraine since Feb. 24.
In the Kyiv office of the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion, two flags hang on the wall next to each other: the yellow-and-blue flag of Ukraine and the green-white-and-red flag of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. The battalion, named for the first president of the short-lived Chechen republic, Dzhokhar Dudayev, who led
As Russian troops withdraw from Kherson amid a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive, concerns over false flag operations from Belarus intensify. Ukrainian intelligence warns of potential staged provocations by Russia at Belarusian critical infrastructure sites, which it says Moscow will blame on Kyiv. An independent Belarusian railway initiative says Minsk has transferred
Key developments on Nov. 24: * Largest steel company suspends operation in Ukraine due to power outages. * Ukrainian nuclear power plants begin resuming operations after Russia's Nov. 23 strikes. * Russia attacks liberated Kherson Oblast almost every hour, says Zelensky. * Ukraine brings back 50 prisoners of war from Russian captivity. Power supply
This week’s bonus episode is an extended interview with Bektour Iskender, a journalist and co-founder of Kloop, an NGO and leading news publication in Kyrgyzstan. Through his work with Kloop, Bektour trains young journalists to cover politics and investigate corruption, while also reporting on the most significant stories happening
VYSHHOROD, Kyiv Oblast – A rocket blast that struck a four-story residential building in Vyshhorod on Nov. 23 was so powerful that it ripped off balconies, leaving the windowless rooms open to the cold November weather. The massive crater in front of the building left no doubt about the intensity of
Key developments on Nov. 23: * Interior Ministry reports Russia's bombardment of Ukraine kills ten on Nov. 23. * Attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure cause power outages in neighboring Moldova. * Ukraine returns 36 POWs, including Azovstal defenders, from Russian captivity. Russia launched yet another large-scale missile attack all over Ukraine on Nov.
Russia launched yet another wave of massive missile attacks all over Ukraine on Nov. 23, killing civilians and damaging energy infrastructure. In Kyiv, Russian strikes hit a critical infrastructure, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The Kyiv authorities said that at least one person had been killed and one had been injured
Key developments on Nov. 22: * US to provide Kyiv with $4.5 billion direct budget support, EU gives $2.5 billion for reconstruction. * Russian forces kill 8 people, injure 16 in past day, according to President’s Office. * General Staff reports that Russia has lost 85,000 troops in Ukraine
KHERSON — Huge numbers of Ukrainians were detained by Russians occupying Kherson. Many of them were interrogated by torture. The chief prosecutor of Kherson Oblast, Volodymyr Kalyuga, said that locals were tortured at four sites throughout the city. According to interviews with local officials and residents, these included a pre-trial detention
Key developments on Nov. 21: * Russia has lost over 8,000 units of military equipment since Feb. 24. * Polish prosecutors won’t allow Ukraine to join the investigation of the Przewodow blast, Polish media outlet Rzeczpospolita reports. * Russian forces strike civilian infrastructure in liberated Kherson on Nov. 21, one person
KHERSON – Standing outside her small, dimly lit grocery store, Natalia chain-smokes several cigarettes until a customer finally shows up at the door. The 48-year-old shopkeeper misses being busy all day. More than a week after Ukrainian forces recaptured her native Kherson, she is still waiting for her long-time customers to
"The resolution names Russia the most direct threat to Euro-Atlantic security," said Tomas Valasek, a member of the Slovak delegation to the NATO PA. "It states clearly that the state of Russia, under its current regime, is a terrorist one," he added. He added that Russia violated its agreements with the alliance, thus, the provision of limiting the forward deployment of troops is "null and void."
Key developments on Nov. 20: * Ukraine to investigate video alleging death of Russian POWs * General Staff: Russian military command plans to transfer units from south to east * Zelensky: Russia has launched more than 4,700 missiles at Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine denies Russian accusations of committing war crimes after
On the evening of Feb. 24, Nataliia Sivak received a terrifying message from her younger brother, Ukrainian soldier Yakiv Nehrii. "Tell everyone I love them very much," the message read. "We are under heavy attack." It was the last time she heard from him. When Russia launched its full-scale war
KHERSON — Svitlana Dosenko stood dangerously close to the edge of the platform, anxiously waiting for her son to arrive on the first train from Kyiv to Kherson since Russia’s invasion engulfed the entire country. “I left home in a hurry because I was worried that the platform would be
Iran has played a key role in Russia’s recent attempts to terrorize Ukraine. As Russian front-line advances are failing, the Kremlin has been launching massive attacks on critical civilian infrastructure across Ukraine using Iranian-made drones. “The whole world will know that the Iranian regime is helping Russia to continue
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