On the evening of June 24, 16-year-olds Tihran Ohannisian and Mykyta Khanhanov went for a walk in their hometown of Berdiansk, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The two got some street food, saw some friends, and discussed how they would celebrate Khanhanov's 17th birthday the next
DONETSK OBLAST – Sixteen months have passed since Halyna Nikiforova's husband went missing on Ukraine's eastern front line. But the 40-year-old Sloviansk native still texts him daily stories about their children. "They were everything to him," Nikiforova said of their 13 and 15-year-old sons. "They've grown up so much this year
Editor's Note: The names of the people from the Russian-occupied territories interviewed by the Kyiv Independent for this story have been changed to protect their identity, as they have shared sensitive information that could place them in danger. As Russia largely exhausted its military potential on the battlefield, the Kremlin
On Oct. 8, Tetiana Bodak was busy organizing a funeral for her mother, who was killed by a Russian attack in then-occupied Kherson Oblast, when she got an unexpected and very emotional phone call from her son. "Mom, I'm in Oleshky (a Russian-occupied settlement in Kherson Oblast). On the way
Over 500 spectators of the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater stood in a deep silence before the start of a performance of the "La Bayadere” ballet in late April. Some of them had tears in their eyes. The audience was commemorating the opera's late ballet dancer, Rostyslav Yanchyshen,
ZAPORIZHZHIA – Stuck between a worksite frozen in time and a highway facing the Dnipro River, the volunteer’s center was not easy to find. The anonymous building hardly betrayed any sign of human activity from the outside. Everything was wrapped in an eerie silence until a door opened, spilling a
KYIV – At first, everything about the small, solemn gathering in the grounds of Kyiv’s St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery had all the signs of a traditional Ukrainian military funeral. A guard of soldiers, a Ukrainian flag held over the coffin, the rolling verse of Orthodox prayers, the national anthem,
Borodianka, located about 40 kilometers from Kyiv, suffered greatly from Russian airstrikes. One year later, many of its residents continue to live there either because they have nowhere else to go or because they feel emotionally attached to their hometown.
Editor's Note: Some soldiers declined to give their last names to the Kyiv Independent for safety reasons as they plan to return to fight on the front line once their rehabilitation is over. ZAPORIZHZHIA – Serhii Demko's active duty is over. He had served since the first day of the Russian
On the morning of May 13, Tetiana Horobtsova was busy in the kitchen at her home in then-occupied Kherson when she heard her daughter saying, "Mom, they’ve come for me." She left the kitchen to find her daughter – 37-year-old IT specialist Iryna Horobtsova – standing on the balcony, looking pale
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has galvanized Ukrainians into action, compelling them to figure out how they can contribute to their country’s victory. Oftentimes, it has called for a radical departure from the known comforts of their daily lives. That’s exactly what happened to Ukrainian writer Victoria
Editor's Note: People interviewed for this story are not identified by their full names to protect their identities since they or their relatives still remain in Russian-occupied towns in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The native city of released prisoner Bohdan, which is still under Russian occupation, is also not mentioned to protect
It was another one of those losses. A young, bright Ukrainian who had a long life to live. Somebody who many perceived as “immortal” because the country’s future was hard to imagine without their dedication and patriotism. Somebody for whom thousands, both friends and strangers, would gather in central
After months of reports that Russia would expand its aggression against Ukraine, the unthinkable happened early in the morning of Feb. 24, 2022: Russian missiles began raining down on Ukrainian cities, and all at once, millions of people had to act quickly to get themselves and their loved ones to
Two survivors spoke to the Kyiv Independent about what they had endured.
Ten months after barely surviving the Russian bombing of a theater in Mariupol, Viktoria Dubovitska is keeping a close eye on her seven-year-old son. Artem remembers “almost everything” about what he saw in the March tragedy, the mother said. He tries not to talk about it, but unwanted memories keep
Despite Russian air assaults, Olha Kardash, 38, was determined to celebrate New Year's Eve. Spending the day together was always an important tradition for the Kardash family, whose hometown in Luhansk Oblast has been under Russian occupation since 2014. Now, Kardash had to cherish every moment with her younger brother
When Ukrainian soldiers were entering the village of Yampil in Donetsk Oblast after five months of Russian occupation, they discovered an abandoned zoo on the outskirts. Dozens of animal corpses, either killed by Russian troops or dead of starvation, were lying throughout the zoo’s territory. But in one locked
On a warm day in early September, Anastasiia Kolchyna took her nine-year-old sons, twin brothers Ruslan and Denys, for a walk. They went to a small park in their native Zelenodolsk, a town in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where many locals would gather on the weekends. The family was enjoying the outdoors
Despite the dire humanitarian situation in Kherson, residents are still celebrating its liberation two weeks after the Ukrainian Armed Forces entered the city. With Russian forces finally gone from the city, local residents share stories of living under occupation. Filmed by Liza Pyrozhkova.
Editor's note: The names of the people interviewed by the Kyiv Independent for this story have been changed to protect their identity as they have shared sensitive information that could place them and their families in danger. When Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization, Ivan was desperate. Ivan, who
Cable welder Dmytro Mykhalchuk and his four colleagues ran out the door gasping for air immediately after a Russian missile hit their office building in Dnipro. "The scariest thing was getting through the dark, ruined corridor, hoping there is a way out," the 36-year-old told the Kyiv Independent. Using phones
Editor's Note: This story includes interviews with people living under the Russian occupation. Their names have been changed to protect their identity as they have shared sensitive information that could place them and their families in danger. Mariupol resident Oleksandr, 53, had just entered a hardware store when Russian soldiers
Warning: This story contains graphic images and descriptions that some readers may find disturbing. Scrolling through photos from the mass burial site in Izium, Oksana Sova immediately recognized her husband's bracelet on a corpse's wrist. "I immediately knew it was him," Sova, 37, told the Kyiv Independent. It was that
ORLIVSHCHYNA, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast – It doesn’t look like a typical camp for internally displaced persons. Once a place to unwind and enjoy nature, the Lisovyi resort located on the Samara River near Dnipro, a large city in south-central Ukraine, was turned into a shelter when Russia launched a full-scale invasion
In August, Russia's war against Ukraine returned to where it all started, to Crimea. Starting with the attack on the Saky air base in Novofedorivka on Aug. 9 that destroyed around a dozen Russian fighter aircraft, military targets were hit on a regular basis on the peninsula over the next
Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Independent is paying tribute to the Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed defending their country in the six months since the start of Russia's all-out invasion on Feb. 24. We don’t know how many have been killed, since the government doesn’t disclose the
Maksym Butkevych, a well-known human rights defender in Ukraine, has had anti-militarist views all his conscious life. But when Russia launched a brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, he put pacifism aside and joined the Ukrainian army. "There are times when one needs to be ready to defend
Editor’s Note: The names of some of the people interviewed by the Kyiv Independent for this story have been changed to protect their identity as they have shared sensitive information that could place them and their families in danger. Three months after Russia’s brutal months-long siege of Mariupol
Editor’s Note: The name of the person interviewed by the Kyiv Independent for this story has been changed to protect his identity as he has shared sensitive information that could place him and his family in danger. “If Russia orders us to invade the entire galaxy, we will,” the
Editor’s Note: The names of the people interviewed by the Kyiv Independent for this story have been changed to protect their identity as they have shared sensitive information that could place them and their families in danger. Stepan didn’t see daylight for nearly four months. Since mid-February, even
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