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Russia-Ukraine War

Inside the institution where Ukraine races to counter Russia's evolving drones
War

Inside the institution where Ukraine races to counter Russia's evolving drones

by Jakub Laichter

In a government office, researchers of drones and electronic warfare gather around a small metal device recovered from a Russian Geran drone. Its purpose —  to measure the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation. "This is the most recent component we found, about a week or two ago," said one of the researchers. Outside, a Russian drone’s jet engine roared — a sound that has become almost constant in Kyiv in recent months as advances in drone technology allow Russia to strike farther, more often

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Stephen Hubbard's son: 'It’s tragic when family members are torn apart' by Russian captivity

For years, Father Joseph Coleman had little ability to influence what happened to his father, Stephen Hubbard, an American retiree imprisoned in Russia after being captured in Izium, a city in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast occupied by Russian forces in 2022. Hubbard, 74, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison after a closed trial in Russia. Russian prosecutors accused him of fighting for Ukraine as a mercenary, a charge his family has disputed. For Coleman, who lives in Cyprus and had not see

What Russians are told — and not told — about Ukrainian strikes

On the night of Sept. 12, Ukrainian drones attacked Taganrog. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported hits on an FPV drone production facility, two drone storage sites, a Pantsir air defense system, and a radar. Local authorities, as usual, listed something else: 16 commercial buildings, five cars, a football club, and a Svetofor store. Regional social media channels summed it up in a single sentence about "drone debris" that set a store and several non-residential buildings on fire. Under

A woman rides on a bus as smoke rises near oil refinery in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 20, 2026.

About War

The Kyiv Independent's coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, after eight years of aggression against Ukraine that began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and fighting in Donbas. The war has resulted in tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties and displaced millions of Ukrainians. NATO and Western allies have provided military aid to Ukraine while the conflict continues across fronts in Ukraine’s south and east.

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