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Exclusive: We discovered what's going on inside Russia's shadow fleet
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Exclusive: We discovered what's going on inside Russia's shadow fleet

by Tanya Kozyreva

The vessels are old, their hulls streaked with rust, and their ownership obscured behind layers of shell companies. Yet the tankers that make up Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, the armada used to move sanctioned oil across the globe, are kept running with modern Western technology including Starlink, an investigation by the Kyiv Independent can reveal. To gain an insight into how the shadow fleet operates, the Kyiv Independent spoke to two Ukrainian sailors who claim they unwittingly became p

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Ukraine proposes energy ceasefire to Russia, Zelensky says

"If Russia is ready to stop strikes on our energy infrastructure, we will be ready to respond in kind. This proposal has been conveyed to the Russian side through the Americans," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Ivan Marchuk, iconic Ukrainian artist, says he was scammed. He's now fighting for rights to his life's work

At nearly 90, the Ukrainian painter Ivan Marchuk — widely regarded as one of the country's most important living artists — has found himself fighting in court to maintain the full creative rights to his vast body of work. Marchuk turned to the courts last year after he said that he was deceived into signing away some of the creative rights for a period of 100 years to three other people — all for Hr 10,000 ($228). The process is still ongoing. "He has not lost hope for a fair resolution of th

Ukrainian painter Ivan Marchuk

How oil jackpot and sanctions failure are funding Russia's war

As recently as this January and February, Russia was going through its worst fiscal period since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Oil and gas budget revenues had fallen by 50% year-on-year, and the deficit for the first two months reached $42 billion. The government was preparing to slash non-military spending by 10%. It seemed like sanctions were finally working. Then this happened: the United States struck Iran, and the Strait of Hormuz — through which one-fifth of the world'

An oil terminal in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Sept. 26, 2025.

About Russia

The Kyiv Independent’s coverage of news on Russia. Spanning eleven time zones across Eastern Europe and Asia, Russia has an estimated population of 146 million people. Russia’s capital city is Moscow, which is home to almost one in 10 Russians. Russia’s official currency is the Russian Ruble.

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