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A man in a military uniform checks his mobile phone on a street in Moscow, Russia, on May 6, 2026.
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Why Moscow is afraid this Victory Day

by Karol Luczka

On May 9, Moscow will stage its annual Victory Day parade marking the end of World War II in Europe — but this year, the spectacle is notable not for its grandeur, but for what's missing. For the first time in Vladimir Putin's Russia, no missiles, tanks, or armored vehicles are expected to appear in Saturday's Red Square parade. Although the Kremlin offered no explanation for the dramatic scale-back, recent Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory have suggested that even Putin's militar

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Ukraine’s top journalist on investigating Zelensky's circle

The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Denisova speaks with one of Ukraine's most prominent investigative journalists, Mykhailo Tkach, about the newly published recordings exposing corruption and money laundering inside President Volodymyr Zelensky's inner circle.

Russia's test of 'Satan 2' missile 'to compensate for international embarrassment,' expert says

Russia has allegedly conducted a successful test of its nuclear-capable RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), following a series of failed launches that exposed weaknesses behind Moscow's repeated nuclear threats. News of the claimed launch was delivered to Russian President Vladimir Putin by Strategic Missile Forces Commander Sergey Karakayev, Russian state news agency TASS reported on May 12. According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Moscow warned the U.S. and "other

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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Analysis: Is Ukraine starting to win the war again?

Ukrainian recruits at a training center in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on March 27, 2026.

Who is winning? Since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the information space around the war has been obsessed with this deceptively simple question, and the constant new iterations of answers to it. In the hands of those fighting the narrative war, from officials on both sides, online cheerleaders, armchair generals, and a certain world leader who likes to talk about who has the cards, the answers differ radically, but all are delivered with consistent venom, emotion, and

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