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The Hidden Canon: Ukraine's Literary Iconoclasts

A Kyiv Independent project backed by the Ukrainian Institute

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Artist Zhanna Kadyrova (R) and curator Leonid Marushchak pose with the "Origami Deer" sculpture in Prague on March 12, 2026.
Culture

When security guarantees fail: Ukraine's message at the Venice Biennale

by Valeria Radkevych

The 61st Venice Biennale is now underway, with the world's premier international art event having been in the spotlight not for its showings, but for its controversy and internal strife. On April 30, just days before the opening of the festival, the jury collectively resigned in protest over Russia and Israel's planned presence in the event, declaring that with a "responsibility toward the historical role of the Biennale," they could not judge art from countries whose leaders are charged with c

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Tuesday, May 19

Ukraine must preserve system that took one of its most powerful men to corruption trial

Over the past week, news of a major corruption scandal has swept through the Ukrainian media landscape like a storm. And none other than former Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak is at the center of it all.  Yet perhaps the most revealing part of this story is not the scandal itself, but the system now investigating it. Andriy Yermak has been linked to a corruption scandal involving embezzlement in the energy sector. Searches at his residence pushed him to resign as head of President Zel

Andriy Yermak (C), stands in court before a hearing in a money laundering case, in Kyiv, Ukraine on May 12, 2026.

82 years after Soviet deportation, Crimean Tatars living under Russia's 'constant terror'

For Lia Gazi, a 24-year-old Crimean Tatar activist in exile, the second half of May each year signifies both personal and collective tragedy — the forced deportation and genocide of the Crimean Tatar People. Over the course of two days in 1944, from May 18 to May 20, the Soviet secret policy forcibly deported over 190,000 indigenous Crimean Tatars across thousands of kilometers from Crimea to Central Asia. Members of Gazi's family were among the victims. "Strangers still live in our homes toda

About Culture

Our reporting on literature, films, art, and traditions from Ukraine and the latest news on culture in Eastern Europe.

Ukrainian culture
Ukrainian culture has survived centuries of Russian attempts to appropriate Ukrainian art, silence Ukrainian artists, and erase the Ukrainian language. Modern Ukrainian writers, filmmakers, and musicians — some of whom are serving on the front lines — continue to develop Ukrainian culture and fight for Ukraine’s future.

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First known Russian recruited from university dies in Ukraine, exposing Russia’s student recruitment campaign

Russian servicemen in Moscow, Russia, on May 7, 2025.

When 23-year-old Russian student Valery Averin signed a military contract in January after being recruited into Russia’s drone forces campaign targeting students, he was told he would train as a drone operator. Three months later, he was dead near Luhansk after reportedly being sent into an assault unit despite having no military experience. His case, reported by the BBC Russian Service, appears to be the first known death linked to Russia’s growing campaign to recruit university and college st

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