Minsk agreements

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Ending Russia's war before winter is realistic, Budanov says

"The president has tasked us with trying to end this war as quickly as possible. I can confirm that this is indeed his goal — to bring hostilities to an end as soon as possible, preferably before winter," President's Office Head Kyrylo Budanov told the Kyiv Independent.

There is one thing emergency teams need ready on arrival, and it's not what most organizations prepare for

In January 2023, World Central Kitchen teams traveled to recently liberated communities in Kherson Oblast, delivering hot meals and food packages. People came for aid, but almost immediately they asked for a way to call home — to reach their children, spouses, relatives in another city, anyone who might know whether the others had survived. That experience changed my understanding of critical connectivity. A system matters only when it is ready when a team arrives: a vehicle stops, people gat

Vitaly, a World Central Kitchen driver, delivers meals to a shelter in Kherson, Ukraine, on May 5, 2026.

In the eye of Venice Biennale's storm, Ukraine takes center stage

Even before stepping onto the grounds of the Venice Biennale, visitors are met with a striking image visible from behind the gates: a concrete deer, suspended midair from the crane of a parked truck, its form secured by vivid orange lifting straps that crisscross its body. From a distance, the installation resembles a temporary construction site more than a national pavilion. People stop beneath it, trying to understand whether the structure is still being assembled, or whether this unstable su

Zhanna Kadyrova stands next to her "Origami Deer" sculpture in Prague, Czech Republic, on March 12, 2026

'No comment': Why questions on Ukraine's reforms go unanswered by EU officials

"We don't comment on comments." "We won't comment on an ongoing investigation." "That's a domestic issue, and so we won't comment." If you hang around EU press briefings for a while, you will hear these reasons and many more for not answering your question. Requests for comment on Ukraine can, like any other topic, go unanswered, but sometimes for reasons you would not get elsewhere. And it's not that the EU isn't bothered. In February, senior EU officials shared with the Kyiv Independent thei

President Volodymyr Zelensky at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Aug. 17, 2025.

Exclusive: EU aiming to advance Ukraine's membership slightly faster than planned

The next step on Ukraine and Moldova's EU accession path could happen slightly earlier than expected, with EU and national diplomats confirming to the Kyiv Independent that everybody is working towards June 15 as the day to open the first of six so-called "enlargement clusters." Ukraine and Moldova's EU applications are proceeding in tandem, and further formal progress has been blocked for a year by Hungary, chiefly over 11 demands from the government in Budapest to grant additional rights to t

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A charred Russian KAMAZ armored vehicle sits by the side of the road, the latest victim of a Ukrainian drone strike. Two Ural heavy recovery trucks can be seen parked either side, while several Russian mechanics attempt to replace the vehicle's melted tires. Another incoming Ukrainian drone dives, nearly silently, towards the recovery operation, aiming directly for the Russian soldiers. The footage cuts out just before impact. The video is just one of many that have flooded social media in rec

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