Murmansk Oblast

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Inside Russia's 2026 parliamentary election: Banned opposition, rigging, and war

A parliamentary election kicked off in Russia on Sept. 18 in what is expected to be a rubber-stamp ritual intended to legitimize President Vladimir Putin's rule. The election will be held over several days and will be completed on Sept. 20. The voting is taking place amid growing frustration among Russians with the war as its costs mount, and Ukraine intensifies drone strikes on Russian territory. However, there is little opportunity for voters to express their discontent since anti-war parti

How a dissident poet became Ukraine’s moral compass

Editor's Note: This story is part of the "Hidden Canon"  – a special series celebrating Ukrainian classic literature and aiming to bring it to a wider international audience. The series is supported by the Ukrainian Institute. One Christmas Eve night, in a prison camp in the Russian republic of Mordovia, Ukrainian female political prisoners braved the cold to gather near the barbed wire that separated them from the men to sing carols. They gathered there for the poet Vasyl Stus, who had been g

Kyiv Independent is now on WhatsApp

The Kyiv Independent has launched an official WhatsApp channel, where readers can follow the latest news and reporting from Ukraine.

An illustrative photo of WhatsApp on the App Store. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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