Vladimir Plahotniuc was Moldova's wealthiest businessman and de facto controlled the country's government in the 2010s in what critics described as a "captured state." His fall from grace is seen by his opponents as part of Moldova's alignment with European liberal and democratic values.

14 settlements in Luhansk Oblast are not under Russian control, Ukraine's military told the Kyiv Independent.

"Everything is ready… so I hope we can start very soon, even under the Cyprus presidency for cluster one," EU's Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos told the Kyiv Independent.

The Kyiv Independent’s Kateryna Denisova sits down with Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's former foreign minister, to discuss U.S.-led peace talks, Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine, Europe’s role in ending the war, and why he believes neither Washington nor Moscow can impose a settlement on Kyiv.

The latest source of friction between Ukraine and the EU is climate rules and unhappy steel producers, as the country’s membership goals collide with its wartime realities. Ukrainian officials are in Brussels this week to discuss the EU's carbon border policy that Kyiv argues is hitting its war-battered steel industry and economy. At the center of those discussions is the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — known as CBAM — which is designed to prevent "carbon leakage" — or pushing pollut

The news comes after Hungary and Slovakia said Ukraine had resumed oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline, with the first deliveries expected by April 23.

Out of the 2,100 children, 150 have been returned to Ukraine since the beginning of 2026.

It is increasingly likely that the European Union will formally back a new court with a mandate to prosecute Russia's leadership for the crime of aggression, a senior official in the EU's diplomatic arm told the Kyiv Independent.

EU ambassadors agreed on the 20th package of sanctions imposed against Moscow in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on April 22, after Hungary and Slovakia lifted their veto over the measures.

The number includes 1,140 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

"We have imposed sanctions on those individuals, the Russian participants. And we are now raising the issue to ensure they are not granted visas. We very much hope that we will be heard... and expect that visas will not be issued," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.

Russian forces launched 215 drones against Ukraine overnight, of which 189 were downed or jammed.

The U.S. has run through over half of its stockpiles of key air defense missiles during the nearly two-month war on Iran.

Kyiv faces a defense gap of 19.6 billion euros ($23.1 billion) this year, even after accounting for funds already committed and the 90-billion-euro Ukraine Support Loan that's on its way.

"(President Volodymyr Zelensky's) position is clear: no 'ersatz membership' — we will not accept any of them. This is a firm position," Sybiha said at a closed-door meeting with journalists attended by the Kyiv Independent.

Photos and videos posted on social media purport to show several damaged residential buildings in the city amid reports of falling drones debris.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on April 21 that he was extending Washington's ceasefire with Iran until Tehran "can come up with a unified proposal" to bring an end to the war.

Ukrainian officials involved in recent peace talks reportedly suggested that part of the Donbas could be renamed "Donnyland" in honor of U.S. President Donald Trump, the New York Times reported April 21.

Italy summoned Russia's ambassador on April 21 to protest "extremely serious and offensive" remarks about Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni by pro-Kremlin TV host Vladimir Solovyov.

"Ukraine has completed repair work on the section of the Druzhba oil pipeline that was damaged by a Russian strike," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Ukrainian billionaire and oligarch Rinat Akhmetov purchased a luxury apartment in Monaco valued at $550 million in one of the most expensive residential property deals in history, Bloomberg reported April 21.

Dombrovskis reminded that the EU’s Ukraine Support Loan is structured so that Ukraine only repays if Russia pays Ukraine reparations. “(This), of course, invites a question: what happens if Russia does not pay reparations?” he said.

The site was used to bury residents who died during the Russian siege of the city in 2022, according to Ukraine’s Center for the Study of Occupation.

Key developments on April 20: * Druzhba pipeline ready to resume, Zelensky says, raising hopes of unblocking EU loan * Ukrainian drones hit key Russian oil hub in Samara Oblast, SBU says * Fearing Ukrainian troops landing in Crimea, Russia intensifies coastal mining * Draft officers arrested for kidnapping a man, demanding $30,000 bribe in Odesa; office chief suspended * Teen recruited by Russia caught while preparing terror attack in Ukraine, SBU says Oil flows through the Druzhba pipeli

"We are more concerned that money is increasing more rapidly than (weapons) production. It creates some kind of inflationary pressure," EU's Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius explained.

The SBU said it detained the suspect while he was planting the explosives.

"Where we (Europeans) have a problem, which is Ukraine, we are alone," Kaja Kallas said.

"The beaches will now become minefields," Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces, told the Kyiv Independent.

Editor's note: The names of the people with relatives left in the Russian-occupied territories have been changed for security reasons. Communication between residents of Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and their relatives in Ukrainian-controlled territory is becoming increasingly difficult as Moscow tightens control over internet access and restricts messaging platforms. For many, Telegram remains the primary way to stay in touch. But connections have grown unreliable, with users reporting f

"Our Ukrainian friends need to understand that repeatedly portraying the Baltic states as Russia's possible next victim... does not create or reinforce a narrative that would help Ukraine itself or others in pushing back against Russian war-driven imperialism," Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Estonian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Kyiv Independent.

The question of NATO's future arises again and again whenever Donald Trump makes a statement about his European allies. Can NATO survive the disillusionment of the Trump administration or the progressive withdrawal of American military support for European security? And yet each time that question pops up, America's European allies insist that NATO will endure. They highlight the continuous close cooperation between military leadership across the Atlantic,  pointing to the obvious reality that

On April 21, the Kyiv Independent launches a new merchandise collection, "No News is Bad News," dedicated to protecting journalists covering Russia’s war against Ukraine. th