Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko once helped lead the crackdown on Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). On Sept. 7, a corruption scandal ultimately led to his downfall after the same bureau broke through the gates of his office. Kravchenko, long seen as a staunch loyalist of President Volodymyr Zelensky, resigned on Sept. 7 after NABU detectives exposed an alleged scam call center protection racket run from the Prosecutor General's Office — only the latest in a string of scanda

It was never normal for Anna Zavertailo to shelter in her restaurant’s basement kitchen alongside her employees and diners as drones flew overhead. But after multiple attacks damaged her popular family-run businesses in Kyiv, safety has become the top priority. Her restaurants-cum-bakeries, Zavertailo and Honey, which Anna runs with her husband, Stas, have been victims of three separate attacks in just over a year. But the couple has been selling carefully crafted cakes and pastries to foreigne

In this interview, The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell speaks with Mykola Bielieskov, senior analyst at Come Back Alive and research fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, about why Russian advances have slowed, how Ukraine’s drone tactics are reshaping the battlefield, and the limits of relying on manpower alone.

The Moldovan President called for more air defense for Ukraine.

"They should stop providing any assistance to Kyiv," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

"Believe me, this is not an easy process at all," Montenegro's European Affairs Minister Maida Gorcevic said, expressing solidarity with the EU reform work still to be done by Ukraine.

"Given the scale of the damage inflicted on Ukraine... any awards (of compensation) could potentially amount to billions, tens of billions, or hundreds of billions of euros," reads a Council of Europe statement.

Kyiv City State Administration confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that nine people were injured in the attack on a 24-story residential building in the Darnytskyi district.

The announcement comes amid an apparent rapprochement between Serbia and Ukraine.

Russia could use the missile tests to strike targets in western Ukraine, Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), said on Sept. 8.

Ukraine needs substantial, long-term financing now, but Belgium should not have to shoulder Europe's responsibility alone, EU lawmaker Karin Karlsbro told the Kyiv Independent.

The process should happen without "coercion," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said.

The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the EU has thrown out Orban's attempt to block military aid for Ukraine as "it does not fall within the jurisdiction" of the court.

In Kyiv, nine people were injured after a Russian morning strike hit a 24-story residential building, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Sept. 9.

The figure includes 1,480 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

The General Staff reported fires on the naval base and an oil terminal in the southern Russian city of Novorossiysk overnight on Sept. 9.

The attack has killed at least three people and injured 16 others, according to local officials. The strike signals a definitive end to Kyiv's brief respite while hosting U.S. envoys.

In a separate message, Vladimir Putin pledged continued close cooperation with Pyongyang under their "comprehensive strategic partnership."

Zelensky and other international leaders are expected to attend the funeral ceremony in Oslo on Sept. 9.

The defense minister cautioned that the contracted missiles would take time to arrive.

"The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history", said the historian Milan Hubl in Milan Kundera's The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. To destroy a man, first destroy his culture: this idea is neither new nor particularly singular. It was this very idea that prompted the creation of the Hague Convention in 1954, to protect cultural heritage during armed conflicts, after the Nazi regime burned and destroyed innumerable works of art in

Key developments on Sept. 8: * Russia's deadline to capture Donbas slips again as military asks for more time, Ukraine says * Germany 'ready to provide missiles for Patriots,' Zelensky says * Russia pounds Kyiv in overnight attack, killing 5, injuring 29, as brief truce ends in missile fire * Ukrainian drones ignite blaze at Russia's Saratov Oil Refinery, locals report * Russian drone violates Moldovan and Romanian airspace, crashes in Moldova Russia has again postponed its deadline to fu

Ukraine relies on the American-made Patriot PAC-3 air defense system for its defense against Russian ballistic missiles.

Spanish F/A-18 fighter jets, deployed as part of a NATO air-policing mission, were scrambled.

Ukraine's EU membership could lead to "another Wirtschaftswunder ('economic miracle') in Europe," provided the country delivers on reforms, said EU enlargement chief Marta Kos.

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Months after the idea was thought to have been laid to rest, some EU capitals are reviving the push to use 200 billion euros ($233 billion) in Russian assets, frozen in the bloc since 2022, to support Ukraine. The bloc's 27 countries are straining under the financial burden of bankrolling Ukraine, essentially on their own, while Kyiv is facing a massive budget hole amid Russia's unabating aggression. Meanwhile, the Russian threat has been forcing Europe to divert funds from

ODESA OBLAST — Volodymyr Varbanets sinks his hands into a mound of wheat, letting the golden kernels slip between his fingers. This year brought an unusually good harvest, the best since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, he says. Behind him, hundreds of metric tons of wheat, barley, lentils, and peas fill the farm's warehouses. "But we cannot sell it," he sighs. For more than 20 years, Varbanets has worked this land, sowing and harvesting crops across 206 hectares. At 76, he stil

The assassination attempt reportedly targeted Nikolay Varpakhovich, a Russian Aerospace Forces general and commander of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, according to Russian independent media outlet Astra.

Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined his vision for the peace process and gave U.S. President Donald Trump his assessment of the war, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

As of 8:30 a.m., with the attack still ongoing, air defenses had downed or suppressed two ballistic missiles, 31 cruise missiles, and 142 drones. Strikes were recorded at 29 locations, while debris from intercepted drones and missiles fell at nine additional sites, the Air Force said.

A day before a U.S. delegation arrived, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had deliberately targeted the runways at Kyiv's Zhuliany airport and Boryspil International Airport.

"We need Russian willingness to reach a just and lasting peace, European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said, "which we are clearly not seeing."