Got an opinion on anything you've read in the Kyiv Independent? Send it to letters@kyivindependent.com — your letter may appear in our Letters section. Mark Cary, United States member I vividly remember when the Soviet Union collapsed. I was in my second year in college studying the history, ideology, and global influence of this dictatorship in an academic concentration called "Soviet and Eastern European Studies." In 1989, the world felt joy and hope when the Berlin Wall fell. Once that

The operation, code-named "Veles," was carried out by the 2nd Khartiia Corps together with other Ukrainian units, according to the corps.

For years, Father Joseph Coleman had little ability to influence what happened to his father, Stephen Hubbard, an American retiree imprisoned in Russia after being captured in Izium, a city in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast occupied by Russian forces in 2022. Hubbard, 74, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison after a closed trial in Russia. Russian prosecutors accused him of fighting for Ukraine as a mercenary, a charge his family has disputed. For Coleman, who lives in Cyprus and had not see

The electronic warfare station was hit near the village of Gulevka in Russia's Bryansk Oblast. According to the General Staff, targeting Russian electronic warfare systems improves Ukraine's ability to effectively deploy drones.

"Volodymyr Ananiev is the oldest Crimean political prisoner. He suffers from vision problems and issues with his spine, muscles, kidneys, and legs, and walks with a cane," the Crimean Tatar Resource Center said.

A key focus of the latest proposed sanctions listings is Russia's oil processing, refining, and exporting capacity, with 31 listings spanning the breadth of Russia, from St. Petersburg to Sakhalin.

On the night of Sept. 12, Ukrainian drones attacked Taganrog. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported hits on an FPV drone production facility, two drone storage sites, a Pantsir air defense system, and a radar. Local authorities, as usual, listed something else: 16 commercial buildings, five cars, a football club, and a Svetofor store. Regional social media channels summed it up in a single sentence about "drone debris" that set a store and several non-residential buildings on fire. Under

Among the injured people are four children, one of whom has been hospitalized, the State Emergency Service reported.

On Oct. 21, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff gushingly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for being a "humanitarian." Just a few hours later, Kyiv once again came under a fresh barrage of devastating Russian missiles, killing at least one person and injuring over 20. "We thought this was a war and the destruction of Ukraine, but it turns out to be an act of humanity," Nataliia Stativko, a former journalist, told the Kyiv Independent on a street devastated by one of the missiles. . "Now

Ukrainians without Russian passports are classified by Russian occupation authorities as "foreign citizens" and subjected to Russian migration law, HUR said.

Ukraine is heading into 2027 with a rising fiscal gap. Growth forecasts have been cut, inflation is rising, and the need for external financing seems to just keep going up. The economy is being squeezed by a labor market drained by mobilization and emigration, energy infrastructure has been decimated, and the IMF is pressing to increase revenues. How these pressures are managed over the coming months will shape not only Ukraine's fiscal stability but also its ability to keep financing the war.

The suspect allegedly collected relevant information in connection with Russia's war against Ukraine, including on the production of armored vehicles, ammunition, and explosives, as well as on military personnel and facilities on NATO's eastern flank.

"The main purpose of the visit is to show Finland's strong support for Ukraine as the war of aggression continues and the country prepares for the winter," the Finnish government said.

In a government office, researchers of drones and electronic warfare gather around a small metal device recovered from a Russian Geran drone. Its purpose —  to measure the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation. "This is the most recent component we found, about a week or two ago," said one of the researchers. Outside, a Russian drone’s jet engine roared — a sound that has become almost constant in Kyiv in recent months as advances in drone technology allow Russia to strike farther, more often

"We are disabling the enemy's channels, disrupting command and control, and helping UAVs reach their targets," Atesh said.

Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court extended the other obligations of Herman Halushchenko, a former justice minister implicated in a major graft case, for two months.

During previous repatriations, Russia at times returned the bodies of its own soldiers to Kyiv, with Ukrainian officials alleging the practice may have been aimed at avoiding compensation payments to Russian families or reflected a "negligent attitude toward their own people."

Some parts of the missile are apparently 3-D printed, HUR said, while the electronic component stands out for the increased share of Chinese components.

Editor's note: Most of the Ukrainian soldiers and commanders interviewed are identified by their callsigns, in accordance with military protocols. KHARKIV OBLAST — Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr had already narrowly survived crossing a mine-strewn field and a river in the crosshairs of Russian artillery when the swarm of first-person-view (FPV) drones began hunting him. "If I'm honest, I was convinced they were going to kill us," the 37-year-old told the Kyiv Independent while chain-smoking cigar

The arrangement might allow Ukraine to use NATO's existing procurement system and supplier network rather than negotiating each purchase independently.

The corps said more than 30 Russian soldiers were captured during the operation and Russian forces suffered more than 100 casualties.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) on Oct. 21 searched the premises of Andriy Pyshnyi, head of the National Bank of Ukraine, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent.

Russian forces launched a mass combined attack overnight with Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon, and Onyx missiles, as well as 210 drones of various types, including 110 jet-powered drones, the Air Force reported.

The number includes 2,250 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Ukrainian forces struck a weapons plant in Serpukhov, Moscow Oblast, overnight on Oct. 22, monitoring channels reported.

Ukrainian drones struck a multi-story building in Lipetsk and caused multiple explosions around the city, according to Ukrainian monitoring channels. Eyewitness footage from the scene appears to show low-flying Ukrainian drones and fires lighting up the night sky.

Reviewing internal documents from Germany's armed forces, German media reports that this is the military's second-highest threat classification.

Zelensky's statement to journalists follows Putin meeting with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Oct. 21.

Warsaw has denounced Lviv Oblast authorities' plans to honor the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and its military leader, Roman Shukhevych. The move signals a fresh rift in the already strained Kyiv-Warsaw ties just days after President Volodymyr Zelensky said the relations had finally improved. The council of the western Ukrainian region adopted decrees on Oct. 20 symbolically declaring 2027 as the Year of the UPA, the Year of Shukhevych, and the Year of Oleh Olzhych, a Ukrain

Key developments on Oct. 21: * Zelensky supports resuming trilateral peace talks with US, Russia after Putin claims Kremlin readiness * 'Everything was in ruins' — At least 2 killed, 2 injured in Russian drone attack on Kyiv * Russian Su-30 fighter jet crashes in Kaliningrad Oblast during training exercises, Moscow says * Lockheed Martin delegation meets Ukraine's defense chiefs in Kyiv amid severe Patriot shortage * Denmark guarantees $113 million loan for Ukrainian defense company Fire P

Acting Naftogaz CEO Serhii Fedorenko said that Russia had struck the company's facilities more than 400 times since the beginning of 2026 — twice as often as during the same period last year.

Anna Lodyhina, a mother of a 5-year-old, spent many nights on the cold floor of Kyiv's metro, driven there — like many others — by relentless Russian attacks. As her child slept, she watched over him, exhausted by the constant threat and lack of sleep. This is just a glimpse of what Ukrainian mothers have been facing daily as Russia intensified its drone and missile campaign against Kyiv over the summer and early autumn. Mothers are now confronted with the same question they faced almost five