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Ukrainian servicemen firing toward Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on March 21, 2023.
Opinion

Why Ukraine needs Russia's terminal defeat – not just deterrence

by Lesia Ogryzko

Five years into the full-scale conflict, it has become clear that the model of strategic deterrence – the "steel porcupine" that Ursula von der Leyen often invokes when speaking about Ukraine –  offers no guarantee of resilience and long-term peace. The "steel porcupine" model assumes that, given Russia's significant resource advantage, Ukraine's only realistic strategy is to build a defense so strong that continued aggression becomes prohibitively costly for Russia. However, as of 2026, this

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Ukraine condemns Egypt for allowing transit of stolen grain

"Ukraine is a country that has played the role of a reliable food security guarantor for Egypt for many years — and we don't understand why Egyptian partners pay us back by continuing to accept stolen Ukrainian grain," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote.

Ukraine's culture minister on why culture 'needs KPIs' to succeed

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country's culture has finally received the attention it had previously lacked. But Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna aims for more than mere survival — she envisions a cultural sphere that thrives and becomes a major economic driver for Ukraine. In a conversation with the Kyiv Independent, Berezhna explains why culture needs measurable goals to succeed both nationally and internationally, how her experience in law, economics, and go

Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 21, 2026.

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