WARSAW – There is a growing belief that Poland will soon have Europe’s strongest army. Poland’s ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), has not missed any opportunity to drum this message home, and one increasingly hears it being echoed abroad, too. But is it true? The claim largely rests
The renewal of Ukraine’s Independence on Aug. 24, 1991, was clearly one of the most defining moments in the history of the 20th century. Why? Ukraine’s independence allowed the Ukrainian people to finally emerge from colonialism and enter the circle of free peoples of the world. Ukraine's independence
It’s a weekend, a sunny summer day. Surrounded by a pond and a field is a base station, which connects thousands of Ukrainians in the south. A car arrives and three engineers get out. Instead of vacationing with their families, they are going back to work. A trench has
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has increasing repercussions beyond Eastern Europe – political, economic, social, legal, and humanitarian. Against this background, it is worth revisiting the full-scale war’s earliest and most urgent Ukrainian request for direct Western military support. Shortly after the start of Russia’s massive invasion on Feb.
Putin has shot himself in the foot. His recent expropriations of Western companies will actually help the West by damaging the Russian economy. Expropriating the Russian assets of French company Danone and Danish company Carlsberg's Baltika subsidiary is reprehensible, but Putin is unwittingly actually harming Russia. He has bitten the
CAMBRIDGE – Who should pay for Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction? Shortly after Russia’s invasion, my co-authors and I estimated that it would cost roughly €200-500 billion ($220-550 billion) to rebuild the country and called for Europe to spearhead the recovery effort. After more than 500 days of death and destruction,
Russian President Vladimir Putin relies on the manipulation of media narratives and limiting access to information to maintain popular support and acceptance of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has pruned Russian news to convey a firehose of disinformation based on three storylines: life outside Russia is horrendous, Russia
Despite more than two-thirds of NATO members supporting a path for Ukraine into the alliance, Ukraine got a flat no. The alliance’s decision at the 2023 Vilnius summit was both unsurprising and a disappointment. Opposition primarily from Washington and Berlin dashed any hopes of a clear invite for Ukraine,
According to the European Commission, Ukraine accounted for 10% of the world wheat market, 13% of the barley market, and 15% of the corn market before Russia launched its all‑out war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Soon thereafter, Russia’s ships blocked grain exports from Ukraine’s port
In the occupied Crimean Peninsula, an unyielding spirit endures despite years of unremitting repression exerted by Russia upon Ukrainian citizens, particularly the Crimean Tatar population. Here, a determined force of Ukrainian partisans meticulously prepares for an armed uprising, waging a war largely in the shadows. The resilience of Ukrainian partisans
ANCHORAGE – Russian President Vladimir Putin has been particularly angry lately, and the Ukrainian port city of Odesa has been suffering the consequences. In the Kremlin’s neo-imperial view, Odesa has long been a symbol of the Russian character of Ukraine’s south, because its initial development was led by Catherine
On July 17, 2023, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The initiative was originally brokered in August 2022 by Turkey between Russia and Ukraine. It had been successful in facilitating the export of 32.5 million tonnes of grain out of Ukrainian ports, leaving in over 1,
The co-founder and senior editor of the Kyiv Independent Oleksiy Sorokin debunks one of the most popular misconceptions about Russia's war against Ukraine.The Kyiv Independent: Opinion is a series of videos where our journalists share their thoughts on various political, social, and other issues.
It’s no secret that women face more barriers than men when starting up a business. Research has shown, for example, that it is more difficult for women than for men to obtain a loan or attract external financial resources, meaning women are often more reliant on self-financing. The Franco-Ukrainian
U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions triggered a debate that saw NATO allies, including the U.K., Canada, and Germany, as well as human rights groups, oppose the move. In the U.S., the decision was opposed by right-wing Republicans and the centrist
Both Kyiv and the West want a full and stable truce with Moscow – sooner rather than later. Why and how Ukrainian national interest currently contradicts a ceasefire with Russia is clear: Kyiv’s problem in negotiating with Moscow is that an agreement with the Kremlin now will not lead to
Even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently honored the victims of a 1943 massacre of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists, some Poles still think their country is owed an apology. Worse, such demands are symptomatic of a broader embrace of messianic victimhood that has taken hold in recent years. WARSAW – July
During his recent mutiny, Russian mercenary leader and leading imperialist mouthpiece Yevgeny Prigozhin questioned the Kremlin’s propaganda line to justify Russia's war on Ukraine. His critique follows an earlier pattern of illuminating statements by Russian ultra-nationalists about Putin's regime. Known until recently only among Eastern Europe experts, Yevgeny Prigozhin
STOCKHOLM – Strange as it sounds, the European Union’s most successful policy ever has been deeply unpopular in Brussels for the past decade. But now, the view from the bloc’s political and governing institutions is changing. EU enlargement is back on the agenda, and it will remain there. The
In a move that delivered a significant setback to Putin, Erdogan has publicly expressed his support for Ukraine's aspirations to become a member of NATO, allowed the release of Azov commanders, and halted opposition to Sweden's NATO accession. Turkey is beginning to capitalize on Russia's vulnerability after the Wagner Group’
Understanding Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine as part of an imperial war begun in 2014 has become increasingly commonplace in Euro-Atlantic foreign policy-making circles and amongst a wider group of countries concerned with ending the war. Yet the full range of imperial conceits which underpin the Kremlin’
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia, the world’s last remaining empire, a great power, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, launched a full-scale invasion against Ukraine, its smaller neighbor and former colony, to overthrow its democratically elected government, annex its sovereign territory, and plunder its resources.
Russia’s full-scale war exposes the terrifying horrors that come as no surprise, given the long history of Russian atrocities committed against Ukraine. The deliberate infliction of severe physical and psychological pain and suffering by the Russian army upon Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war reveals the expansion of Russia's
Now it seems to me like I always knew Vika Amelina. This past week has been hellish – a mix of anticipation, knowing, and the impossibility of reconciling with this knowledge. How can I imagine life without her now? Where do I even begin? We met in 2014 in New York
Editor’s note: Editorials are articles that present the opinion of the editorial team of the Kyiv Independent. When one looks at the history of the West supporting Ukraine in the fight against Russia, one pattern shines through: missed opportunities. The whole war is ripe with opportunity for NATO. The
Not everybody is fortunate enough to get a second chance. However, during the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 11-12 July, NATO will have another chance to correct the monumental geopolitical blunder it committed 15 years ago at the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest, Romania. During the NATO Summit
This month’s NATO summit takes place at a time of both peril and opportunity for the future of European security. The Wagner Group’s June 24 sprint from Rostov to the gates of Moscow dealt a fresh blow to criticism of NATO’s decision to extend a Membership Action
No nation can single-handedly cover all of Ukraine's reconstruction needs, and nor should it be expected to, considering the existence of frozen Russian assets worth billions worldwide. These funds will serve as the primary source for Ukraine’s recovery. To better grasp the situation, it is worth examining the numbers.
This June was meant to be all about the great Ukrainian counteroffensive. After months of waiting, dozens of public statements from exasperated Ukrainian officials bound to silence, and even more analyses from experts and commentators in the media, the moment finally came when Ukrainian soldiers on their Leopards and Bradleys
Last week, the U.K. co-hosted the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London. Held on June 20-21, the event was dedicated to mobilizing the public and private sectors for Ukraine’s recovery. While a lot of brilliant plans were voiced, the elephant in the room remained the question of who will
When NATO accepted the new strategic concept last June at the Madrid Summit, there was no mention of digital assets in the new concept paper. At the same time, in light of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, all members agreed to boost their defense spending to counter the
Our video reporter Iryna Matviyishyn speaks about some of the common misconceptions about Ukraine that are spread by Russian propaganda. We launched "Ukraine's True History," a series to explain Ukraine’s past and present without distortions. The first episode debunks the 10 most common misconceptions about Ukrainian history. Watch it
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