On the night of Jan. 14, 2023, a monument to the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko was dismantled from the central square of Melitopol, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine. Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, said Russian forces removed the monument to eradicate every trace of Ukraine in
In the past week, both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish President Andrzej Duda made stops in Pennsylvania. Zelensky toured an ammunition factory in Scranton, while Duda attended the unveiling of a statue at the Czestochowa cemetery commemorating the Polish Solidarity movement and its fight for independence against the Soviet-backed
Editor’s Note: This article was published by the twice-weekly newsletter “The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak” on Sept. 28, 2024, and has been re-published by the Kyiv Independent with permission. To subscribe to The Counteroffensive, click here. Vira Lytvynenko hasn’t been able to bury her son since March 2022,
Ukraine is at a crucial turning point. As we focus on reconstruction amid ongoing Russian aggression, one aspect is pivotal to our success: war risk insurance. This tool is indispensable for attracting foreign investment and ensuring the resilience of local businesses. War risk insurance is designed to protect businesses against
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a seemingly significant modification of Russia’s military doctrine in a statement on Sept. 25. He revealed that the new doctrine would propose considering aggression against Russia by a non-nuclear state, “with the participation or support of a nuclear state,” as a “joint attack” on
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed below are those of the author(s) and signatories and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. Dear U.S. President Joe Biden, As Ukrainian cities continue to be targeted by Russian missiles and drones, bringing death and devastation to
Returning from their summer recess, European Union leaders have a packed agenda. At the top of the list are strengthening the bloc’s readiness for conflict and bolstering its economic competitiveness. For decades, the EU relied on economic influence as a substitute for hard power. But in an era of
Russian President Vladimir Putin denies Ukraine’s right to sovereignty, having invaded it twice since 2014. Thankfully, his efforts to subjugate the country have been thwarted by the courage of the Ukrainian people. After two and a half years of fiercely defending their homeland, it has become abundantly clear that
On a recent trip to Kyiv, I was fortunate enough to join a tour of the city led by Olena Zaretska, the granddaughter of the legendary Ukrainian artist and dissident Alla Horska. Horska was part of a generation of young writers, artists, and intellectuals who challenged the repressive cultural atmosphere
With Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine now well into its third year, there are mounting questions about whether any sort of peace or victory is possible. Much depends, of course, on how one defines those terms. For Putin, the explicitly stated objective is to eliminate
Plans for ending the war, rumors of a new “Minsk 3.0” contact group, preparations for elections in Ukraine… The casual observer might be excused for thinking peace in Ukraine is just around the corner. This is fueled by a lot of wishful thinking both in Ukraine and abroad, but
Russian opposition leaders often present themselves as champions of freedom and democracy, and are often embraced as such by well-meaning but sometimes naive Western donors. However, a closer examination reveals that their advocacy largely revolves around maintaining Russia as a unified and powerful state. Far from being proponents of liberal
You probably haven't heard that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is preparing to send a mission to Russia. That’s because top IMF officials have been trying to draw as little public attention to their plans as possible – which ought to tell you something. Fund officials themselves know that this
Mongolia’s president welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin in the capital of Ulaanbaatar on Sept. 3 for an official ceremony commemorating a Soviet-Mongolian military victory during World War II. While Putin has attended such ceremonies regularly over the years, the key difference this time was that he traveled to an
The following lecture was delivered in March 2023 at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy as part of a benefit conference to raise funds to support public outreach at Kyiv Mohyla Academy. The topic of my speech is: What is it like thinking
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has led to a resurgence in state predation against businesses, now approaching pre-EuroMaidan levels. This issue cannot be postponed until after the war. Politicized, predatory actions by law enforcement agencies against both domestic and foreign businesses pose a significant threat to
A film about Russian soldiers taking part in the war against Ukraine was recently presented at the Venice Film Festival. The film portrays ordinary people who care about their families, joke, and have doubts, fears, and dreams. Some fight to avenge a fallen comrade, some just to make money, while
Maxwell Kushnir is a research analyst at the IMF. The contents of this article do not represent the views of any entity associated with the IMF, including staff, management or members of the Executive Board. Only publicly available data is used. Russia’s invasion has caused untold devastation across Ukraine,
After two and a half years of brutal aggression and growing evidence of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers, some people abroad still cling to the hope that the reality of what’s happening in Ukraine isn't as grim as it seems: a nation of nearly 150 million people can’
Following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket, a crucial question emerges: How would Harris’ foreign policy depart from Biden’s? Biden entered the White House as the most experienced and knowledgeable foreign-policy president
Ukraine’s bold incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast gives the country a much-needed breakthrough on the battlefield, and represents yet another setback for the Kremlin. Yet the operation is not a military game-changer. Even as Ukrainian forces have occupied more than 400 square miles (over 1,000 square kilometers)
The following lecture was delivered in March 2023 at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy as part of a benefit conference to raise funds to support public outreach at Kyiv Mohyla Academy. The subject I have chosen for myself is thinking about freedom
The greatest risk facing Ukraine and the West today isn’t the nuclear war predicted by headlines. Instead, the real dangers are Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis, the influx of refugees, the spread of nuclear weapons, the risk of a larger European war, state-sponsored terror, and disinformation. Most concerning is the
Indicted war criminal Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Mongolia today. As a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Putin back in March 2023 for the deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine, Mongolia is legally obligated to arrest him. “There are no
In March 2023, I noticed a disturbing silence about the messaging platform Telegram’s ties to the Kremlin, despite Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. It was like a Trojan horse – right in the pockets of 70% of Ukrainians. I quickly compiled years of notes on its founder Pavel Durov,
Now is not the time to micro-manage Kyiv’s actions or to withhold supplies and impose strict caveats on equipment use, especially against military targets in Russian territory, out of fear of escalating the war, possibly to a nuclear level. Over the past few years, Ukrainians have learned that externally-imposed
Editor’s Note: This article was published by the twice-weekly newsletter “The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak” on Aug. 20, 2024, and has been re-published by the Kyiv Independent with permission. To subscribe to "The Counteroffensive," click here. An isolated land in the East is shrouded in darkness. An evil lord,
Painter Oleksandr Dubovyk, a legend of the “Ukrainian Sixties” movement who pioneered abstract expressionism during the Soviet Union, began experimenting with the concept of “bouquet” as early as 1966. While the philosophy has evolved over the decades, drawing inspiration from German philosophers and scientists like Heidegger, Leibniz, and Heisenberg, it
Ukraine’s oligarchs, once the nation’s power brokers, have seen their influence wane dramatically over the past decade. Amid the ongoing war and internal reforms, the oligarchs who once shaped Ukraine’s post-Soviet trajectory face a new reality. The structural factors that created these powerful figures have largely dissipated,
Just as the West has been forced into confrontation with Russia and China, military conflicts have revealed major systemic weaknesses in the U.S. and European militaries and their defense-industrial bases. These problems stem from fundamental technology trends. In Ukraine, expensive manned systems such as tanks, combat aircraft, and warships
“Everything in Ukraine is about pain, tears, serfdom, and wars. Of course, children don’t want to read such literature.” I still remember this conversation from back in school when the math teacher was trying to explain to the literature teacher why her class wasn’t preparing for their lessons.
Editor’s note: Daria Kolomiec is a Ukrainian cultural activist, producer, DJ, and author of the documentary project Diary of War. Since the summer of 2022, Daria has been volunteering in New York City, where she talks about and shows Ukrainian music and culture to Americans, raises money to support
