The Power Within: The Kyiv Independent’s first-ever magazine. Be among the first to get it.

pre-order now
Skip to content

Opinion

Opinion: 8 lessons from Russia's war in Ukraine

Opinion: 8 lessons from Russia's war in Ukraine

by Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

Two years ago, I outlined eight lessons from Russia's war against Ukraine. And though I warned that it was too early to be confident about any predictions, they have held up reasonably well. When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he envisaged a

Opinion: Much ado about Russia’s nuclear rumblings?

Opinion: Much ado about Russia’s nuclear rumblings?

by Steven Pifer

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the Kremlin has sought to play the nuclear card – both to frighten Ukraine and to deter the West from assisting. Kyiv and its partners cannot ignore Moscow’s nuclear threats, but they should understand that the Russian leadership does not

Opinion: Is Europe too big for further enlargement?

Opinion: Is Europe too big for further enlargement?

by Ana Palacio

Earlier this month, the European Union celebrated the 20th anniversary of its biggest-ever enlargement, which brought 10 new members into the bloc. That event remains a potent reminder of the EU’s potential to advance peace and unity across the European continent. But, at a time of deep internal divisions

Opinion: Ukraine’s naval drones are taking over the Black Sea

Opinion: Ukraine’s naval drones are taking over the Black Sea

by Andrii Kharuk

Russian forces have encountered a new enemy in the Black Sea: Ukraine’s arsenal of naval kamikaze drones. These deceptively small unmanned vehicles have targeted Russia’s Black Sea Fleet since September 2022, picking off Russian battleships one by one. The latest of Ukraine’s maritime conquests was the Russian

Opinion: Trump is Putin's only hope now

Opinion: Trump is Putin's only hope now

by Carl Bildt

The news this past week was undoubtedly met with relief in Kyiv and with grief in the Kremlin. The U.S. Congress finally broke its six-month logjam and approved a new package of military aid for Ukraine (as well as for Israel and Taiwan). And the breakthrough came only days

Illia Ponomarenko: The story of wartime Kyiv

Illia Ponomarenko: The story of wartime Kyiv

by Illia Ponomarenko

You can pre-order Illia Ponomarenko's book, "I Will Show You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv," on Bloomsbury or Amazon. See the end of the article for more information on the book's release. The Battle of Kyiv, one of the critical events of Russia’s full-scale invasion of

Opinion: Why is Ukraine rejecting the Belarusian opposition?

Opinion: Why is Ukraine rejecting the Belarusian opposition?

by Sławomir Sierakowski

Immediately after World War II, the Paris-exiled Polish intellectual  Jerzy Giedroyc (of Lithuanian origins, born in Minsk) coined a phrase that would come to define Poland’s foreign policy toward its eastern neighbors: “There will be no independent Poland without an independent Belarus, Lithuania, and Ukraine.” Since the fall of

Opinion: Poland's democracy isn't out of the woods

Opinion: Poland's democracy isn't out of the woods

by Sławomir Sierakowski

Although local elections often don’t make international news headlines or involve widely recognizable household names, anyone who cares about the state of liberal democracy would do well to pay attention to them. In Turkey, for example, recent elections not only revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the country’s autocratic president,

Opinion: A look at the drone arsenal Russia uses against Ukraine

Opinion: A look at the drone arsenal Russia uses against Ukraine

by Andrii Kharuk

Drone combat in Russia’s war against Ukraine is changing warfare. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used at an unprecedented scale for which neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian armies were quite prepared. Both militaries have made significant progress with respect to drones, sometimes modernizing them in the midst

News Feed

5:14 PM

Lithuanian FM on Europe's role in ending Russia's war.

The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell sat down with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys during his visit to Kyiv on April 1 to discuss the future of Europe during U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, whether European sanctions remain an effective instrument to stop Russia’s war against Ukraine, and Lithuania's contribution to the "coalition of the willing."
2:30 PM

Russian Railways hit by major cyberattack.

The state-owned Russian railway operator described the incident as a "massive DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack," saying that efforts to restore operations are underway.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.