KI short logo

Politics

Exclusive: Trump's top envoy negotiating Ukraine's fate displays 'shocking' lack of knowledge about war, politics
Politics

Exclusive: Trump's top envoy negotiating Ukraine's fate displays 'shocking' lack of knowledge about war, politics

by Tim Zadorozhnyy

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a response from the White House. A senior U.S. envoy involved in efforts to end Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has displayed a lack of basic understanding of Ukraine's political system and the war itself while speaking in a closed conversation with a small group of reporters, the Kyiv Independent has learned. The official is engaged in high-level negotiations with both Moscow and Kyiv as Ukraine, Russia, and the United States reenter an

More from Politics

NewsLetters

News Feed

Friday, January 30

Ukraine war latest: Russia attacks passenger bus in Kherson Oblast, killing 1, injuring 5

This is Chris York and Yuliia Taradiuk reporting from Kyiv on day 1,437 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today's top story: Russian shelling hit central Kherson around midday on Jan. 30, killing the driver of a city bus and wounding five other civilians, according to the Kherson Oblast Prosecutor's Office. According to the office, at around 12 p.m. Kyiv time, Russian troops fired  artillery  at the city of Kherson, striking a bus. The State Emergence Services said one of the shells

Why China is quietly buying Russian weapons, explained

The Kyiv Independent’s Alisa Yurchenko investigates why China is buying Russian weapons, what Moscow gains from the deal, and what the deepening Russia–China military cooperation could mean for future conflicts.

'We are all used to this' — Inside one of Kyiv’s hardest-hit buildings this winter

Upon entering Daria’s apartment in a large complex in Rusanivka on Kyiv’s left bank, a faint smell of gas lingers in the cold, dim rooms. After Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure cut heat and power across parts of the city,  she uses the stove daily to raise the indoor temperature by a couple of degrees, but even then it barely reaches 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit). The warmth comes with consequences. "We don't want to live in mold. You come in from the street and

Daria and her daughter Taia in their apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 27, 2026.

Most Popular

Editors' Picks

News Feed