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A man in a military uniform checks his mobile phone on a street in Moscow, Russia, on May 6, 2026.
Russia

Why Moscow is afraid this Victory Day

by Karol Luczka

On May 9, Moscow will stage its annual Victory Day parade marking the end of World War II in Europe — but this year, the spectacle is notable not for its grandeur, but for what's missing. For the first time in Vladimir Putin's Russia, no missiles, tanks, or armored vehicles are expected to appear in Saturday's Red Square parade. Although the Kremlin offered no explanation for the dramatic scale-back, recent Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory have suggested that even Putin's militar

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How Iuliia Mendel went from defending Zelensky to echoing Kremlin-friendly narratives

Iuliia Mendel has been all-in in her attempt to discredit her former boss, President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him "a dictator" and "the greatest obstacle to peace" in Ukraine. Mendel's transformation is mesmerizing. Just four years after publishing a book heaping praise on Zelensky, the former press secretary appeared on right-wing U.S. podcaster Tucker Carlson's show on May 11, speaking on how her home country is corrupt, the president may be a drug addict, and speculated that he was willi

Iuliia Mendel during a briefing at the Presidential Administration in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 6, 2019.

Ukraine war latest: Ukraine targets 3 major Russian energy facilities overnight

Key developments on May 13: * Ukraine targets 3 major Russian energy facilities overnight * Russia launches over 800 drones in daytime mass attack on Ukraine, at least 6 killed * Moscow bans publication of Ukrainian drone strike damage without official permission * Major fire reportedly breaks out at tourist complex in Moscow Ukraine struck the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal, the Yaroslavl oil refinery, and the Astrakhan gas processing plant in Russia overnight on May 13, the General Staff con

About Russia

The Kyiv Independent’s coverage of news on Russia. Spanning eleven time zones across Eastern Europe and Asia, Russia has an estimated population of 146 million people. Russia’s capital city is Moscow, which is home to almost one in 10 Russians. Russia’s official currency is the Russian Ruble.

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1.

Who is winning? Since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the information space around the war has been obsessed with this deceptively simple question, and the constant new iterations of answers to it. In the hands of those fighting the narrative war, from officials on both sides, online cheerleaders, armchair generals, and a certain world leader who likes to talk about who has the cards, the answers differ radically, but all are delivered with consistent venom, emotion, and

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