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How a trio of power brokers turned Putin’s US strategy into a quiet turf war
Russian President Vladimir Putin's outreach to the Trump administration — once seen as one of Moscow's most coordinated diplomatic efforts — now appears increasingly fractured. Putin's longtime foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, is reportedly losing ground to Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, who aims to take a leading role in Russia's contacts with the Trump administration. Experts caution that Russia's internal dynamics are more nuanced than they appear. "They might be
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Ukraine alarmed as US pushes peace framework aligning with Moscow demands
U.S. President Donald Trump is mounting yet another push to end Russia's war against Ukraine, as Washington begins testing a new peace framework that has already sparked unease among Ukrainian officials. A source in the President's Office told the Kyiv Independent that a new peace plan is being crafted by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who's been in direct contact with Kirill Dmitriev, Russia's senior economic negotiator. An Axios source in the Trump administration confirmed that the U.S. i
'Destroyed in an instant' — 26 killed, 142 injured, blackouts across Ukraine after Russian mass missile, drone attack
Rescue operations are still underway as authorities search for 26 people believed to be trapped under the rubble of a destroyed apartment building in Ternopil, western Ukraine.
What the $105m US-Ukraine Patriot deal actually means
As Russian aerial attacks show no sign of slowing, Ukraine’s ability to not just maintain, but modernize its air defense systems like the U.S.-made Patriot, has become essential for long-term survival. A new $105 million U.S. package aims to do just that — help Ukraine upgrade and sustain its most advanced air defense system in what promises to be a long and grinding war. The U.S. Department of State greenlit the potential Foreign Military Sale (FMS) on Nov. 19, following a request from the Uk
Ukraine war latest: Ukraine strike on Novorossiysk snarls Russian Black Sea oil exports
Hello, this is Kateryna Hodunova reporting from Kyiv on day 1,365 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today's top story so far: Ukraine’s Nov. 14 strike on Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, one of Moscow’s main oil export hubs, has delayed oil shipments by two to three days after damaging a jetty at the Sheskharis oil harbor, Reuters reported on Nov. 18, citing its sources. Novorossiysk and a neighboring Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, which together handle about one-fift
As corruption scandal hits, Zelensky's party lawmakers side with opposition, demand answers, powers
Some lawmakers from President Volodymyr Zelensky's party called on Nov. 19 for creating a government of national unity that would include members of the opposition. Around 10 pro-government lawmakers have allegedly signed an open letter urging the president to restore the parliament's authority and the power of the cabinet of ministers, long overshadowed by the President's Office, now embroiled in the biggest corruption scandal of Zelensky's presidency. David Arakhamia, head of the governing S
Ukraine’s biggest wartime corruption scandal, explained
The Kyiv Independent’s Oleksiy Sorokin sits down with Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center, to discuss Ukraine’s biggest wartime corruption scandal, which involves people from President Volodymyr Zelensky's circle and several government officials.
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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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At first glance, a YouTube interview with Philippe Marques Pinto looks like one of dozens of others in Ukraine’s long-running campaign to recruit South American soldiers to bolster its ranks in the fight against Russia. “I worked as a private security guard in Brazil, and when I arrived here, I got training, and it was just a question of adaptation,” Pinto says in an April 25, 2025, video for the Foreign Recruitment Center, a channel run by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. But according to police i
