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A Venetian Gothic facade adorned with banners for the 2026 Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, on Feb. 25, 2026.
Culture

What's on at the Venice Biennale? Russian soft power

by Kate Tsurkan

In the fifth year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the Russian pavilion is set to return to the Venice Art Biennale with a “musical festival come to life” that serves as “a space for dialogue and exchange.” The pavilion was effectively canceled in 2022 after the artists and curator chosen to represent Russia withdrew in protest of the invasion. At the time, the organizers of the Biennale released a statement praising the decision and condemning “all those who use violence to prevent

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How AI is supercharging Russian propaganda | Ukraine This Week

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, Anna Belokur examines how artificial intelligence is changing the way we see and trust video. From viral clips of events that never happened to fabricated battlefield footage, AI-generated content is increasingly blurring the line between real and fake.

Russia's new Izdeliye-30 missile makes strikes harder to anticipate

Even as Russia sharply expands drone production, it continues to develop deadlier weapons, including missiles. Its latest, the Izdeliye-30 cruise missile, flattened a residential building in Kharkiv in early March within seconds, killing 11 people. "It is a mistake to assume that the future belongs exclusively to drones," Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president's commissioner for sanctions, said following the strike. Russia is seeking to build cheaper but equally destructive weapons. The Iz

Russian Izdeliye-30 cruise missile.

About Culture

Our reporting on literature, films, art, and traditions from Ukraine and the latest news on culture in Eastern Europe.

Ukrainian culture
Ukrainian culture has survived centuries of Russian attempts to appropriate Ukrainian art, silence Ukrainian artists, and erase the Ukrainian language. Modern Ukrainian writers, filmmakers, and musicians — some of whom are serving on the front lines — continue to develop Ukrainian culture and fight for Ukraine’s future.

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In Ukraine’s drone-dominated battlefield, critically wounded face slim chance to survive

“Panda,” a medic with Ukraine’s 60th Mechanized Brigade, sits inside the ambulance in Donetsk Oblast on Jan. 24, 2026.

For Ukrainian medics, one of the hardest parts of the drone war is accepting that critically wounded soldiers often cannot be saved. "If it's a critical injury, it's usually lethal," Ukrainian medic Dmytro, who goes by his callsign Winnie, told the Kyiv Independent in his evac vehicle not far from the front. Wounds in areas where tourniquets can't be used are often the deadliest, such as the head, chest, torso, or groin injuries, he explained. "We would like to do something, but there is just

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