Old Patterns, New Stories: A new collection inspired by Kyiv’s embroidery

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The Hidden Canon: Discover Ukrainian literary classics

A Kyiv Independent project backed by the Ukrainian Institute

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Burned Ukrainian books at the site of a Russian missile attack on a publishing factory in Kharkiv, Ukraine on May 23, 2024.
Culture

Ukrainian publishers stand strong despite enormous financial losses from Russian attacks

by Kate Tsurkan

The moment Svitlana Paveletska, co-founder of Knyholav, received the news that the mass attack on July 19 had wiped out her publishing house's warehouse in Kyiv, she felt an overwhelming wave of grief that was difficult to put into words. "Every book represents months, and sometimes years, of work by our entire publishing team, including the author, translator, editor, proofreader, designer, and printer," Paveletska told the Kyiv Independent. Books are not military targets, but according to th

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Ukraine war latest: Ukraine continues strikes on Russia's oil industry as Moscow races to expand missile production

Key developments on Aug. 10: * Ukraine's military intelligence reveals Russian missile production figures 'exceeding monthly targets' * Ukraine strikes Russian petrochemical plant more than 2,000 kilometers from border, General Staff says * Russian oil refinery in Tatarstan targeted as Russia claims Ukrainian 456 drones intercepted overnight * Russia's version of Starlink deploying quicker than planned, Ukraine's military intelligence says * Russia rules out freezing war in Ukraine ahead o

No escape from the Russian terror playbook

In the early 1950s, a group of prominent, mostly Jewish doctors from Moscow was accused of plotting to assassinate Soviet leaders on orders from the West. The accused were fired from their jobs, arrested, and tortured. But after Joseph Stalin died in 1953, Lavrenty Beria — one of Stalin's longest-serving secret police chiefs, who oversaw the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) in 1938–45 and spent decades filling the Gulags — called off the investigation. As it turned out, the sec

Russian police officers guard the entrance to Penal Colony No. 2 in Pokrov, Russia, on April 6, 2021.

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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