After a busy day at work as a software engineer, Oleg Kutkov returns to his apartment in Kyiv. He steps out onto the balcony — but not to smoke or water the flowers. Oleg’s balcony is a workshop. There, he repairs Starlink terminals damaged at the front and sends them
We continue to conduct active operations in border areas on enemy territory, and this is absolutely just — the war must return to where it came from," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 7.
The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell sits down with the former commander of Ukraine's Azov Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Krotevych, to discuss the situation on the front line after three years of Russia's full-scale war, why he thinks Ukraine should change its culture of military leadership, why the U.S. army doctrine wouldn't work for Russia's war against Ukraine, and shares his takes on Russia's next steps after a potential ceasefire.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include the official response to the Kyiv Independent from Ukraine's General Staff, which came a few days after initial publication. Last February, a Ukrainian company commander going by his callsign Veter was ordered to send his people to reinforce another unit’s
Ukraine’s drone wizardry has drawn the attention of militaries around the world. In addition to an ever-growing drone industry, the rise of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has necessitated new education. Since 2022, a crop of drone schools has popped up around Ukraine to train drone pilots to fight back
“The military command is doing what it should do, preserving the maximum lives of our soldiers,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, urging a “sober” assessment of the battlefield situation.
"I'm guessing, but I don't want to talk about it yet," Major General Dmytro Krasylnykov said when asked about the possible reasons for his removal.
"People should not be guessing. Ukraine and America deserve a respectful dialogue and a clear position of each other," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address.
Lieutenant General Artur Horbenko, along with General Yurii Halushkin and Colonel Illia Lapin, was arrested on Jan. 21 on charges of mismanaging Ukraine's defense in Kharkiv Oblast during Russia's cross-border offensive in May 2024.
In January, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Brigadier General Andrii Hnatov had been appointed deputy chief of the General Staff.
Since the army recruitment centers began operation, 42,366 Ukrainians have applied, with the highest number of female candidates coming from western Chernivtsi, Khmelnytskyi, and Ternopil oblasts.
Last month, four top-level military commanders in Ukraine were arrested for alleged mismanagement of battlefield operations — in the first criminal investigations of top military leadership since the start of the full-scale invasion. Three high-ranking officers involved in what’s being called “the generals’ case” — Yurii Halushkin, Artur Horbenko, and Illia
Ukraine faces a delicate balancing act — mobilizing enough people to fend off the immediate threat posed by Russia's full-scale invasion, and preserving enough of the country's youth to weather longer-term demographic concerns. On top of this, U.S. lawmakers and NATO allies are reportedly urging Ukraine to lower its draft
President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the disparity in forces, saying that Ukraine's army consists of 110 brigades, while Russia fields 220 and plans to expand to 250 this year. In contrast, Europe, including U.S. troops stationed there, has only about 82 combat brigades.
Ukraine will no longer form new military brigades, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa said on Feb. 11.
The Baton drones are designed to meet military requirements for simplicity and reliability in difficult battlefield conditions.
Editor’s Note: This article was published by the twice-weekly newsletter “The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak” on Feb. 8, 2025, and has been re-published by the Kyiv Independent with permission. To subscribe to The Counteroffensive, click here. Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine — In the early hours of December 2024, as the sun
The incident follows reports on the deaths of conscripts allegedly caused by beatings at military enlistment offices.
Ukraine's Armed Forces are transitioning to a new organizational structure intended to modernize the army, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 3.
Ukrainian society largely does not want to mobilize. Nearly 6 million Ukrainian men have not updated their information in military enlistment centers, and most of them likely don't have grounds for a deferment or exemption. Forced mobilization of these men is categorically opposed by society. Rosy-cheeked aunts gather and shout
The former commander of the scandal-hit Ukrainian 155th "Anne of Kyiv" Brigade has been remanded in custody with a bail of Hr 90 million ($2.1 million), Hromadske reported on Jan. 22.
The State Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation into the 155th "Anne of Kyiv" Brigade on Jan. 3.
Recent inspections of the 156th Brigade revealed "a number of significant shortcomings," the military said. Solutions include replacing the brigade's leadership, appointing a commander with practical combat and command experience, and transferring combat-tested officers and sergeants into the unit.
Twenty days into her new post as Ukraine's military rights commissioner, Olha Reshetylova said that she had already received 3,876 appeals.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 15 that Ukraine's military now comprises 880,000 soldiers, tasked with defending the entire country against 600,000 Russian troops concentrated in specific areas.
Deputy Defense Minister Serhii Melnyk said that the principles of the commissions' work "have not changed for decades," and the current system is "a vestige of the old administrative approach."
Contracts with Ukrainian manufacturers have reportedly increased since the Defense Ministry established the State Logistics Operator (DOT) in December 2023.
Kyiv and Warsaw have agreed to form and jointly train a new army brigade on Polish soil, betting the initiative could help recruit some of the scores of Ukrainian men living in Poland and other EU countries. The so-called Ukrainian Legion, a fresh initiative to boost Ukraine’s military manpower
By early 2024, 40-year-old Pavlo Kovtoniuk had begun to understand that Russia’s two-year-long full-scale war against his country would require him to serve in the army sooner or later. But it wasn’t until two months ago that he updated his personal information with enlistment authorities – after the government
Less than 10% of partially eligible conscripts were assessed as unfit for military service after medical re-examination, Roman Horbach, head of the General Staff's personnel department, said on July 19 during a press conference.
Recruitment for voluntary service in the Ukrainian army has increased by 3.5 times over the past two months compared to the period from late 2022 to spring 2024, Roman Horbach, head of Ukraine's General Staff's personnel department, said on July 19.
After the new law on mobilization came into force in Ukraine on May 18, military-aged men were given 60 days to update their personal data so that the state knew how to find them. One unusual way to do it is through the new online application Rezerv+ (Reserve+), which the
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