Slovakia, a landlocked country on Ukraine’s western border, is undergoing a dramatic political shift under Prime Minister Robert Fico. As Fico meets with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and cracks down on opposition voices at home, protests are erupting across the country. Tens of thousands of Slovaks have taken to the streets, fearing that their democracy is at risk.
Russia has resorted to a "shadow fleet" to transport its oil and gas to get around Western sanctions and price caps. The Kyiv Independent spoke with Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Security Initiative, to find out what options the West has and how dangerous the shadow fleet actually is.
This Sunday, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur gives updates on Ukraine-Russia peace talks, U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing aid freeze, and the debate surrounding a deadly strike on civilian infrastructure in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
The Kyiv Independent spent a night shift with a Vampire team fighting between Kurakhove and Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, the hottest part of the front line, on a mine-laying mission.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 3 he was looking to cut a deal with Ukraine by giving the war-torn country weapons and aid in return for its “rare earths and other things.” But what exactly did Trump mean and what does Ukraine have to offer to the U.S?
This week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur covers the top stories in Ukraine, from the U.S. foreign aid freeze to the battle of Chasiv Yar and the general situation on the battlefield. Also, what is the condition of the Australian POW in Russia’s hands?
The Kyiv Independent analyzed leaked emails of a Russian defense company revealing Russia’s arms trade after the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The letters confirm that Russia continued to fulfill a huge contract signed shortly before the attack on Ukraine to supply its air defense systems and missiles to Saudi Arabia.
The Kyiv Independent's Martin Fornusek sat down with Poland's charge d'affairs in Kyiv, Piotr Lukasiewicz, to discuss why Poland stands out among Ukraine's allies and how to approach the most painful chapters of the shared Polish-Ukrainian history.
The Kyiv Independent sat down with Timothy Ash, an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, to discuss Russia's current economic situation.
Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump promised to end the Ukraine-Russia war during his campaign. As inauguration approaches on Jan. 20, the Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell lays out the four scenarios that could see an end to the war in Ukraine — for better or worse.
After numerous attempts, Ukrainian forces operating in Russia’s Kursk Oblast have finally captured two North Korean soldiers. Watch this video to find out why capturing North Korean soldiers is so challenging — and how Ukrainian forces ultimately succeeded.
Ukrainian forces captured two North Korean soldiers as prisoners of war (POWs) in Russia's Kursk Oblast on Jan. 9. The Kyiv Independent's Anna Belokur breaks down everything we learned from the POWs' interrogation video released by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
This Sunday, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur covers the trending news of the week from developments on the front lines to the Ramstein meeting with top officials. And what happened with the new brigade trained in France?
During the occupation of Kharkiv Oblast in 2022, Russian forces established nearly 30 torture chambers in various parts of the region. This story focuses on just one of them — the torture chamber at the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant.
The Kyiv Independent’s Kate Tsurkan discusses with Garry Kasparov, Russian chess grandmaster and political activist based in the U.S., the current state of Russia, its continued pursuit of empire and the failures of the Russian opposition to create meaningful change.
In this year-end wrap up of Ukraine This Week, host Anna Belokur covers the 2024 events in Ukraine and what they meant.
The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell sat down with Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze to look back at 2024 and discuss the country’s support for Ukraine amid political uncertainty before the inauguration of Donald Trump in the U.S. and Russia’s gains on the frontline.
While the diamond industry markets itself as a beacon of luxury, the complex web of global trade hides dark, brutal reality. Despite sanctions and growing scrutiny, Russian diamonds continue to enter the global market, funding Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell spoke with Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson about Europe’s security and Ukraine’s future as Sweden builds ties with Ukraine’s defense industry to boost production.
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, host Anna Belokur dives into Russia’s withdrawal from Syria after the dictator Bashar al-Assad’s downfall, as well as a front line update from Ukraine and the controversy surrounding mobilizing younger men.
The Kyiv Independent spent a day with one of Ukraine's top drone units, the Achilles Strike Drone Battalion of the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, documenting their missions to hunt down Russian military equipment ― and soldiers ― near Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, where Moscow is currently on the offensive.
The Kyiv Independent's journalists Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko followed a group of Ukrainian military medics as they journeyed from the heat of battle in war-torn Ukraine to the serene forests of Sweden for a short mental health retreat.
The Kyiv Independent’s Natalia Yermak sat down with Neil Quilliam, a Middle East expert at Chatham House, to talk about what it means for Russia’s war in Ukraine and how it might put Kyiv and the West in a more favorable position in the potential peace negotiations with Moscow.
For the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum, The Kyiv Independent’s Daria Shulzhenko visits a former Soviet-era nuclear missile silo in south Ukraine.
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, host Anna Belokur explains the recent meeting between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky, the escalating protests in Georgia, U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson's surprise interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and the Johnny Harris controversy.
In the sixth episode of Dare to Ukraine, we gain rare access to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, known globally as the site of the catastrophic 1986 nuclear disaster and one of the most radioactive places on Earth.
The Kyiv Independent’s reporter Oleg Sukhov sat down with Robert Kelley to discuss whether the weapon Ukraine gave up would be of much use now and if the country still has the capacity to produce a nuclear device.
In an exclusive interview with the Kyiv Independent, Kaja Kallas, the newly appointed vice-president of the European Commission and top EU diplomat, discusses Ukraine support and recent EU sanctions against Russia. Kallas visited Kyiv on Dec. 1, the first day in her new role.
Ukraine This Week's host, Anna Belokur, discusses Russia's attacks on Ukraine and its record losses, the ruble plunging to its lowest level since 2022, Joe Rogan's recent comments about Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky, and why the West should do exactly what Rogan is preaching against: hit Russia where it
The Kyiv Independent's Dinara Khalilova sits down with the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Steven Pifer, to discuss the political implications of Russia's attack on Dnipro with a nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile last week.
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on Russia’s recent missile strike using a new ballistic weapon. Meanwhile, Twitter owner and Donald Trump ally Elon Musk throws an online jab at President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ali Charinskiy is an activist and professional martial artist from the Republic of Dagestan who advocated for the rights of Muslims. The Kyiv Independent spent a day with Charinskiy in his new home, a southern Ukrainian city of Odesa.
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