Visually, the scene was a familiar one. Russian armored vehicles emblazoned with the Z logo in the central streets of a once peaceful city, masked soldiers standing at key intersections, and confrontational conversations with bemused local civilians. But this wasn’t a Ukrainian city in the first days of Russia’
Destroyed apartments, burnt-out cars, lives upturned or extinguished altogether: Russia’s June 13 missile attack on the city of Kryvyi Rih was, in many ways, nothing out of the ordinary for wartime Ukraine. The evening after the attack, which killed 13 civilians, President Volodymyr Zelensky came out in his daily
Ukraine’s large-scale counteroffensive, anticipated for months, spearheaded by new Western tanks and armored vehicles, has finally begun. No longer limited to shaping operations or localized counterattacks, evidence shows the beginning of major Ukrainian offensive pushes to break through fortified Russian lines along several axes. Though Ukraine’s offensive operations
In the early hours of June 5, the first announcement of what looks like it could be the start of a large-scale Ukrainian counteroffensive came from an unusual source. At 1:31 a.m. Kyiv time, the Russian Defense Ministry, which famously floundered in silence in response to Ukraine’s
The Ukrainian military has passed another milestone by starting to master the M1 Abrams, the top-notch main battle tank to be provided by the U.S. According to the Pentagon, some 400 Ukrainians are training for the job at U.S. Army bases in Germany. After many months of deliberations
When the Kremlin says something, it should always be taken with a grain of salt. When it says something about its military prowess, one should take the claim with an entire salt mine. For years, Russia’s Kinzhal missile was portrayed by the Kremlin’s propaganda machine as an invincible,
CHASIV YAR, Donetsk Oblast – Ten months after Russia's assault on the once-flourishing city in Donetsk Oblast began, Bakhmut has now been effectively occupied by Russian troops. This hasn’t been confirmed yet by Kyiv, but is evident based on both official statements and those made by soldiers on the ground
On the evening of May 9, just half a day after a single T-34 tank rolled through Red Square during Moscow’s subdued Victory Day celebrations, something unexpected happened. Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, announced that units of the Russian regular army’s 72nd Separate Motorized
As Ukraine gathers forces for the counteroffensive, Russia continues to build defensive lines on a massive scale. The lines are especially formidable in the southwestern part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where many observers expect the main Ukrainian assault to strike. But defenses have been prepared along pretty much the entire front;
Over last winter, Ukraine successfully withstood Russia’s months-long campaign targeting energy infrastructure with barrages of missiles and drones. But that achievement came with a cost. Having shot down hundreds of Russian rockets and kamikaze drones since October, Ukraine’s Air Force is now facing a shortage of missiles for
After seeming to have calmed down over early spring, the internal conflict between Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Defense Ministry has escalated dramatically. In the early morning of May 5, Prigozhin recorded a video in front of what he claimed to be the bodies of dozens
Two months after Ukraine’s defense of Bakhmut seemed doomed, the bloodiest battle of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine is still going against all expectations. Making rapid advances at the end of February, Russian forces seemed to be on the cusp of surrounding the city, as the only roads
A major U.S. intelligence leak exposed very detailed reports about Ukraine and its war effort. The documents detail the strength of Ukraine’s counteroffensive buildup, the U.S.’s doubt that it will go very far, Ukraine’s approaching vulnerability to air attacks, the sad state of the Russian
Still unable to achieve air supremacy, Russia is nevertheless finding ways to threaten Ukraine from the sky. Early this year, Russia introduced guided bombs — essentially, the regular gravity bombs modified to be dropped by multirole fighter-bombers from safe distances and deal precise and very damaging strikes in front-line areas and
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an all-out war against Ukraine, U.S. intelligence claimed that Russian forces planned to sweep Kyiv within days. More than 13 months on, Ukraine's defenses still stand firm. But Ukrainians are now faced with a different threat – the Kremlin appears to be trying to
Kyiv Independent reporter Francis Farrell speaks to John Spencer, U.S. veteran and chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point.
The Kyiv Independent's Illia Ponomarenko sits down with military analysts Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at CNA, and Rob Lee, senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Eurasia Program.
Future Ukrainian counterattacks using modern Western combat vehicles are being discussed everywhere, from Washington news conferences to Ukrainian military expert circles. Ukraine hopes to receive up to two brigades of tanks, on top of many infantry vehicles from Western allies. But there are two main obstacles to using the tanks
Feb. 24, 2022, was supposed to bring the existence of a 40-million European nation to an end. Long before the dawn of light, Ukrainian cities were set alight in blazes of burning airfields and the scattering of artillery impacts. Endless armored convoys broke into highways, and helicopters roared over the
The dramatic fight for Soledar, part of the Battle of Bakhmut, is over — although Ukraine's leadership is still reluctant to acknowledge the loss. As a result of a localized offensive operation in January, Russian forces managed to gnaw through Ukrainian defenses and, after fierce urban fighting, seize what's left of
BAKHMUT, Donetsk Oblast — It’s the last days of December and the heat of the holiday season. But an artillery battalion with Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Infantry just couldn’t care less. For them, it’s like Groundhog Day – just another day of war that keeps repeating over and over.
This holiday season, as people celebrate with their families and stroll brightly-decorated streets across the world, Russia's war against Ukraine has reached a crucial point. Ukraine's autumn campaign has been a resounding success, with counteroffensives in Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Kherson oblasts liberating thousands of square kilometers of territory. More importantly,
In December 2021, most forecasts voiced in the media did not give Ukraine much of a chance in case of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ten months after it started on Feb. 24, 2022, experts and media discuss where Ukraine will strike next, and what else Russia can do to save
The first week of Russia's earth-quaking mobilization campaign has topped all expectations — in terms of its harshness, hastiness, and chaos. With the Russian positions in Ukraine rapidly deteriorating, the Kremlin upped the ante and risked announcing a draft. The regime aims to draft between 300,000 and over 1.2
Humiliated on the battlefield, the Kremlin now wants to quickly annex occupied Ukrainian territories and add them to the Russian Federation. Russian proxies in the occupied parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts have announced that between Sept. 23 and 27, they will rush sham “referendums” on these areas
Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast has changed how the world thinks about the war, according to U.S. Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges. Hodges, who served as commander of U.S. Army Europe from 2014-2017 and has helped train Ukrainian soldiers, said the operation ended “the mythology of
KHARKIV – In warfare, there's no such thing as a miracle. Yet what happened in early September in the east of Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast may ascend in history as the Miracle on the Oskil River. Within a few days, a Ukrainian strike prompted the collapse of the Russian front in the
MYKOLAIV – After quickly occupying Kherson in the first days of the full-scale invasion, Russia turned its sight towards Mykolaiv, Ukraine’s shipbuilding center. Many expected the regional capital of 480,000 people to fall next. On Feb. 25, one day after Russia began its invasion and southern offensive, Major General
Shock and awe roared over Kyiv Oblast in the early hours of Feb. 24, 2022. Dozens of Russian Ka-52 and Mi-8 helicopters rushed south at low altitude over the Dnipro River, carrying 200-300 elite stormtroopers with the 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade. Some of the helicopters were downed and fell
It’s been nearly a month since U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, had their long-awaited debut in Ukraine, but their combat record is already extensive. Using all the heavy and long-range weaponry available to it, including HIMARS, Ukraine began a campaign that has destroyed dozens
One way or another, according to Ukraine’s leadership, it's bound to happen. Even though the Battle of Donbas is far from over, Ukraine is expected to open the next chapter of the war sometime in the near future — a highly anticipated, major counter-offensive operation in the south, particularly to
The Battle of Donbas is raging high, but it’s not going the way Russia wanted it to. Almost 20 days in, the much-anticipated and feared grand offensive falls short of expectations. It is still not even close to achieving its ultimate goal — the encircling and crippling of the core
