When faced with questions from German lawmakers on March 13, Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again said "no" to the delivery of the Taurus long-range missile to Ukraine. "Prudence is not something that one can qualify as a weakness. Prudence is something that the citizens of our country are entitled to,
For global audiences watching Moscow’s tightly-choreographed “election-style event” this weekend, Russia appears to be a country transformed – a militarized society where dissent is simply no longer tolerated. But the truth is that in the two years since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, for the majority, life
When Ukraine received Excalibur artillery shells in March 2022 from the U.S. shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, it was immediately the military’s weapon of choice. Thanks to their GPS navigation system, these expensive munitions had a high-precision flight trajectory and could be used in
Editor's Note: The Kyiv Independent doesn't provide the full names of soldiers mentioned in the story to protect them and their families from persecution in Russia. They are identified by callsigns. KYIV OBLAST – In the early hours of March 12, Russian state media sounded the alarm. A number of Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced recently that 31,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in the war against Russia, the first official release of military personnel losses in over a year. "Every person is a very great loss for us. 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers died in this war," Zelensky said on
Ukraine reported the downing of 13 Russian warplanes within the last two weeks, among the highest Russian Air Force losses since the early days of the full-scale invasion. This list includes 10 Su-34 fighter bombers, two Su-35 fighter jets, and one more rare A-50 military spy plane. Another A-50 aircraft
Editor's note: We asked members of the Kyiv Independent community to share the questions they have about the war. Here's what they asked, and how we answered. Join our community to ask a question in the next round. Read our previous answers here, here, here, and here. Question: What is
The capture of Avdiivka is Russia’s first major achievement in nine months, but it doesn’t leave any side looking good. For Russia, it was a Pyrrhic victory that consumed an army’s worth of equipment and killed or mangled estimated tens of thousands of Russian men to capture
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Feb. 7 that the Ukrainian military would create a separate branch of the Armed Forces dedicated to drones. Throughout the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has been a drone tactics pioneer, from applying purpose-built military UAVs to weaponizing civilian models. Last year, first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drones
Striking Russian pressure points deep behind enemy lines has become a near-daily task for Ukraine — and the country’s long-range arsenal continues to grow to serve the purpose. Ukraine’s latest acquisition, the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb, is due for its combat debut any day now. The GLSDB is the
One of Russia's top narratives is that it invaded Ukraine to "denazify" this multi-ethnic democracy led by a president with Jewish roots and holocaust survivors in his lineage. In fact, Russia's public obsession with "fighting Nazis" masks how its closest relations among European political parties are with those on the
Editor's note: The article was originally published on Jan. 30 and updated on March 11 at 4:17 p.m. Kyiv time. One of the most unexpected developments of the full-scale invasion was how many big, expensive Russian ships were taken out by Ukraine, a country that technically has no
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American air superiority fighter that Kyiv has begged for since the start of the full-scale invasion and is expected to finally start receiving this year. It’s a versatile workhorse of a jet that’s fought in dozens of wars and is
The sharp uptick in downing planes in recent weeks emerges as a bright spot for Ukraine among a lack of progress on the battlefield.
Russia’s invasion of 2022 may have shocked the world with the brutality of the fighting but it was only a preview for what was coming in 2023. To start with, 2022 had variety. It kicked off with a disastrous Russian blitz into Kyiv Oblast, stalled and picked apart by
“If you want to live, dig.” The words, often spoken by Ukrainian troops, are universal advice for trench warfare in general, but especially for both sides in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Normally expressed as advice to the individual soldier, the maxim now applies to the country as a whole.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Dec. 8 that he would participate in the upcoming presidential elections in March, seeking his 5th term in office. Putin, 71, has been in power since 1999 and it’s all but certain that he will secure a six-year term. Russia’s upcoming presidential
Russia's 2024 federal budget brought little in the way of surprises, the country is gearing up for a long war. Signed by President Vladimir Putin earlier this week, it ushered record levels of military spending — a sign of Moscow's commitment to its war against Ukraine. While part of the Russian
When Hamas launched its attack on Israeli settlements on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli government data, President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials condemned the terror and supported Israel's right to defend itself. Zelensky has compared Hamas to Russia, while his chief of staff Andriy
As a Harvard historian, Serhii Plokhy comfortably analyzes timelines that span centuries. But in his work on the war in Ukraine, keeping up with monthly developments has been a challenge. After finishing his latest book “The Russo-Ukrainian War” early this year, Plokhy wrote a new afterword at the end of
Slovakia's new Prime Minister, Robert Fico, is consistent in his comments that his country will stop providing aid to Ukraine. He also regularly parrots Russian propaganda, blaming Kyiv for Russia's invasion. This makes two of them, with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban long being accused of being Moscow's favorite EU
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been able to build a sustainable authoritarian state, with its economy surviving the shocks of a full-scale war and the following economic sanctions. The key to Putin's success is a team of talented liberal economists who run the state's monetary and fiscal policy. They have
Pressure is mounting on Russian forces across the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast. Ukrainian forces have reportedly stepped up their attacks on Russian positions to try and secure a beachhead and bring heavy armor into the fight. They aren’t quite there yet, but assaults on the eastern bank could
In the bubble of pro-Ukraine communities on the Internet, the constant inflow of battlefield videos showing the destruction of Russian equipment regularly lifts the moods of hundreds of thousands of supporters of Ukraine’s struggle around the world. Wander over to the Russian side of the internet, whether it’s
As fall weather arrives, observers are looking at the status of Ukraine's three-pronged counteroffensive, which continues to move very slowly. Ukrainian forces have yet to fully break through Russia's defensive lines and fight to their target cities — Tokmak, Berdiansk, and Vasylivka. Their tempo is heavily limited by minefields, airstrikes, shortages
Representative Mike Johnson, elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 25, has been deemed bad news for Ukraine. Johnson regularly voted against aid for Ukraine and was backed by the Ukraine-skeptic hard-right in his bid for speakership after the weeks-long scramble to replace the ousted Representative
Starting on Oct. 9, Russian forces launched an offensive at the flanks of the city of Avdiivka. It has been an undisputed failure so far.
Almost 10 years after the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, a court ruled against those implicated in the murders of dozens of protesters in the revolution's final days. Yet, the prosecutors and lawyers who fought for years to see a fair trial say justice hasn't been served. Kyiv's Svyatoshynsky District Court on
Editor's note: We asked members of the Kyiv Independent to share the questions they have about the war. Here's what they asked, and how we answered. Join our community to ask a question in the next round. Question: What factors will swing the war decisively in Ukraine's favor? Answer: One
In March 2022 right after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, a cell phone video apparently taken by a Russian soldier captured two “Zemledeliye” mobile mine-laying systems thought to be stationed in Kharkiv Oblast. Positioned against a drab backdrop of what was once farmland, the “Zemledeliyes,” a word that
JERUSALEM — Following nearly two years of increasing tensions between Ukraine and Israel, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 19. Their talk, at which Netanyahu's staff nearly caused a diplomatic incident by bringing a Soviet-era map
After over a year of pleading to get long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the U.S., Ukraine might finally receive this much desired weapon. Though to Ukraine’s disappointment it was not included in the latest military aid package worth $325 million announced by Washington on Sept. 21,
