Culture

The Hidden Canon: Discover Ukrainian literary classics

A Kyiv Independent project backed by the Ukrainian Institute

Luke Harding's 'Betrayal' charts the collapse of the rules-based order — and who is to blame

by Kate TsurkanOctober 5, 2026

Luke Harding's “Betrayal: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest" begins with a turning point in the full-scale war most people probably haven't spent enough time coming to terms with: North Korean soldiers getting ready to join the biggest land war in Europe since 1945. "Soon they would be stumbling through alien woods and fields, sent by one dictator to help out another. It was a sign of a world turned upside down. The rules-based international order — the post-1945 understanding that state

Ukrainian actor Serhii Strelnikov enlists in Unmanned Systems Forces

by Kate TsurkanOctober 8, 2026

Ukrainian Chess Federation blasts presidential aide after accepting FIDE position alongside a Russian, urges SBU probe

by Yevgeniya DoludaSeptember 28, 2026

Kyiv Independent recommends 5 translated Ukrainian books to look out for in late 2026 and early 2027

by Kate TsurkanSeptember 24, 2026

20-year-old sentenced to life in prison for murder of Ukrainian language advocate, ex-lawmaker Iryna Farion

by Kate TsurkanOctober 1, 2026

Kanye West's sold-out Russia concerts cancelled, organizers confirm

by Rebecka PiederOctober 1, 2026

Ukraine's Culture Ministry announces major fundraising initiative to help publishers struggling after Russian attacks

by Kate TsurkanSeptember 21, 2026

Award-winning director Andrey Zvyagintsev labeled 'foreign agent' by Kremlin

by Kate TsurkanSeptember 18, 2026

NewsLetters

News Feed

Friday, October 9

12:54 PM

Russian drone barrage on Kyiv kills 6, injures 17, disrupts electricity, water supplies

At 10:00 a.m. local time, Ukraine’s biggest private energy firm DTEK announced emergency energy shutdowns in Brovary, Buchanskyi, Vyshgorod, and Boryspil districts of the capital.

Thursday, October 8

06:25 PM

Moldova ready to take in more Ukrainian refugees come winter, Sandu says

"If this winter in Ukraine is as difficult as the whole world expects, we are ready to receive as many people as need safety," Moldovan President Maia Sandu said at the Moldova Security Forum in Chisinau on Oct. 8.

12:12 PM

At least 33 dead after Russian glide bomb strikes Kramatorsk buses

"Russia comes to the Ukrainian land with death," Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

05:25 PM

Ukraine strikes Russia's Omsk oil refinery in Siberia, General Staff confirms

Videos and images from local residents, shared by Ukrainian monitoring channels, show explosions, fire, and smoke rising from the area surrounding the oil refinery.

04:54 PM

Polish SIM cards found in Russian drones downed in Poland

An investigation on a mass Russian drone incursion into Polish air space on Sept. 9 concluded on Oct. 8.

04:12 PM

Inside Operation Vivaldi — how Ukraine uses drones, robots to liberate territory in Donetsk Oblast

DONETSK OBLAST — On a screen, live footage from a reconnaissance drone shows two men in Ukrainian pixel camouflage dashing in short bursts through the ruins of apartment buildings. Then they vanish into a basement. It is late summer, and the 3rd Army Corps and attached units are fully engaged in a counteroffensive in the Lyman sector called Operation Vivaldi. Russian forces are trying to recapture Lyman, a city in Donetsk Oblast that Russian officials have claimed their forces control. Ukrainia

Tsyhan assembles a Dart in the Lyman sector, Ukraine, on Aug. 11, 2026.

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.

June 12, 2025‘I feel like I lost 3 years’ — Ukrainian author turned soldier Artem Chapeye on culture during war

June 11, 2025'Ukrainians have been stripped of illusion of control' — Filmmaker Kateryna Gornostai on Russia's war, cinema and reclaiming the narrative

March 26, 2025Explainer: Some Ukrainians speak Russian language — it doesn’t make them Russian

Editors' Picks

Demonstrators gather at the Kyiv City State Administration in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 23, 2026.

Culture

Luke Harding's 'Betrayal' charts the collapse of the rules-based order — and who is to blame

Ukrainian actor Serhii Strelnikov enlists in Unmanned Systems Forces

Ukrainian Chess Federation blasts presidential aide after accepting FIDE position alongside a Russian, urges SBU probe

Kyiv Independent recommends 5 translated Ukrainian books to look out for in late 2026 and early 2027

20-year-old sentenced to life in prison for murder of Ukrainian language advocate, ex-lawmaker Iryna Farion

Kanye West's sold-out Russia concerts cancelled, organizers confirm

Ukraine's Culture Ministry announces major fundraising initiative to help publishers struggling after Russian attacks

Award-winning director Andrey Zvyagintsev labeled 'foreign agent' by Kremlin

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NewsLetters

News Feed

Russian drone barrage on Kyiv kills 6, injures 17, disrupts electricity, water supplies

Moldova ready to take in more Ukrainian refugees come winter, Sandu says

At least 33 dead after Russian glide bomb strikes Kramatorsk buses

Ukraine strikes Russia's Omsk oil refinery in Siberia, General Staff confirms

Polish SIM cards found in Russian drones downed in Poland

Inside Operation Vivaldi — how Ukraine uses drones, robots to liberate territory in Donetsk Oblast

About Culture

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He fled Maduro's Venezuela. Now he leads Ukraine's South American battalion.

Largest oil facility in Moscow region erupts in flames following massive Ukrainian drone attack

New automatic gun turrets successfully down first Russian jet-powered drones, Air Force says

South Korea says it received 'insufficient' apology from Ukraine over North Korean POWs, mulls envoy recall

Russia slams Ukraine with missiles, drones on Putin's 74th birthday, at least 30 dead including 5 children

Editors' Picks

In Kyiv district battered by Russian strikes, a protest to save trees turns ugly

He fled Maduro's Venezuela. Now he leads Ukraine's South American battalion.

Trump's Ukraine-Russia peace gambit begins to unravel. Again

What does Russia's rising military budget say about its plans for the war?