The Kyiv Independent’s Chris York sat down with author, historian, and Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which mark the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II, are one of the country’s biggest public events of the year. President of the Ukrainian Society of Switzerland Andrej Lushnycky who sheds some light on the things Putin would rather you didn’t know about World War II.
Washington’s involvement may also help mitigate political opposition in Europe, while giving the U.S. strategic visibility over future Russian energy flows, sources told Reuters.
The agreement, signed on April 30, establishes a joint investment fund between Kyiv and Washington and grants the U.S. special access to projects developing Ukraine's natural resources.
Emergency service workers at the scene of the missile attack on a cafe in the village of Hroza, Kharkiv Oblast, on Oct. 5, 2023. (Governor Oleh Syniehubov / Telegram)
A former Ukrainian police officer was charged with treason in absentia on Feb. 12 for his alleged role in helping direct a Russian missile strike on the Kharkiv Oblast village of Hroza in October 2023 that killed 59 civilians.
The Russian strike occurred during a memorial service in Hroza, which is located around 90 kilometers east of the city of Kharkiv. More than half of the village's population was killed in what was the deadliest attack against Ukrainian civilians in 2023.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) identified two brothers in October 2023, both locals from Kharkiv Oblast, who allegedly helped direct the strike on Hroza.
The SBU, along with the Kharkiv Oblast prosecutor's office, shared text exchanges that implicated the brothers in the attack.
The prosecutor's office and other law enforcement agencies announced on Feb. 12 that one of the collaborators was charged in absentia with treason. While the suspect was not named, Ukrainska Pravda and other media outlets wrote that it was Dmytro Mamon, one of the two brothers identified by the SBU in October.
According to the SBU, Dmytro and his brother Volodymyr collaborated with occupying Russian forces and later fled to Russia after Ukraine liberated the region in late 2022.
The SBU wrote in October that the brothers cultivated a network of local informants and collaborators from Russia and used these contacts to identify Ukrainian troop movements or gatherings, which they reported back to their Russian handlers.
The brothers often used unwitting informants, asking seemingly innocent questions in order to mask their true intention, the SBU said.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Alexander Khrebet
