We reported on Ukraine's continued incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast: Here's what you helped us achieve this week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support.

Pictured above, our reporter Francis Farrell poses with his cat Sazha in the Kyiv Independent office on Monday, Aug. 12. For our newer members, or those who may not know, Sazha is originally from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. In 2023, he was rescued by a soldier in the 93rd brigade before being adopted by Francis.

We'd also like to give a warm welcome to our 111 new members this week. We're proud to be a reader-funded news organization, and we wouldn't be here without you.

Here are some highlights from the Kyiv Independent this week:

We reported extensively on what Ukraine's unprecedented and continuing incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast means. Oleg Sukhov's article explains how the incursion has dealt a blow to Putin's prestige, as it marks the first ground invasion of Russia since WWII. We also wrote about how Russia's propaganda machine has been thrown into crisis, likely since propagandists are unable to formulate a set of talking points that would explain the incursion into Kursk without exposing the reality of Russia's war.

We interviewed retired Australian general Mick Ryan about Ukraine's strategy in Kursk offensive, who called the operation very risky, saying that it's "high risk, but potentially high return." Watch the video version of the interview here.

We wrote about how Ukraine's Kursk incursion has affected U.S. fears of Russian escalation. Owen Racer's article breaks down the comments made in support of Ukraine's operation, both from Democratic and Republican politicians, and well as the Pentagon, which affirmed this move is consistent with U.S. policy, and what this could mean for the future of U.S. support for Ukraine.

We reported from Donetsk Oblast, as thousands of people are forced to flee while Russia takes one village after another. Emmanuelle Chaze's story follows people who have been internally displaced from Donetsk Oblast, the hellish conditions in towns near the front line, and the obstacles that come with evacuating one's home.

We published a video explaining how drones are shaking up the war, after Ukrainian FPV drones hit two Russian helicopters in a historic feat last week. Francis Farrell and Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow at RUSI, discuss the evolving dynamics of airspace in Russia's war.

This week, Belarus Weekly includes reports that Minsk is summoning EU and Ukrainian diplomats after alleged incursions by Ukrainian drones into Belarusian airspace that were then downed by the Belarusian military.

In case you missed it, we also launched the Kyiv Independent store last week. You can start shopping our first collections here – and as one of the benefits of being part of our community, you're eligible for a 15% discount with the code WELOVEOURMEMBERS. At the end of this letter, we included a few additional photos of the behind-the-scenes of our merch photoshoots and one of the iconic Kyiv locations we chose to feature.

Our analytical unit KI Insights will host a panel discussion "What happened to Ukraine's oligarchs?" Our team will discuss the key events in the history of oligarchy in Ukraine, the power players in 2019 and where they are now, and the place oligarchs hold in wartime Ukraine. The Q&A will be on Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 4 p.m. Kyiv time. You can register here, and reach out to Olena Yermakova at o.yermakova@kyivindependent.com if you have any additional questions. We hope to see you there!

Thank you for standing by our side as we bring independent, locally sourced news about Ukraine to the world.

We chose Zhytniy Rynok – a brutalist Soviet-era market in Kyiv’s Podil neighborhood that’s currently at risk of being lost to development – as one of the locations for shooting our special collection, and particularly our borsch merch. Pictured above is our office manager Sofa Koretska wearing the borsch T-shirt, head of marketing Yerbolat Bekbau wearing the Cossack T-shirt and the borsch tote bag.