We reported on Russia's largest air attack since the start of the full-scale invasions: Here's what you helped us achieve this week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for standing with us. Despite Russia launching three large-scale air attacks on Ukraine this week – one of which was the largest attack since the start of the full-scale invasion, with over 100 missiles and 100 drones launched at Ukraine – we had two members visit our Kyiv office this week.

One of the members, Malcolm, is the person who gave us the idea for a weekly PDF edition of the Kyiv Independent, featuring our top stories of the week, making it easy to share the news from Ukraine with your community. We've been producing the weekly PDF for over a year now, which you can find shared in our Discord channel here.

Pictured above, Malcolm (center left) poses with the Kyiv Independent team, holding a framed print of the PDF edition from the week he visited Kyiv.

We'd also like to give a warm welcome to our 107 new members this week. We're really grateful for all our members and your decision to support us!

Here are some highlights from the Kyiv Independent this week:

We reported on the largest air attack since the start of the full-scale invasion, with Russia launching over 100 missiles and 100 drones at Ukraine. Dinara Khalilova, Andrea Januta, and Kateryna Denisova's article looks at the consequences of the strikes, including testimony from those who lived through it, with one person saying that it "was such a near-death feeling, it cannot be conveyed in words," as well as explaining the devastating effects on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

One of our most popular stories this week was Kateryna Hodunova's piece about how Ukraine has been attacking Russian airfields with domestically developed weapons, as a strategy to circumvent the U.S. ban on missile strikes deep inside Russia.

We interviewed Russian POWs captured in Kursk Oblast. In the first days of Ukraine's Kursk operation, dozens of videos have emerged on social media of Russian soldiers surrendering en masse – many of them conscripts, i.e. young men going through their compulsory military service. The Kyiv Independent interviewed them about their motivations and experience of serving in the Russian military.

We wrote an in-depth story on the risks of Telegram, Ukraine's most popular messaging app. Earlier this week Pavel Durov, the Russian tech entrepreneur who founded Telegram, was arrested in Paris. Kateryna Denisova's article explains why the app is so popular in Ukraine and how it's used during wartime, as well as the risks associated with Telegram, the lack of accountability around the platform, and whether Ukraine will attempt to regulate it.

Saturday, Aug. 24 marked Ukraine's 33rd Independence Day. Chris York reported on how Ukraine's military has changed since the last time it paraded through Kyiv streets in 2021, before the start of the full-scale invasion, from its drones, tanks, artillery to infantry fighting vehicles and aircraft.

This week Belarus Weekly looks at the claims from both Kyiv and Minsk around escalated border tensions, as well as the continuing incursions of Russian drones into Belarusian airspace during large-scale attacks on Ukraine.

In case you missed it, our Independence Day sale on the Kyiv Independent store continues through Saturday. To celebrate the holiday, we're offering 24% off on select items, including our "Freedom" and "Independence" T-shirts. You're also eligible for 15% off with discount code WELOVEOURMEMBERS (because we love you). Finally, included below are photos from our members. We'd like to say thank you for sending in these pictures – especially to Bill, Victor, and Graden – and if you have photos in your merch you'd like to share, please email us at community@kyivindependent.com.

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