Our photo exhibition is running at America House Lviv: Here's what you helped us achieve last week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support.

Last week, we opened our photo exhibit "Coming of Age Amidst War" in collaboration with America House Lviv, which features the work of Ukrainian photographers showing how the journey to adulthood has changed in Ukraine due to Russia's full-scale invasion.

Pictured above is the opening of the exhibit, with our photo editor Irynka Hromotska (left) hosting a discussion with the photographers.

We'd like to give a warm welcome to our 71 new members this week. It's thanks to you we have a sustainable source of funding for our reporting.

Here are some highlights from the Kyiv Independent this week:

Our most popular story this week was Chris York's article asking five Ukrainian soldiers about North Korean troops fighting for Moscow. We also interviewed former U.K. Defense Attaché in Moscow, John Foreman, about what this development might mean for the future of Russia's war. Watch the video here.

We analyzed NATO's preparedness for a war with Russia. Martin Fornusek's article argues that despite its size and potential, NATO stands ill-prepared for a protracted conflict with Russia, as it's plagued by empty ammunition stores and political division.

We investigated Russian executions of Ukrainian soldiers. The Kyiv Independent collected and published testimonies about three executions of Ukrainian soldiers by Russian troops. Killing a prisoner of war is a war crime, but one of the least documented deaths in war.

We reported on Ukraine's mobilization efforts, including a little-known obstacle around lowering the mobilization age below age 25 and the mobilized Ukrainian prisoners who are now entering the fray in the Battle of Donbas.

We reported on how Russia attempted to steal the Moldovan election. Paula Erizanu's article explains the Russian interference in Moldova's recent EU referendum – including large-scale bribery – though the "yes" vote still won, by only 11,000 votes.

We also wrote about Russia's wartime economic growth and its sustainability, with a fiscal analyst saying that while we've seen high growth with enormous fiscal support over the past two years, the problem with this strategy is that "you are simply mortgaging your future."

We want to hear from you! We launched our community satisfaction survey earlier last week. If you have a few minutes and haven't yet filled out our survey, you can do so here. This is our final call for responses. We really value hearing from our members, and we read every response that is submitted. Thank you for taking the time.

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