We premiered our documentary about Ukrainian military medics: Here's what you helped us accomplish this week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support.

This week, we debuted the documentary "Can You Hear Me? The Invisible Battles of Ukrainian Military Medics" by Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko. Pictured above is the audience at the film's premiere in Kyiv.

The documentary will also be screened in 10 European capitals — you can find the details and register here. The tour is organized in collaboration with Repower, the NGO featured in the film that organizes mental health retreats for military medics, and Swedish Embassy in Kyiv.

You can also watch "Can You Hear Me? The Invisible Battles of Ukrainian Military Medics" on the Kyiv Independent's YouTube channel here.

We'd also like to give a warm welcome to the 244 new members who joined our community this week. We set a goal to reach 1,000 members for the Kyiv Independent's third birthday — and when we closed our month-long campaign earlier this week, we had surpassed our goal with 1,300 members. We've been overwhelmed with your support, and on behalf of the team, thank you for helping us prepare to continue our work in 2025, no matter what the future holds.

We wouldn't be here without readers like you.

Here's what you helped us accomplish at the Kyiv Independent this week:

We analyzed how Russia's war in Ukraine might end. Francis Farrell's article takes a deep dive into the perilous negotiating ahead for Ukraine and the good, the bad, and the ugly scenarios that could come out of it.

We're interviewing Dmytro Kuleba next week — and we're looking for your questions. Natalia Yermak will interview Ukraine's ex-Foreign Minister, and we're wondering if you have any questions for him. You can respond to Natalia directly on our Discord server. If you aren't yet part of our Discord community, you can join and gain automatic access by following these steps.

One of our most widely-read stories was how Ukraine traded nuclear arms for security assurances 30 years ago. Kateryna Hodunova's article explains how the Budapest Memorandum, signed on Dec. 5, 1994, laid the ground for Ukraine to dispose of its nuclear arsenal, but also – for Russia's invasion 20 years later.

We wrote about how the war is changing Ukraine's faith. Andrea Januta and Natalia Yermak's article features six personal narratives of faith, questioning, and transformation and shows how Russia's war has changed religion in Ukraine.

We interviewed historian Botakoz Kassymbekova about the romanticization of the Soviet Union in the West and the prospects of decolonization. Kassymbekova explained that "Russian colonialism is not reformable," since dissidents still want to retain the empire.

We raised $10,000 for Repower through the Kyiv Independent Store. When we first launched the Kyiv Independent Store, we decided to donate the profits from the first three months of sales from our branded core collection to Repower, the organization featured in our documentary that arranges mental health retreats for military medics. Together, with the help of our readers, we were able to raise $10,000 for Repower, the cost for five medics to attend a 10-12-day mental health retreat. Thank you to those who bought merch and helped us reach our goal!

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