We premiered our documentary about Russia's looting of Ukrainian art and history museums: Here's what you helped us accomplish this week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

This week, our War Crimes Investigations Unit premiered its seventh documentary "Curated Theft," which reveals how Russian forces looted a local history and art museum in Kherson, in the fall of 2022 before retreating.

This theft is the largest in Europe since World War II.

You can watch "Curated Theft" on our YouTube channel here. Pictured above is one of the poster designs advertising the release of the documentary.

We'd also like to give a warm welcome to the 118 new members who joined our community this week. Thank you for your continued support — it's with your support that we're able to fund projects like our War Crimes Investigations Unit.

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

We investigated how — despite sanctions — Russia profits from arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Alisa Yurchenko's investigation uses leaked documents — including thousands of emails from a subsidiary of Russia's state arms conglomerate — to offer a look into Russia's efforts to sell weapons abroad in order to generate income to fuel its war economy and to boost its influence in international bodies, like the United Nations.

We analyzed what a second Trump presidency might mean for the future of the war, as Trump was inaugurated earlier this week. Oleg Sukhov's article explains Trump's options when dealing with Russia's war, including potential peace plans, Trump's choices of nominees, and both the recent positive and negative developments. We also looked at the new Secretary of State Marco Rubio's positions on Ukraine.

We explained what leverage Trump has over Putin in peace negotiations. Experts say Trump has quite a lot of leverage, including in economically, militarily, and diplomatically— but, the main question is his willingness to use it.

We interviewed author and historian Timothy Ash about the state of the Russian economy. After three years of sanctions, Ash explains why the Kremlin is running out of options as inflation rises, interest rates soar, and the ruble weakens, arguing that Russia is "beginning to make the wrong economic choices."

We reported on the leaked emails accusing the Wagner Group of plotting attacks on Chevron and cooperating with Al Qaeda. Oleg Sukhov's article explains the contents of the hacked correspondence, including letters written by relatives of Wagner mercenaries killed in Ukraine, as well as parents asking Prigozhin to hire their sons.

You're invited to the next event with our research unit KI Insights. On Thursday, Jan. 30, our Jakub Parusinski will host the briefing "Ukraine's Next Election: Political Forces to Watch in 2025," which will look at key potential players, what to expect from their platforms, and the broader implications for the Ukraine's future. You can register here.

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