We reported from Sumy after Russia's deadly ballistic missile attack on Palm Sunday: Here's what you helped us achieve last week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support — and we hope you've all been well, despite everything that's going on in the world at the moment.

Last week — on the morning of Palm Sunday — Russia targeted the northeastern city of Sumy, hitting the center with two ballistic missiles, in a "double tap" attack. The second missile was armed with cluster munitions, designed to inflict maximum damage. The strike killed 35 people and wounded nearly 120, making it the deadliest attack against civilians this year.

We sent our journalists Asami Terajima and Nick Allard to Sumy on Monday to report on the aftermath of the attack and to interview those who survived. It's thanks to readers like you that we can sustainably fund our journalism and tell the human stories of war. Your support makes a huge difference for us.

We'd like to give a warm welcome to the 164 new members who joined this week. We wouldn't be here without readers like you. Thank you for not looking away when it matters the most.

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

We reported from Sumy after Russia's Palm Sunday attack. Asami Terajima's article focuses on the eyewitness accounts of those who survived the deadly attack on Sumy's city center. Watch the video report here. Pictured above are makeshift memorials to the casualties of the attack, taken by Nick Allard on Monday, April 14.

We interviewed an expert on whether civilian areas can ever be legitimate targets. Wayne Jordash KC, president of the Global Rights Compliance Foundation, explains how this is assessed on a case-by-case basis and if Russia's strike on Sumy violated international humanitarian law.

We reported from Zaphorizhzhia and Kherson oblasts as U.S. Special Envoy Witkoff suggests forfeiting Ukrainian-held land to Russia. The Kyiv Independent spoke to a dozen residents of the two oblasts, all of whom wanted their territory to remain a part of Ukraine. One resident in Kherson, who was on a Russian blacklist during his city's occupation, said of ceding territory, "This is one of my worst nightmares. I wake up in a cold sweat."

One widely read story last week was Kateryna Denisova's article about the Chinese fighters captured by Ukraine, who warned their compatriots against joining the war saying "everything we heard from Russians was a lie."

We also interviewed a Ukrainian intelligence officer about the recent successes of drone strikes deep within Russia. Brigadier General Yuriy Shchyhol said "No amount of air defense can protect all of Russia."

We wrote about Putin's key advisors. As ceasefire talks continue, the world is paying more attention to those sent to do the Kremlin's bidding. Katie Marie Davies' article breaks down who the main players in Putin's inner circle are, including Russia's Foreign Minister and the Russian Ambassador to the U.S.

This week, Belarus Weekly looks at reports of attacks on Polish border guards, one of which allegedly involved a uniformed Belarusian officer throwing rocks at a Polish patrol.

On a positive note, we launched a new membership benefit for you this week. We've heard from our members that there's a lot of interest in Ukrainian culture and Kate Tsurkan's newsletter "Explaining Ukraine." So, we added a new channel in Discord so Kate can provide additional readings about Ukrainian culture that go beyond what she includes in her newsletter. Here are the instructions to join Discord if you aren't there already and want to join the conversation.

Our next community Q&A will be "Is Europe ready for war?" Join deputy chief editor Oleksiy Sorokin and senior news editor Martin Fornusek on Monday, April 28 as they answer your questions about changing political alliances, what the Trump administration means for NATO, and Russia’s “ceasefire” agreements. Register and submit your questions here.

Finally, we answered your questions about the war. Thank you to everyone who submitted something to our written Q&A about war. You can find the eighth edition, where we answered your questions from Zelenksy's approval rating to Trump's political alignment with Russia, here.

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