We’re almost at 20,000 — thanks to you (Patreon)

Dear members, 

This is Zakhar Protsiuk, Chief Operating Officer at the Kyiv Independent. I want to give you an update on our most ambitious campaign yet to grow our community of supporters around the world. 

For those who may have missed it, a little over two weeks ago, we launched our drive to grow our community to 20,000 members. We did it not just to hit a round number, but to prove that independent journalism from Ukraine can thrive without paywalls, billionaires, or outside influence. Thanks to the support from readers like you, we’re nearly there. 

More than 1,500 new members have joined us since the launch of our campaign. If you're one of them — welcome, and thank you. You’re helping keep the Kyiv Independent’s journalism free and accessible at a time when it matters more than ever.

As of today, we have less than 300 members to go until we reach our goal.

Here in our Kyiv office, we’ve been tracking the number on a whiteboard that we update every day. (Pictured above is me in the office today, holding the counter.) Every time our team updates our counter, we celebrate — it means a lot to us to see how many people, all around the world, are backing our work. If you’d like to help us get one step closer to our goal, here’s how you can help:

Gift a membership

If you know someone who you think would value our journalism, you can gift them a membership. They’ll get access to all member perks, weekly updates, and the knowledge that they’re supporting a newsroom that relies on the communities it serves.

To gift a membership, you just need the recipient’s name and email — you can even include a personal note for them —  and they’ll receive an email explaining what the membership means and how to activate it. If you need any assistance, you can always reach out to us at community@kyivindependent.com.

Share with your network

If you’re active on social media — and feel comfortable doing so — sharing a post about why you support the Kyiv Independent can make a difference. Personal recommendations go a long way, and we’d be incredibly grateful if you’d share the Kyiv Independent with your close ones. You can use the picture below if you'd like.

Add yourself to our community map

If you haven’t explored it yet, check out our membership map. You can place your pin to show where you’re based — and see how many others in your country or city are part of our community too. 

Yesterday, we launched a new version of the map that includes a new design, advanced search, and a leaderboard of countries with the biggest number of supporters. We wanted a way to show how many people all around the world are supporting the Kyiv Independent, and you can also share this map with your friends or family. 

This campaign has been a powerful reminder of what we’re building together — not just a newsroom, but a community that believes in independent journalism from Ukraine. 

Thank you for being part of it.

Best regards,

Zakhar