We reported from the front lines, examined growing strains inside Russia, and explored how drone warfare is reshaping the war — Here's what you helped us cover this week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support. This week, Kyiv woke up to one of the largest Russian attacks on the capital this year, as missiles and drones damaged neighborhoods across the city. As our Kate Tsurkan wrote, the attack damaged some of the capital's most important museums, theaters, and libraries, including the Chornobyl Museum and the National Art Museum. Our reporters Luca Léry Moffat and Kateryna Hodunova documented how drones and missiles damaged shops, cafes, and cultural sites across the city, including a coffee shop that had opened just one day before the strike. Above, you can see the coffee shop damaged by a Russian missile strike, in a photo taken by Kateryna Hodunova.

We're grateful to have our members with us. We'd also like to give a warm welcome to the 827 new members who joined this week. We’re currently aiming to reach 4,000 new members. Thank you to everyone who has joined so far, it’s thanks to you that we have the stability we need to keep going!

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

We published a report from the front lines near Kupiansk, where Ukrainian troops are confronting increasingly unconventional Russian tactics. Asami Terajima embedded with soldiers of the Khartiia Brigade, documenting how Russian forces are using Soviet-era underground pipelines to move troops beneath the drone-filled battlefield, and how Ukrainian units are engaged in a constant hunt to detect and eliminate soldiers emerging from the tunnels.

One of our most-read stories this week covered Sweden's decision to provide Ukraine with 16 Gripen fighter jets. Polina Moroziuk and Kateryna Hodunova explained how the move could significantly strengthen Ukraine’s air force as it continues defending its skies against daily Russian missile and drone attacks, while also marking a major step forward in long-term military cooperation between Kyiv and Stockholm.

We examined how Ukraine's long-range drone campaign is creating new tensions for its NATO allies. Tim Zadorozhnyy, Martin Fornusek, and Chris Powers reported that Russia has increasingly been jamming and redirecting Ukrainian drones toward neighboring countries such as Finland and Latvia, raising security concerns and fears that repeated incidents could gradually weaken public support for Ukraine among some of its closest European partners.

We covered mounting tensions inside Russia as the country's wartime economy loses momentum. Toby Woodall reported that rising military costs, slowing growth, stubborn inflation, and growing public fatigue with the war are fueling frustration within the Kremlin and creating new political and economic challenges for Vladimir Putin.

We reported from the site of Russia's latest Oreshnik missile strike in Bila Tserkva. Jimmy Rushton and Anna Nesevra traveled to the city two hours south of Kyiv, which was targeted by Russia on Saturday night, and found that the damage on the ground appeared limited.

We also reported on Ukraine’s EU path and the role of Hungary’s Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia. Martin Fornusek and Chris Powers wrote that Budapest’s latest demands could once again complicate Ukraine’s accession talks, even as the new Hungarian government signals it may be looking for a way through.

We detailed Ukraine’s efforts to pressure Belarus’ dictator Alexander Lukashenko, Russia’s key ally. Maria Yeroma wrote that while Belarus does not appear to pose an immediate new military threat, Kyiv is stepping up political pressure, warning that Minsk could end up playing a larger role in future Russian attacks.

We published a historical piece marking 100 years since the assassination of Symon Petliura. Kate Tsurkan explored the life, legacy, and contested memory of the Ukrainian independence leader, examining how Petliura’s killing in Paris continues to spark historical debates. 

We explored how drones and infiltration tactics are reshaping the front line in southern Ukraine. In a new video report, Francis Farrell explains why Kyiv's recent counterattacks look far smaller on maps than in official claims, and how the expanding “gray zone” is making battlefield boundaries harder than ever to define ahead of the 2026 campaign. Also on video, Martin Fornusek spoke with Kaupo Rosin, director general of Estonia's Foreign Intelligence Service, about why the Kremlin continues to view the United States as its main adversary, how Russia is adapting its military and hybrid warfare tactics, and why European officials believe Moscow's ambitions extend far beyond Ukraine.

We examined Russia's recruitment of fighters from Africa. In the latest episode of “Ukraine This Week,” Anna Belokur looks at how Moscow is trying to offset battlefield losses by luring vulnerable people from countries with high unemployment into military service, often through promises of jobs or education that can end in pressure, coercion, and deployment to the front.

We also published our readers' questions about the war, answered, vol. 11. Thank you, everyone, who submitted questions! You can read it here.

Finally, on a positive note, we launched a new section — Letters to the Editor — to give our readers a space to share their thoughts on our reporting and raise issues they believe deserve attention. Submissions are open to anyone with something genuine to say, in 250 words or fewer. Write to us at letters@kyivindependent.com with your full name and country of residence. You can know more about it here.

We are also very grateful to everyone who completed our survey – we now have more than 1,300 responses! Your thoughts and opinions are really important to us, and we want to hear from you. You can still complete the survey with this link: https://kyivindependent.typeform.com/to/YabXSZDt

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