Here's what you helped us achieve in the last week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support.

We'd like to give a warm welcome to our 50 new members this week! Thank you for standing with us.

Here are some highlights from the Kyiv Independent over the last week:

We launched a new podcast, "This Week in Ukraine." The first episode, which looks at the situation in Bakhmut and why Ukraine chooses to keep defending the city, aired today and is available both on YouTube and all major listening platforms. Thank you to those who sent in their questions! Pictured above host Anastasiia Lapatina (right) interviewing reporter Francis Farrell on Wednesday, March 29.

We reported from Donetsk Oblast on the combat medics working near Bakhmut. Asami Terajima's story looks at the exhausting conditions the front-line medics work under, with one describing the situation as "We keep working, and then, well, then I cry."

We also reported from the front lines in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where Alexander Query wrote that, according to soldiers, Ukraine is holding back on its southern counteroffensive, which was promised in the spring.

We wrote about the reform of Ukraine's problematic state-owned defense production giant. Illia Ponomarenko's story looks at how UkrOboronProm will be transformed into a stock company, as part of a reform that was planned before Russia's full-scale invasion, according to Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

Even though Russia initially reportedly planned for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine to last only days, it appears now that the Kremlin is changing its goals to support a long-term war. Katie Marie Davies' article analyzes if Russia can afford to commit to a years-long war.

We interviewed Dr. Ian Garner about the militarization of Russian society. The Canadian-based historian said that the idea of fighting a war to save Russia and Russians has become quasi-religious and is "a cult-like mentality."

Our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World" was nominated for the UK's Radio Academy Impact award. Listen to the podcast here. View the other nominees here.

We brought back the ability for readers to comment on our website. Last weekend, we updated our website, and it is now possible for our readers to create a free account and comment underneath articles again. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, we'd love to hear them!

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