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

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your support! 

We'd like to give a warm welcome to our 30 new members this week. Contributions from members like you are our main source of revenue – thank you for supporting independent journalism and sustaining our work.

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

We reported a few kilometers from Russian positions in southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Alexander Query's story focuses on the civilians stranded in the front-line towns and the non-stop shelling they endure.

Our most popular story this week was about how Turkey's upcoming elections can change where the country stands on Russia’s war. Alexander Khrebet's piece explains what might happen to Turkey's foreign policy if Erdogan loses the election, and the opposition candidate Kılıçdaroğlu, who now leads in the polls, becomes president. 

Another popular story was Igor Kossov's story about Ukraine changing the combat bonus system. The overhaul made to the payments narrows the definition of those who qualify for the extra Hr 100,000 ($2,700) per month given to those in combat zones, and soldiers warn it may lower morale.  

We also reported from Brussels, on Jens Stoltenberg's comments about NATO's position on Ukraine. The NATO Secretary General said that Ukraine will join NATO despite Russia's "reckless nuclear rhetoric."

The second episode of "This Week in Ukraine" was released. This week's episode looks at why Ukraine is finally kicking out the the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, a large church in Ukraine that still follows religious leaders in Russia, despite the war. Each week we will put out a call for your questions – thank  you to those who sent something in! Pictured above host Anastasiia Lapatina (right) speaks with senior Oleksiy Sorokin during the podcast's filming on Wednesday, April 5. 

This week Belarus Weekly looks at Lukashenko's announcement that he is ready to receive tactical nuclear weapons from Russia, which, if Russia did transfer the weapons, would be a violation of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Please welcome our new head of marketing! We're happy to announce that Yerbolat Bekbau will be joining our team!

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