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

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Pictured above reporter Asami Terajima speaks at TEDxDejmia ED, a TED-like conference in Nagasaki, Japan on August 13. The event is organized by one of our community members. We're grateful to our community for opportunities like these!

We'd also like to welcome our 81 new members this week. The main source of our funding is recurring contributions from our members – we wouldn't be here without you!

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

One of our most popular stories was Igor Kossov's piece about the pro-Russian sympathies in Kupiansk district, in Kharkiv Oblast. One threat that the Ukrainian military faces, besides the continuous Russian shelling, is that many residents who remain are pro-Russian separatists, according to those interviewed for this article.

We also wrote about the personal story of one police officer from Kupiansk, who escaped then-occupied city by tricking the Russians. Igor Kossov's story follows Oleksandr, a recently retired police officer who was detained by occupying Russians in March 2022, and how he convinced his captors that he would cooperate with them, then evaded checkpoints to leave the city.

We reported from Donetsk Oblast about the work of front-line medics. Asami Terajima's story focuses on the medics deployed near Yampil with the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade and the process of evacuating a wounded soldier to a stabilization point.

Putin has started to crackdown on his pro-war opposition. Oleg Sukhov's article analyzes the threat Putin faces from pro-war Russians, who criticize the political and military leadership for mishandling the war effort, and his crackdown on these opponents, including the arrest of Girkin, known by his alias as Strelkov.

Episode 21 of "This Week in Ukraine" focuses on the progress of the counteroffensive. Host Anastasiia Lapatina sits down with reporter Francis Farrell to discuss the expectations versus the reality of the operation, and what we can except in the future, with your questions starting at 30:30.

This week Belarus Weekly includes the controversial visit of China's defense minister to both Russia and Belarus, with Li Shangfu praising the "continuously strengthening" and "truly fraternal" relationship between Belarus and China.

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