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

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

We hope you've had a good week and were able to celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day yesterday! If you did anything special, let us know in the comments below. We look forward to hearing from you!

Pictured above is the Kyiv Independent's free digital poster, enlarged, printed, and framed by one of our members, Jennifer. We'd like to say thank you to Jennifer for sending us this photo – we're so excited to see the poster is popular! Anyone who signs up for a free account on the Kyiv Independent website will receive this poster as a way to say thank you for their support.

We'd also like to welcome our 104 new members this week. Thank you for your continued support. Our work wouldn't be possible without you!

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

We covered Ukraine's 32nd Independence Day by asking both Ukrainian soldiers what independence means to them and Ukrainians in street interviews where they see their country in 10 years.

We wrote about Kyiv's decision to remove Soviet symbols as part of its decommunization policy. In July, the hammer and sickle was removed from Kyiv's Motherland monument, to be replaced with the tryzub on Independence Day, marking a distinct split from Russia, which continues to use Soviet symbols, especially as part of its war propaganda during the current invasion of Ukraine.

We published an explainer on Ukraine's flag. Earlier this week, on Wednesday, was Ukraine's Day of the National Flag. Lili Bivings' piece explains the history and meanings behind the yellow-and-blue flag: It's not only a national marker, but a rallying symbol of resistance.

We interviewed the UK's ambassador to Ukraine. Dame Melinda Simmons said "People are waking up to understanding of Russia being colonial, fascist-leaning country."

This week Belarus Weekly looks at Lithuania's closure of two of its border crossings with Belarus, citing security concerns, leading to the U.S. urging its citizens to leave or avoid travel to Belarus.

Episode 22 of "This Week in Ukraine" focuses on the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine. Host Anastasiia Lapatina is joined by reporter Oleg Sukhov to discuss the irrational politics behind Western military aid to Ukraine, with your questions starting at 23:20.

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