Here's what you helped us achieve this week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

This Wednesday, our office was visited by Ukrainian Scouts who sang a Christmas song and shared a lit candle to symbolize the Peace of Light of Bethlehem, a tradition within the Scout movement. Pictured above, the Scouts carol, while our war crimes reporter Danylo Mokryk plays the guitar.

We'd like to welcome the 89 new members this week. Your support is our main source of revenue – thank you for standing with us!

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

We covered the Dec. 13 Russian strike on Kyiv. In the early hours of Wednesday, Russia sent 10 ballistic missiles and 10 drones at Ukraine's capital, and although according to the military, air defense shot down all targets, falling debris still damaged buildings across the city. Alexander Khrebet's story looks at those left without a home due to the strikes and the first hours after the attack.

We published photos from Avdiivka, a city just five kilometers northwest of Donetsk, which has been on the front line of Russia's war for nearly 10 years. The city was once home to 35,000 people, but is now nearly completely destroyed by Russia's renewed October offensive, where Russians are estimated to have lost 10,000 troops and more than 100 tanks in just a month.

Our most popular story this week was Alexander Query's article about how sex workers in Ukraine are further marginalized due to the war, which explains how a risky profession has become even more dangerous, as sex workers' clients are now more prone to have PTSD and social services have decreased, putting them at even higher risk to be exposed to violence and disease.

We wrote about Vladimir Putin's four-hour press conference. Oleg Sukhov's article explains Putin's comments on mobilization, peace deals, and Gershokovich's detention, at his first major press conference since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.

We compiled some ideas of where to buy Christmas gifts from Ukrainian brands. This was an idea sent in by one of our community members – thank you for the suggestion! Ukrainians have been focused on buying locally to help their economy, and you can participate in the effort, too. This list has a few ideas for gifts from creative brands that also will help Ukraine.

Episode 38 of "This Week in Ukraine" is about Ukraine's problematic preparations for a long war. Host Anastasiia Lapatina and reporter Francis Farrell discuss why Ukraine hasn’t prepared defensive lines, with your questions starting at 22:25. Our next community event will be a Q&A about the state of the war with Francis on Jan. 11 – you can register and submit your questions here.

This week, Belarus Weekly includes the International Olympic Committee's decision to allow Belarusian and Russian athletes to compete as neutral athletes in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, a decision controversial to both the Belarusian and Ukrainian government.

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