We entered the third year of Russia's full-scale invasion. Here's what you're helping us accomplish (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Last Saturday, Feb. 24 marked the second anniversary of Russia's all-out war. This month also marked 10 years since the start of Russia's war against Ukraine in 2014.

We published an editorial looking back on the last two years and a detailed timeline of Russia's decade-long aggression against Ukraine, beginning with the invasion of Crimea after the EuroMaidan Revolution in February 2014. 

Thank you for standing with us. We'd like to give a warm welcome to the 166 new members this week.

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

We have an exciting announcement. "I Will Show You How It Was," a book by former Kyiv Independent defense reporter Illia Ponomarenko, will be released on May 7 and is available for pre-order. The book captures the first weeks of the full-scale war and the early days of the Kyiv Independent. Our members are eligible for a 15% discount with the code KYIV15 when the book is pre-ordered. Pictured above is the book's cover.

We covered the 10-year anniversary of Russian aggression, looking at how Crimea has changed after a decade of Russian occupation and how young Ukrainians, the Generation of Fire, have had to focus on survival before they can plan for a future.

One of our most popular stories this week was a guest piece by Tim Mak of The Counteroffensive, who argues that Russia's failure to take Kyiv was luck and timing. Our next community event will be a Q&A with Tim Mak: Register and submit your questions here.

We also covered the human stories of war. Daria Shulzhenko's story follows a family from Avdiivka, who have to start their life over after Russia destroyed their city, whereas Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko's touching video looks at why some people choose to stay in front-line towns, like 74-year-old Vitalii who lives in Chasiv Yar.

We published a video explainer on how Ukraine lost Avdiivka. Francis Farrell explains the Russian tactics used to take the legendary fortress city Avdiivka, Ukraine's messy retreat, and what to expect next.  

You asked, we answered: Thank you to everyone who submitted their questions for our war Q&A featured on our website. Vol. 5 of our readers' questions covers questions about morale on the front line, attempts to fight Russian disinformation, and the perception of the new commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. 

We also published an explainer on how Russian descended into totalitarianism in the past decade, looking at how a slow erosion of rights led to a "neutered civil society" and the creation of a "highly militarized, highly repressed, highly autocratic state."

We wrote about war tourism in Ukraine, a new trend after tourism plummeted after Russia's full-scale invasion. Dominic Culverwell's story takes a look at the new industry and the tension between showing foreigners the truth of Russia's war and being respectful to those who experienced atrocities. 

This week in Belarus sham elections wrapped up, with Belarusian dictator Lukashenko further consolidating his hold on power and announcing he will run for president in the 2025 elections. 

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