In September 2023, Russian national Igor Boichenko swam across a river and crossed a minefield to enter Ukraine from Russia. Boichenko was one of thousands of Russians who came to Ukraine that month. What was unique about him is that he didn't come to fight Ukrainians — but rather, to join their ranks. He signed a military contract and served as a sniper against his homeland. Then, he found himself locked up in a migration jail, under threat of being sent back, to the country he signed up to

"At the moment, I have no idea how much trouble I'm going to cause myself in the future," says Pavel Talankin at the very beginning of the documentary "Mr. Nobody Against Putin." Not every story about Russian propaganda demonstrates its power. Some merely highlight the self-dramatization of the Russian people and their real position — that in their own country, they are nobodies and will not even try to change that. So the audience is left with a distorted sense of agency, shaped by the denial

Torture in Russian captivity is systematic. In a new documentary, The Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit uncovers the torture of Ukrainian civilians held by Russian forces and traces the roots of these practices through Russian history.

The Kyiv Independent’s Myroslava Chauin speaks with Kateryna Rashevska, a legal expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights and a children’s rights activist, about evidence that Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories were transferred to a children’s camp in North Korea.

This documentary exposes Russia’s vast system that indoctrinates Ukrainian children, using education and leisure programs in occupied territories to build Russia’s future army.

In this exclusive interview, a Ukrainian teenager shares the harsh realities of growing up under Russian occupation.

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions. Vitalii Atamanchuk was the archetypal man of the Donbas, the industrial heartland that stretches across eastern Ukraine. He spent more than 20 years toiling in a coal mine. In 2000, he retired, but found the life of a pensioner dull. He went back to work in the mines and, later, found a job with a construction company in the city of Donetsk. Then, in 2014, the EuroMaidan Revolution swept Ukraine, toppling pro-Russian strongman Viktor Yanuko

Editor’s Note: This story was produced in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption and Reporting Project (OCCRP) and is published by both organizations. The story is based on the Kyiv Independent’s latest investigative documentary, “He Came Back.” The day after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Maryna discovered she was expecting a boy. Fearing it might be the last time she would be able to get to a hospital, she queued for hours at checkpoints to attend the ultra