As winter ends, fighting on Ukraine’s southern front is intensifying, and drones are leading the battle. The Ukraine’s 423rd Separate Drone Battalion, known as the “Scythian Griffins,” operates in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. With both sides preparing for a larger spring and summer campaign, the battle for Ukraine’s south is entering a new phase.

The Kyiv Independent’s Kollen Post sits down with Oleksandr Yakovenko, founder of TAF Industries, to discuss how his company went from wartime volunteer logistics to becoming one of Ukraine’s largest drone manufacturers.

Drone warfare has become one of the defining technologies of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Kyiv Independent's Kollen Post and Nick Allard spent a night with a drone team from Nemesis, one of Ukraine’s elite drone units, as they carried out bombing missions against Russian positions.

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur examines why U.S.-led peace negotiations have so far failed to end Russia’s war, one year after the now-infamous Oval Office clash between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

As peace talks continue and the U.S. pushes for compromise, one proposal keeps returning: Ukraine should withdraw from the remainder of Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk Oblast to end the war. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell explains why the Battle of Donbas remains at the center of the peace process.

In December 2023, Hlib Benia, a Ukrainian soldier with the 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade, was delivering supplies to his comrades when Russian FPV (first-person view) drones struck. Two of his fellow soldiers were killed. He survived but lost an arm and a leg.

The Kyiv Independent’s Martin Fornusek speaks with Bill Browder, investor and longtime sanctions advocate, about why Western sanctions have so far failed to change Russian President Vladimir Putin’s behavior.

The Kyiv Independent’s Jared Goyette speaks with a Canadian volunteer, Brittney Shki-Giizis, who left the Canadian military to fight in Ukraine. A former tank instructor, she explains why she chose to come to the front, how she learned Ukrainian to serve in a Ukrainian unit, and how the war’s shift toward drones led her to become an FPV (first-person view) drone pilot.

Colombians, many shaped by decades of armed conflict at home, have become one of the largest groups of foreign volunteers fighting for Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The Kyiv Independent's Jared Goyette speaks with a Colombian volunteer who spent two years fighting in Ukraine.

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur breaks down Russia’s intensified winter assault on Ukraine’s energy grid, as sustained missile and drone strikes push the system to the brink.

On Nov. 28, a Russian attack lasting more than 10 hours struck Ukrainian cities, with Kyiv as the main target. The Kyiv Independent’s Nick Allard and Tania Myronyshena spent the night with a Kyiv family sheltering in a parking garage with their three children.

As Russia bombards Ukraine with Shahed drones almost every night, the 12th Army Aviation Brigade takes to the skies in decades-old helicopters to intercept them. The Kyiv Independent’s Kollen Post joined the pilots to understand how they fly, maneuver, and shoot down drones in darkness — and what keeps them going.

In Kharkiv, a city living under constant Russian fire, students are shaping Ukraine’s future from underground classrooms and makeshift labs.

Pokrovsk, a city that held back some of Russia’s fiercest assaults for over a year, is now on the verge of falling. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell explains how the battle reached this point and what Pokrovsk’s fall could mean for the wider defense of Donetsk Oblast.

The Kyiv Independent’s Jared Goyette sat down with Brazilian volunteer fighter Everson Neves about his experience of fighting for Ukraine and the growing concerns over South American soldiers and their possible links to organized crime.