Dear Kyiv Independent readers,
Thank you for your continued support.
In case you missed it, we recently added a new T-shirt to our online store to help the charitable organization East SOS, continuing our commitment to support important Ukrainian initiatives through your purchases.
After Russia demanded that Ukraine cede five of its regions as a condition for a ceasefire, we designed a shirt to show solidarity with Ukraine — all 603,628 square kilometers of it.
In June, we introduced the “603,628 km²” T-shirt and are donating the profits to the Ukrainian charity East SOS. Thanks to readers like you, we’ve already raised more than $5,000 to help them rebuild homes in war-torn eastern Ukraine.
We’ll collect donations until Aug. 10, so you have six days left to grab your shirt and support the cause.
We also want to give you a closer look at East SOS. The organization provides comprehensive assistance to Ukrainians in front-line regions and internally displaced persons (IDPs) that were forced to flee the war. The charity was launched in 2015, focusing on providing essential supplies and humanitarian aid for those living in the front-line areas.
One project East SOS is currently raising money for is to repair houses in eastern Ukraine that have been damaged by Russia — this is the project that the Kyiv Independent will support. So far, East SOS has helped repair nearly 1,500 homes in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts, with another 300 households waiting for assistance. The charity works to repair private homes, prioritizing requests from elderly people living alone or individuals with disabilities — essentially those who are unable to carry out the work themselves.
The East SOS team steps in immediately after a house is damaged, fixing roofs and windows, preventing further damage from rain or snow. After an emergency response, the team returns in order to restore homes severely damaged by the Russian attacks.
It costs around $1,500 for East SOS to repair one house — thanks to your help, we have already raised funds to cover the repair of about three houses.
You can buy the “603,628 km²” T-shirt in white here or in black here.
Members of the Kyiv Independent community are also eligible for a 15% discount on everything sold in our online store. Join our community and find out more about membership benefits here.
You can also learn more about East SOS here or donate directly to them here.
Thank you for your support. If you have any questions regarding the T-shirt, please feel free to contact us store@kyivindependent.com.
Best,
The Kyiv Independent team
Source: Kyiv Independent newsletter, 4 August 2025. I ordered one of these new t-shirts today (as a gift to myself for my upcoming birthday), and would urge you to buy one too. ||| TRR
News from Ukraine Bulletin No. 157 (3 August 2025)
In this week’s bulletin: Russia’s mistreatment and disappearance of prisoners; politically motivated persecution in the occupied territories.
News from the territories occupied by Russia:
Solidarity in grief: KVPU calls for support after deadly Russian attacks (KVPU August1st)
Melitopol journalist Iryna Levchenko abducted in 2023 ‘found’ imprisoned in Russian-occupied Donetsk (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group August 1st)
The Face of Resistance: The story of Crimean Tatar activist Ruslan Zeitullaiev (Crimea Platform August 1st)
Young Crimean couple could face life sentences for resistance to Russia’s war against Ukraine (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group July 29th)
Russia resettles ‘veterans’ and their families in occupied Ukraine, while deporting Ukrainians (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group July 28th)
Russian invaders abduct young Ukrainian, sentence her to 12.5 years for helping Ukraine (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group July 28th)
CEPA published an article on the preservation of the Crimean Tatar language (Crimea Platform July 28th)
News from Ukraine:
Ukraine uncovers major bribery scheme in electronic warfare systems procurement: MP and officials involved (Ukrainska Pravda August 2nd)
Rebel, Love, fight corruption! Statement of student union Priama Diia (European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine August 2nd)
“Aren’t you tired of feeding people garbage?” Ukrainian parliament reverses anti-corruption law after street protests (Euromaidan Press July 31st)
`Fighting for our Future’: Kyiv protesters cheer return of anti-corruption safeguards (Kyiv Post July31st)
“More and more people don’t want to speak Russian”: How Ukrainians’ attitudes toward the Russian language changed during the war (The Insider, July 28th)
Aerial Terror in Kherson – A City Under Drone Siege (Byline Times, July 28th)
How the controversial Law No. 4555-IX undermines anti-corruption and reintegration — Alena Lunova on the JustTalk Context podcast (Zmina July 25th)
War-related news from Russia:
Recruiting for units with anti-authoritarians (Solidarity Collectives August 1st)
Denys Matsola: Updates from capitivity (Solidarity Collectives August 1st)
Ukrainian political prisoner vanishes after being abducted by FSB instead of released from Russian prison (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group July 31st)
Yulia Moskovskaya, Terrorist (Russian Reader, July 29th)
Cars for Ukraine (Russian Reader, July 27th)
News from the Front:
A City Destroyed: Russia says it controls Ukraine’s Chasiv Yar after 16 months of fighting. But the battle grinds on, and only ruins remain (Meduza August 1st)
A fortress under threat: A year after reaching Pokrovsk, Russian forces appear ready to launch a full assault (Meduza July 30th)
Analysis and comment:
2000 Meters to Andriivka – the Ukrainian working class in war (Liam record, August 3rd)
Capital, Power and War: The crisis of Russia’s peripheral accumulation regime (Links August 1st)
Take back control of your gadgets: right to repair and the opportunity it presents for Ukraine (Commons.com, August 1st)
Wartime protest across Russia’s internal borders (Posle Media July 30th)
A political crisis that could weaken the war effort itself: What Zelensky’s anti-corruption U-turn means at a `precarious moment’ for Ukraine (Meduza July 30th)
Dying embers: Russia’s coal crisis triggers bankruptcies and mass layoffs (The Insider July 30th)
Ukraine between empire and revolution: Lev Yurkevych’s anti-colonial Marxism (Links July 29th)
Why the current wave of nationalization in Russia is more than just a redistribution of assets (IStories July 29th)
Ukraine’s New Cabinet: Neoliberal Reforms Threaten Wartime Solidarity (International Viewpoint, July 26th)
Research of human rights abuses:
ZMINA highlighted politically motivated persecution in the occupied territories at Helsinki+50 Conference side event (Zmina August1st)
Prisoners beaten, threatened with new sentences to force them to fight Russia’s war against Ukraine (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group August 1st)
OSCE and Participating States must act now to free its staff members from Russia’s captivity and prosecution (Zmina July 31st)
Abductions of Ukrainian Women and Girls (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group July 31st)
Silence—as a form of torture (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group July 31st)
A civil society manifesto on the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act (Zmina July 30th)
Do not legitimise the occupation: Mexican and Brazilian museums urged to refrain from collaborating with institutions in occupied territories (Crimea Human Rights Group July 30th)
Side event at the Helsinki+50 conference: “Crimea: 11 years of occupation – restoring justice, restoring OSCE commitments” (Crimea Human Rights Group July 30th)
Important Note: We will not be publishing a bulletin next week. The next bulletin, no. 158, will appear in two week’s time on 17 August 2025.
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This bulletin is put together by labour movement activists in solidarity with Ukrainian resistance. To receive it by email each Monday, email us at 2022ukrainesolidarity@gmail.com. To stop the bulletin, reply with the word “STOP” in the subject field. More information at https://ukraine-solidarity.org/. We are also on twitter, Bluesky, Facebook and Substack, and the bulletin is stored online here.
Source: Ukraine Information Group
