In 2021, when Olga Rudenko and other journalists launched the Kyiv Independent, they were committed to making a publication that wouldn't face political pressure from an owner. A few months later, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the Independent began reporting breaking news from the front lines.
The president sounded as though his tongue was made of pig iron. And it was completely unclear whether he was escalating the war, declaring victory in the war, or building a new ballroom atop a peak in the Alborz Mountains.