The Kyiv Independent

On 8 November 2021 Adnan KivanAdnan KivanAdnan Kivan (1962–2024) was a Syrian-born Ukrainian businessman and the founder of the Odesa real estate developer Kadorr Group; in March 2018 he bought the English-language outlet Kyiv Post from Mohammad Zahoor, becoming its third owner, and held it until his death in October 2024.Open the full entry, the real-estate developer who owned the Kyiv Post, dismissed its entire editorial staff of about 30 after a dispute over editorial interference. The dismissed journalists partnered with Jnomics, an international media consultancy with Ukrainian roots, to build a reader-funded independent outlet, The Kyiv Independent, whose launch they announced on 11 November 2021.⁠[1][2][3]

On 22 November the team launched The Kyiv Independent with a Patreon membership page, later adding a website, a podcast and a newsletter. Olga Rudenko, a former deputy chief editor of the Kyiv Post, became editor-in-chief and Daryna Shevchenko chief executive officer. In its first weeks it had 678 Patreon members pledging more than $6,500 a month and about £11,000 raised on GoFundMe; the team expected to rely heavily on grants from international donors and partners in its first year and set a three-year plan toward financial sustainability.⁠[1]

At its founding the outlet was owned collectively by its staff; the team said future investors could hold shares but none would hold more than the newsroom. Rudenko said at the time: “There’s no other team in Ukraine that could do an English-language media outlet.”⁠[1]

About three months after its founding, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and The Kyiv Independent shifted its coverage to the war. Its monthly readership grew from 13,000 in January 2022 to close to 3 million in 2025.⁠[2][3]

In March 2023 The Kyiv Independent formed a War Crimes Investigations Unit, which has produced a series of documentaries on alleged Russian atrocities, including the deportation of children and the torture of prisoners of war. The outlet has also published more than 50 investigations, among them a probe into alleged misconduct in Ukraine’s International Legion.⁠[3]

At its second anniversary on 11 November 2023, The Kyiv Independent had about 10,000 members in addition to one-time donors, had won more than a dozen journalism awards and launched a campaign for 500 new members.⁠[2]

The Kyiv Independent states that it has no single owner and no external source of financing, and that it “will always be at least partly owned by its journalists.” In 2025, 70% of its revenue came from membership and donations, with most readers giving about $5 a month; it has more than 35,000 members, and more than 50,000 people have supported it financially since its launch. Other revenue comes from advertising, syndication, book publishing and other commercial activities, and some projects receive grants from donor organisations. Its journalism is free to read with no paywall, and the company is registered in Ukraine and the UK.⁠[3]

The team has grown from 18 to more than 90 people, most of them based in Kyiv and some working remotely from North America and Europe. As of 2026 Olga Rudenko is editor-in-chief, Daryna Shevchenko chief executive officer, Zakhar Protsiuk chief operating officer, and Toma Istomina and Oleksiy Sorokin deputy chief editors.⁠[3][4]

The outlet has published more than 40,000 stories and more than 150 field reports, and its seven newsletters have over 230,000 subscribers; in 2025 its YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel passed 100 million views and 430,000 subscribers. It has won more than 25 journalism awards and one audience-growth award, including the Georgiy Gongadze Prize and the Politiken Freedom Prize in 2026; editor-in-chief Olga Rudenko received the CEPA Freedom Fighter Award in 2025.⁠[3]

The Kyiv Independent: Official website: https://kyivindependent.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

X: Public account: https://x.com/KyivIndependent (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kyivindependent/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

YouTube: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGAC5yzlYgjKoJABDZ7zEyw (opens in a new window).⁠[5]