War in Ukraine

Born amid the street clashes on Kyiv’s Independence Square in 2013, the Ukrainian documentary collective Babylon 13 has spent more than a decade filming the country’s resistance—from the Revolution of Dignity to Russia’s full-scale invasion. What began as rapid, anonymous shorts shot on the barricades has evolved into one of Ukraine’s most extensive cinematic archives.

Self-reliance has become the defining narrative for Ukraine’s sprouting defense industry. Foreign military aid played a key role in Ukraine’s early successes, but years of dependence on this aid exposed huge gaps in that framework, especially when coupled with stagnation in political will and slow bureaucratic processes.

Putin has claimed major battlefield victories in Ukraine, but 2025 figures tell a different story. Ukraine ultimately held Pokrovsk or Chasiv Yar, blocked Russia from Kostiantynivka, and almost cleared Kupiansk—destroying over 1,000 Russian troops. These realities matter as partners consider any future negotiations or shifts in support for Ukraine.

With drone swarms and real-time satellite feeds, how do you hide an army? How do you cross a border that the enemy spent months fortifying? Ukraine found out in August 2024, when its forces entered Russia’s Kursk region and launched its offensive. This is how it happened.

The term “Human Safari” sounds like a premise from a dystopian fictional novel, but for those living along the Dnipro River, it isn’t the case. It’s the name Ukrainian locals and journalists have given to Russia’s campaign of drone terror, where FPV drones are deployed not for military objectives but to hunt down civilians.

You may already know the long journey coffee takes from distant farms to expert roasters to your morning mug. Now add Russian airstrikes to that process. Across Ukraine, even under fire, people still brew. This is how they keep the ritual alive.