Writing last Friday (March 20) WAN-Ifra’s Lucinda Jordan comments, “Today is Day 1,485 of Russia’s war against Ukraine – I know this, because the Kyiv Independent has kept my inbox updated daily.

“Now, as war rages in the Middle East, Ukrainians are pleading with the world: Don’t forget us.”

It is a plea as much to news media as it is to politicians, and one which would resonate with veteran editor and media analyst Tina Brown. In conversation with Christiane Amanpour this week, Brown articulated what she sees as journalism’s central failure in the Trump era: Donald Trump, she argued, has studied the media’s attention span with more rigour than the media has studied him – and knows that any story has a lifespan of roughly two to three weeks in the American news cycle; if a difficult topic somehow refuses to die, he simply detonates a new one.

The lack of public attention is Trump’s most reliable political ally. “We just should not be falling into that trap,” she said. “Or at least we should be exposing it for what it is.”

It is precisely this trap, the appetite for the new at the expense of the ongoing, that the team behind the Kyiv Independent is focused on. For them it is not media theory. It is existential.

Ukraine’s leading English-language newsroom – forged through four years of full-scale war, and now reaching millions of readers worldwide – exists to tell Ukraine’s story and ensure the world does not look away.

A newsroom that has grown up in wartime

“When we started the Kyiv Independent our goal was to be Ukraine’s voice in the world, and the world’s window onto Ukraine. Our team worked with this vision, and fast-forwarding to 2026, we are exactly that,” asserts editor-in-chief Olga Rudenko.

The digital outlet launched with 19 people in November 2021. Today it employs 85, “with more than a dozen positions still open,” notes chief executive Daryna Shevchenko. Most work from the Kyiv office; others are embedded abroad or dispersed across Ukraine.

Remarkably, the core founding team has remained intact. “At the same time, the broader team evolves over time, as people move on for different reasons. Some have left due to safety concerns, others because of burnout, and some simply because living and working under the constant pressure of war is not sustainable for everyone. Several people joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” adds Shevchenko.

The newsroom has responded to war by building what Shevchenko describes as structural resilience: rotating beats, shared responsibilities, backup systems, formalised mental health support, and annual team retreats.

“There is no single formula to overcoming burnout,” she says. “Everyone’s reaction is different, and everyone’s exposure to trauma varies depending on what exactly they do day-to-day. To be truly supportive, we have had to remain flexible.”

Faster drones, fewer reports: Making Ukrainian stories travel

The physical dangers of the job have escalated in step with the technology of the war itself. “Since last year, reporting from the front lines has become even more dangerous, as Russian drones grow more numerous and fly further behind Ukrainian lines with every passing month – and moreover, they specifically target journalists,” Rudenko reveals.

The consequence is a painful editorial paradox: some international outlets have withdrawn their correspondents from front-line field trips entirely, deeming them too dangerous. Audiences see fewer dispatches from the front. Many conclude the war must be winding down. “But it’s the opposite,” says Rudenko.

The outlet embarks on various initiatives to remain seen and heard: Just this week, it sent out a missive to subscribers on how to beat the algorithms by adding their URL as a preferred Google source.

The Kyiv Independent’s reach now extends well beyond Ukraine. Its War Crimes Investigations Unit documents atrocities – the torture of prisoners of war, the abduction and militarisation of Ukrainian children, the deliberate targeting of civilians – for both domestic and international audiences.

“All of our stories and investigations matter, and we work to increase exposure for all of them. Many stories are just picked up organically, as virtually any foreign outlet covering Ukraine follows our reporting,” says Rudenko.

“But it helps that our communications team shares our work with our colleagues, to make sure high-impact stories are not overlooked.

Co-operatively independent

But organic reach is not left to chance. Much like the country’s president’s diplomatic efforts, the newsroom is also actively cultivating international partnerships.

At a time when independent journalism is under severe economic and revenue stress globally, the Kyiv Independent is, notably, financially self-sustaining: Nearly 70 per cent of its revenue is reader-generated, with a 28,000-strong subscription community drawn from across the globe.

Commercial revenue – advertising, content syndication, e-commerce, publishing partnerships – accounts for much of the rest.

The Kyiv Independent has produced award-winning journalism – investigations, war-crime documentaries, videos, newsletters – and is open to working with international partners on specific projects: “When approaching a specific partner, the most effective tool for us is learning more about their audience: who they are, what they are interested in, which story would bring them the most use. It’s important to know the faces behind the stories, and our team is open to commenting on current events and giving interviews,” says Rudenko.

Her advice to journalists considering conflict reporting in their own countries is starkly pragmatic: “Try to prepare for different scenarios before the conflict starts, if you have that luxury.

“Talk things through, make sure you’re on the same page about what you will do as a newsroom when it starts. That will help – because when it starts, you probably won’t be thinking clearly at first.”

–WAN-Ifra/Lucinda Jordan, with thanks

Pictured: Olga Rudenko (left) and Daryna Shevchenko, photographed by Konstantin Chernichkin