Team

Alexander Khrebet photo

Alexander Khrebet

Reporter

Alexander Khrebet is a reporter with the Kyiv Independent. He covers Ukraine’s foreign policy, alleged abuse of power in the country’s military leadership, and reports on the Russian-occupied territories. Alexander is the European Press Prize 2023 winner, the #AllForJan Award 2023 winner and Ukraine's 2022 National Investigative Journalism Award finalist. His was published in the Washington Times and Atlantic Council.

Articles

People stand near the mobile repair workshop in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on June 7, 2024.

These mobile repair shops save Ukrainian soldiers precious time

by Alexander Khrebet
CHERNIHIV, Ukraine – At Ukraine’s 50th Regiment's repair and restoration facility, officers, soldiers, and volunteers watched as a self-loading container truck lowered onto the ground a black shipping container with an installed repair workshop inside. The Tvii Krok (Your Step) charity, which designed this mobile repair complex, known as Workshop Locker, was handing it over to the regiment. The workshop can be used for quick repairs in the field and is capable of handling engines, gearboxes, an

Inside Ukraine’s prison recruitment efforts to bolster front-line troops

by Alexander Khrebet
ZHYTOMYR, KYIV OBLASTS — Taras Netavrovanyi, an inmate at the medium-security prison in Zhytomyr Oblast, eagerly seized the chance to break free of his two-and-a-half-year sentence. New Ukrainian legislation allowing military service for prisoners convicted of certain felonies, including manslaughter, offers a unique opportunity: parole in exchange for joining an assault unit, monthly pay, and social welfare for soldiers. But Netavrovanyi says his primary motivation for wearing a pixel-camoufl

‘We set a precedent.’ Ukraine officially presents Unmanned Systems Forces

by Alexander Khrebet
Ukraine officially presented its Unmanned Systems Forces on June 11, four months after President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree ordering the creation of a separate branch of the armed forces tasked with improving drone operations. The announcement comes a day after Defense Minister Rustem Umerov appointed Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi, the deputy chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, as the Unmanned Systems Forces commander. “Ukraine set a precedent that has not been seen since the creation of air

Fortifications put strain on already struggling farmers in Sumy Oblast

by Alexander Khrebet
Viacheslav Dydarenko, a farmer in the Myropillia community in Sumy Oblast that borders Russia typifies the hardship faced by the agricultural sector in the area. Shrapnel scars and gaping holes mark his farm buildings, and he cannot work some of his rented 4,450 acres — 70% of which is located on the Russian-Ukrainian border. He estimates he has lost “millions of hryvnias,” but says his accountants are still trying to estimate the losses from three less-than-desirable seasons. But following a