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Alisa Yurchenko

Investigative Reporter

Alisa has been working as an investigative journalist and editor in Ukraine for over 10 years. She joined the Kyiv Independent in 2024. Before that Alisa worked at the anti-corruption investigative project Bihus.Info as editor, journalist and presenter. She is the winner of a number of Ukrainian investigative journalism prizes. Additionally, Alisa works as a media trainer. She created several courses, helping journalists and civil activists to find information using open-source intelligence.

[email protected]

Articles

Meet the people, companies behind the trade in looted Ukrainian minerals.
Investigations

Investigation: The hidden journey of Ukrainian coal stolen by Russia — and who profits from it

by Alisa Yurchenko
On March 29, the sanctioned Russia-flagged vessel Sv. Nikolay quietly docked at the Algerian port of Annaba near the coal terminal, waiting to be unloaded. The metallurgical coke the ship was carrying — a key ingredient in steelmaking produced from coal — had been stolen. The Kyiv Independent traced the vessel’s covert journey to this point — and found strong evidence that the vessel departed from the occupied Ukrainian port of Mariupol. While in Mariupol, it kept its transponder off to disgui
Investigations

Investigation: We tried to buy American chips as a Russian defense manufacturer — and it worked

by Alisa Yurchenko
Despite bans put in place by the U.S. and Europe on the supply of electronic components to Russia, dozens of Russian microelectronics suppliers continue to obtain and resell imported chips to Russian arms manufacturers successfully. Without these Western chips, Russia would not be able to produce key weapons — like missiles, drones, and self-propelled howitzers. To prove that this line of supply continues to operate three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Kyiv Independent tried orde
A collage features the Pantsir, an invoice from Rosoboronexport, and portraits of Vladimir Putin and Mohammed Bin Salman.
Investigations

Investigation: Russia profits from arms exports to Saudi Arabia despite sanctions, leaks reveal

by Alisa Yurchenko
Few agreements are shrouded in more secrecy than inter-government arms deals — especially when one of the parties is a global pariah leading a bloody war. But a recent massive leak of emails and documents has given us an unprecedented glimpse into a particularly secretive transaction. The leak reveals that Saudi Arabia agreed to pay Russia over 2 billion euros under a contract signed in 2021 involving companies that were repeatedly sanctioned, both before and after Russia’s full-scale invasion
Ukraine

Investigation: Who helped Russians increase production of domestic attack drones despite sanctions

by Alisa Yurchenko
An American-made HIMARS artillery system races down a Ukrainian road as a kamikaze drone hunts it down. The drone flies into the vehicle, followed by an explosion. The scene was caught on video by a Russian reconnaissance drone in mid-November. The drone that hit the HIMARS was a Lancet — one of Russia’s most used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Russia has used thousands of them against Ukraine. The weapons are produced by Zala Aero Group, a privately-owned group of Russian companies, with the
Investigations

Investigation: Shattering the secrecy of Putin’s top spy chief

by Alisa Yurchenko
Key findings: * International sanctions lists contain mistakes in key identifying data of Sergey Korolev, deputy head of Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). * The European Union and Swiss sanctions list the incorrect date of birth of Korolev. Almost all other sanctions lists don’t include the most likely spelling of his name or surname. * The appearance of Korolev has been a secret. For years, the media and even some official sources have used a photo of a different Russian man to repres

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