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Illia Ponomarenko

Former Defense reporter

Illia Ponomarenko was a defense and security reporter at the Kyiv Independent in 2021-2023. He has reported about the war in eastern Ukraine since the conflict’s earliest days. He covers national security issues, as well as military technologies, production, and defense reforms in Ukraine. Besides, he gets deployed to the war zone of Donbas with Ukrainian combat formations. He has also had deployments to Palestine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an embedded reporter with UN peacekeeping forces. Illia won the Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellowship and was selected to work as USA Today's guest reporter at the U.S. Department of Defense.

Articles

Opinion

Illia Ponomarenko: The story of wartime Kyiv

by Illia Ponomarenko
You can pre-order Illia Ponomarenko's book, "I Will Show You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv," on Bloomsbury or Amazon. See the end of the article for more information on the book's release. The Battle of Kyiv, one of the critical events of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ended with a very unscripted Ukrainian victory just over two years ago. It feels like it's been a millennium since those days of February and March 2022. We in Ukraine have had our drastic ups and downs in this
War analysis

What will it take for Ukraine to maintain and operate the M1 Abrams?

by Illia Ponomarenko
The Ukrainian military has passed another milestone by starting to master the M1 Abrams, the top-notch main battle tank to be provided by the U.S. According to the Pentagon, some 400 Ukrainians are training for the job at U.S. Army bases in Germany. After many months of deliberations about Ukraine's ability to operate the American tanks, Ukraine will get its first-ever Abrams crews and maintenance specialists within the next 10 to 12 weeks. The M1 Abrams is expected to hit the Ukrainian battle
Opinion

Illia Ponomarenko: Why some Ukrainian soldiers use Nazi-related insignia

by Illia Ponomarenko
You're closely following the living history of a nation bravely resisting an imperialistic war of aggression that has inspired the world when, all of a sudden, you come across a picture of a Ukrainian soldier wearing a Totenkopf "skull and crossbones" patch or giving the Nazi salute. Rightfully so, the use of Nazi or neo-Nazi-related symbols by Ukrainian combatants is shocking and almost always causes controversy. These symbols, reminders of some of history's worst crimes against humanity and
War analysis

Russia’s Kinzhal missile is not hypersonic. Nor is it invincible

by Illia Ponomarenko
When the Kremlin says something, it should always be taken with a grain of salt.   When it says something about its military prowess, one should take the claim with an entire salt mine. For years, Russia’s Kinzhal missile was portrayed by the Kremlin’s propaganda machine as an invincible, cutting-edge hypersonic weapon, symbolizing Russia’s supremacy in advanced military tech. The realities of the battlefield, however, have shown the true capabilities of the missile, also known as Kh-47M2. T
War

Patriot air defense faces its toughest challenge ever in Ukraine

by Illia Ponomarenko
The wait is over — after almost a year of refusals and hesitation, Western-provided MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems have finally arrived and become operational in Ukraine. On April 21 and 26, Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed the full employment of two Patriot batteries. As Ukraine’s own Soviet-era air defense capabilities are reportedly dwindling, Patriots are expected to take up the fight against not only Russian aircraft and cruise missiles but also ballistic systems Ukraine had nothing to
Nuclear weapons

Russia tries to conceal its dwindling nuclear stockpile

by Illia Ponomarenko
The main rule of Russia's power diplomacy says: If something goes wrong with their war effort in Ukraine, reach for the nuclear intimidation card. That’s what the Kremlin did two months ago, when Vladimir Putin announced Russia would "suspend" its participation in the New START, the only remaining U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control agreement between the United States and Russia. The announcement once again allowed the Kremlin to promote the notion that the West’s support of Ukraine is pushing t
War analysis

Russia’s new guided bombs pose increasingly serious threat to Ukraine

by Illia Ponomarenko
Still unable to achieve air supremacy, Russia is nevertheless finding ways to threaten Ukraine from the sky. Early this year, Russia introduced guided bombs — essentially, the regular gravity bombs modified to be dropped by multirole fighter-bombers from safe distances and deal precise and very damaging strikes in front-line areas and beyond. Along with the specifically designed sophisticated smart munitions, Russia has been using the modified version of simple 500-kilogram air bombs that it h
War

Ukraine’s state defense conglomerate UkrOboronProm transformed into stock company

by Illia Ponomarenko
The long-running drama over the reform of UkrOboronProm, Ukraine’s problematic state-owned defense production giant, is seeing a new round amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of the country. On March 21, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers issued a decree initiating the conglomerate’s transformation into a stock company titled the Ukrainian Defense Industry. The government is the sole owner of the company’s shares.   According to the decree, the new structure will facilitate the introduction
Ukraine

One year later: How Russia came to fail in Ukraine, battle after battle

by Illia Ponomarenko
Feb. 24, 2022, was supposed to bring the existence of a 40-million European nation to an end. Long before the dawn of light, Ukrainian cities were set alight in blazes of burning airfields and the scattering of artillery impacts. Endless armored convoys broke into highways, and helicopters roared over the woods of north Ukraine. Every hour, more towns and cities across the country were being captured by advancing Russian armies. CNN was showing Russian paratroopers, their elbows marked with w
Ukraine

With the loss of Soledar, Ukrainian positions in Bakhmut jeopardized

by Illia Ponomarenko
The dramatic fight for Soledar, part of the Battle of Bakhmut, is over — although Ukraine's leadership is still reluctant to acknowledge the loss. As a result of a localized offensive operation in January, Russian forces managed to gnaw through Ukrainian defenses and, after fierce urban fighting, seize what's left of the industrial town of 10,000. Although fighting in the area continues, The Kyiv Independent sources, as well as international monitors, all fully agree Ukraine doesn’t control th
Ukraine

As Battle of Bakhmut nears culmination, Ukraine’s artillery gasps for more ammo

by Illia Ponomarenko
BAKHMUT, Donetsk Oblast — It’s the last days of December and the heat of the holiday season. But an artillery battalion with Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Infantry just couldn’t care less. For them, it’s like Groundhog Day – just another day of war that keeps repeating over and over. From their place in an abandoned village in Donetsk Oblast, they support Ukrainian infantry repelling Russian frontal attacks in Bakhmut. The site of the most grueling battle of Russia’s war in Ukraine so far, Bakhmut
Ukraine

Ukraine enters 2023 with frail upper hand over Russia

by Illia Ponomarenko
In December 2021, most forecasts voiced in the media did not give Ukraine much of a chance in case of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ten months after it started on Feb. 24, 2022, experts and media discuss where Ukraine will strike next, and what else Russia can do to save itself from a humiliating ultimate defeat in this war. In the year 2022, two large militaries clashed in the biggest battle since World War II, involving a mix of modern warfare and brutal trench slaughter. Despite all odds,
Ukraine

Israel ambassador: ‘Anti-Israel voting in UN jeopardizes support for Ukraine’

by Illia Ponomarenko
Over the last few weeks, the question of Israeli support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia has returned to the spotlight. After many months of ambiguity and silence, rumors circulating in the media suggest that Israel, amid Russia's ravaging brutality and its new alliance with Iran, secretly initiated the first steps to provide Kyiv with defense technologies. Despite multiple reports about ongoing Ukraine-Israel military consultations and even the sale of important hardware via mediators
Ukraine

How Russia's humiliating defeat in Kherson came to be

by Illia Ponomarenko
The Russian defeat in Kherson Oblast was almost inevitable — but it happened sooner than many expected. The Nov. 9 announcement on Russia’s “uneasy decision” to leave Kherson, voiced by General Sergei Surovikin, has drawn the line under a months-long Ukrainian effort to undermine the Russian presence on Dnipro’s west bank. Ukraine’s military accomplished its most important mission before the coming of wintertime and forced Russia out of the only regional center it managed to seize after Feb. 2

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