Romeo Kokriatski

Managing Editor, NV English

Romeo is a Ukrainian-born New York native that returned to the homeland after the Euromaidan, and has had a career in journalism spanning Ukrainian independent media, including Hromadske and Zaborona.

Co-host and founder of independent podcast Ukraine Without Hype. Inveterate political junky.

Romeo is a fan of video and tabletop games, and is chronically online at @VagrantJourno.


Space junk /
Kyiv municipal authorities explain bright flash over Kyiv as “NASA satellite crash”

Kyiv’s air raid sirens normally sound when Russian ballistic missiles are incoming, or fighter jets, or Iranian-made suicide Shahed drones — not NASA space junk.
20 April, 12:51 AM 1469
Nation

Atomic threat /
Russian missiles struck nine power plants, affecting nuclear energy generation

A Russian mass missile strike on Dec. 16 damaged about nine power plants in Ukraine, and limited the output of the country’s nuclear energy facilities, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko as saying.
16 December 2022, 03:27 PM 899
Nation

Behind enemy lines /
Huge explosion rocks occupied Irmino in Luhansk Oblast

A powerful explosion rocked the occupied town of Irmino in Luhansk Oblast late on Dec. 15, according to footage post on social networks.
16 December 2022, 02:52 PM 1811
Nation

Massive attack /
Multiple Ukrainian oblasts cut off from power following missile strike

A number of Ukrainian oblasts have been left without power following a mass missile strike on Dec. 16, according to reports from authorities in Kharkiv, Poltava, and Mykolaiv.
16 December 2022, 02:47 PM 766
Nation

Hitting them hard /
Ukrainian aviation and artillery conducted successful strikes on Russian positions, reports General Staff

Ukrainian aviation and artillery conducted a number of effective strikes on Russian positions over the past day, Ukraine’s General Staff said in their morning update on Dec. 16 on Facebook.
16 December 2022, 02:39 PM 5273
Nation

Attacking civilians /
Russia strikes a residential building in Kryvyi Rih, killing two

Two people were killed and five injured in the aftermath of a Russian missile strike in the city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on Dec. 16, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Valentyn Reznichenko reported on Telegram.
16 December 2022, 01:42 PM 608
Nation

War in Ukraine /
Russians on offensive in Donbas, says General Staff

Ukrainian forces repelled several Russian attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts over the last day, according to the Ukrainian General Staff’s morning update on Dec. 16 on Facebook.
16 December 2022, 01:37 PM 2543
Nation

Freezing us out /
Russia attacks energy infrastructure in Zhytomyr Oblast

Russian forces conducted a missile strike on an energy infrastructure facility in the town of Korosten in Zhytomyr Oblast, Korosten mayor Volodymyr Moskalenko reported on Telegram in the morning of Dec. 16.
16 December 2022, 01:20 PM 374
Nation

Protecting the skies /
Ukraine’s air defense systems increase efficiency to 80%, says defense minister

Ukraine’s air defense systems have increased their interception efficiency from 50% at the beginning of the war to 80% in December, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in an interview with the UK’s Guardian newspaper on Dec. 15.
16 December 2022, 01:15 PM 624
Nation

Crime against humanity /
Ukrainian children forcibly abducted and brainwashed by Russia, Ukrainian government reports

Russia abducted 40 children from occupied Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, and has attempted to teach them that “Ukraine started the war”, the National Resistance Center reported on Dec. 15.
16 December 2022, 01:12 PM 544
Nation

Overly optimistic expectations /
Putin signs budget with 30% for defense, UK intelligence reports

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has signed off on Russia’s 2023 state budget, with over RUB 9 trillion ($143 billion) allocated across defense, security, and law enforcement, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense tweeted on Dec. 11.
11 December 2022, 06:06 PM 1162
Nation

Massive endeavor /
Third of Ukraine’s territory needs demining, Ministry of Internal Affairs says

About 30% of the territory of Ukraine needs demining, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced on its website on Dec. 10.
11 December 2022, 06:00 PM 728
Nation

Helping hand /
Norway to provide NOK 1 billion to repair damaged Ukrainian infrastructure

The Norwegian government and the World Bank have signed an agreement to provide Ukraine with NOK 1 billion (about $100 million) for restoration of its energy system, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in a press release on Dec. 9.
11 December 2022, 05:50 PM 529
Nation

Russia is ready: What Putin has planned for Belarus, Lukashenko and the north of Ukraine

Lukashenko wants to jump out of this story
7 December 2022, 02:53 PM 3491
Opinion

The Church of Gundyayev and Putin: What awaits the Russian Orthodox Church

For many Ukrainians, the finalization with the ban on the activities of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate is good news. But this situation is much deeper and more interesting.
7 December 2022, 02:31 PM 892
Opinion

Our toughest challenge

There is no country on Earth where there is currently a war on that has shown the same level of self-reflection as Ukrainians have. We have proven ourselves to be extremely conscious and thoughtful.
7 December 2022, 02:13 PM 459
Opinion

Stories of revolution /
‘How the Maidan Negotiated’ tells the story of civil society defeating authoritarianism

KYIV, Ukraine—Ukrainians have always wanted to live in a free country where nobody would take their right to freedom of choice. Numerous attempts to kill the national identity have been made by invaders, but they have only strengthened and united Ukrainians in their fight for freedom and democratic values.
21 November 2022, 04:37 PM 1142
Life

Long-ranged terror /
Internet traffic dropped to 67% due to emergency blackouts on Nov. 15

Internet traffic in Ukraine dropped to 67% of its usual levels, due to emergency blackouts in Ukraine on Nov. 15, the UK-based internet monitoring firm NetBlocks said on Twitter.
16 November 2022, 12:37 PM 1005
Nation

Spilling out /
Fallen missile in Poland may have been Ukrainian air defense munition, U.S. officials say

A Ukrainian air defense missile may have caused the death of two Polish citizens in the Polish border region with Ukraine, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 16, citing three anonymous U.S. officials.
16 November 2022, 12:22 PM 633
Nation

Protecting our skies /
77 missiles downed by Ukraine during Russian mass strike, reports General Staff

Russia carried out another mass missile and drone strike on Ukraine’s military and civilian infrastructure on Nov. 15. Ukraine's General Staff reported damaged residential buildings and crucial infrastructure facilities in Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Poltava, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi and other oblasts.
16 November 2022, 11:46 AM 1029
Nation
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