Veronika Melkozerova

Editor, NV English

Veronika is a journalist based in Kyiv. She contributed to multiple international publications, including NBC News, Politico, Vice, OCCRP, US News & World Report. She worked at Kyiv Post from June 2015-December 2018. In 2021, Veronika won the top Ukrainian journalism contest Chest profesii, getting a crystal stela in the nomination for best breaking news reporting. Member of NV.UA team till December 2022.


Preventing hunger /
Inspection of the first ship with Ukrainian grain starts in Turkey

The Razoni has become the first cargo ship with Ukrainian grain to be inspected in a Turkish port since Ukraine, Turkey, the UN and Russia signed the Istanbul Agreements on unblocking Ukrainian ports, the Turkish Ministry of Defense reported on Twitter on Aug 3.
3 August 2022, 05:21 PM 1082
Nation

Enemy losses /
41,350 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine, reports General Staff

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has lost about 41,350 of its troops, Ukraine’s General Staff said in one of its daily reports on Facebook on Aug 3.
3 August 2022, 04:17 PM 3480
Nation

In for the long haul /
Ukrainian army foreign volunteers can now serve for up to 10 years

Foreign nationals serving in Ukraine’s Armed Forces can now opt for 10-year contracts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decreed on Aug. 1.
2 August 2022, 07:09 PM 3164
Nation

Atrocity /
Russians fire anti-tank weapon at civilian bus near Kherson, killing three

At least three people were killed and five wounded when invading Russian forces in Kherson Oblast fired an anti-tank missile at a bus carrying civilians away from the active warzone, Ukraine’s Operational Command South said in a Facebook post on Aug. 2.
2 August 2022, 06:16 PM 1494
Nation

‘That saved us a missile’ /
Russia accidentally blows up its own supply train, Ukrainian intelligence says

When attempting to create a protective smokescreen around one of its supply trains in Kherson Oblast, Russian forces accidentally set it on fire, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence said in a Telegram post on Aug. 2.
2 August 2022, 05:40 PM 14899
Nation

December deadline /
Ukraine seeks to end war by winter, says top official

The coming months of the war are going to be decisive, as Ukraine pushes to put an end to the Russian invasion by winter, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said in an interview with the Japanese public broadcaster NHK on Aug. 2.
2 August 2022, 05:18 PM 3502
Nation

Look who’s talking /
Russia designates Azov a ‘terrorist organization’

Responding to a request from the Russian Prosecutor-General, Russia’s Supreme Court has officially designated Ukraine’s Azov Regiment as a “terrorist organization,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on Aug. 2.
2 August 2022, 05:13 PM 1106
Nation

The paradox of the Western leftists

Privileged Western anti-imperialists support the imperial brutal invasion of Ukraine.
2 August 2022, 10:53 AM 1517
Opinion

Forging ties /
Ukraine’s central bank says country could join EU’s SEPA payment area

The National Bank of Ukraine has said it is now actively working to link Ukraine to the single euro payment area or SEPA, a cross-border cashless payments systems designed to be as simple as domestic systems.
2 August 2022, 10:33 AM 687
Business

Low morale /
Russians desert posts in occupied Kherson Oblast amid Ukrainian advance, regional governor says

Russian service members visit the homes of local residents in Kherson Oblast and swap military uniforms for plain clothes to avoid fighting, reported acting regional governor Dmytro Butriy on Telegram on Aug. 1.
1 August 2022, 08:04 PM 15917
Nation

Mosaic of war. Here’s how to better understand the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russia’s brutal invasion enters its sixth month. In more than 150 days of the war, I’ve experienced all the stages of grief: denial, acceptance, and a mental breakdown. 
1 August 2022, 04:17 PM 2750
Opinion

Not a step back /
Losing Kherson is absolutely unacceptable to Russia, says Ukraine military spokesperson

Frustrated by gradual Ukrainian advances in the south, Russia views losing Kherson as tantamount to the fall of Moscow, the Ukrainian military’s Operational Command South spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said in an interview with Ukrainian TV channel Espresso on July 31.
1 August 2022, 03:24 PM 5757
Nation

Naval aid /
UK to transfer several ships to Ukraine

The UK has agreed to transfer several of its mine hunter ships to Ukraine, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vadym Prystaiko, said in an interview with public broadcaster Suspilne on July 31.
1 August 2022, 03:19 PM 1983
Nation

Suspicious timing /
Explosion at ammo dump in Bulgaria, owner provided weapons to Ukraine

An explosion occurred at an ammunition depot belonging to Bulgarian defense company EMKO near the Bulgarian city of Karnobat around 4 a.m. on July 31, Bulgarian National Radio reported on Aug. 1.
1 August 2022, 02:44 PM 9475
Nation

Liberation of Kherson /
Ukrainian troops destroy Russian strongholds and an echelon of military equipment on southern front, says OC

The Armed Forces of Ukraine struck a Russian echelon with military equipment, ammunition and manpower in the area of ​​the Brylivka railway station in Kherson Oblast on July 31, resulting in 51 casualties among the invading troops, reported the Ukrainian Military’s Operational Command “South” on Facebook.
1 August 2022, 02:08 PM 2213
Nation

Kazakhstan defies Putin

This newsletter is about an obscure country to most people, but represents a significant geopolitical development in the War against Russia that the mainstream media has missed. 
1 August 2022, 02:47 AM 3978
Opinion

The state of the Russo-Ukrainian war. TELLMES tell us that Russia is losing

In the last two posts, I have tried to explain what this war is and is not about.  It is not about Nazis, nukes, and NATO; it is about self-rule and survival.  Now I turn to the question of what is happening on the battlefield. 
31 July 2022, 11:30 PM 3472
Opinion

Best served cold /
Azov addresses Putin: “Every Ukrainian will avenge Olenivka”

The Azov Regiment considers the attack on a penal colony in Olenivka, which killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war, to be an act of public execution by the Russia authorities, Major Mykyta Nadtochiy, acting commander of Azov, said in a video address on July 31.
31 July 2022, 04:44 PM 3342
Nation

Phantom menace /
Ukraine denies attacking Russian navy HQ in occupied Crimea

Ukraine denies sending a drone to attack Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in occupied Crimea, the Ukrainian Navy said in a Facebook post on July 31.
31 July 2022, 04:03 PM 1703
Nation

Propagandists only /
Russia bars Red Cross from Olenivka

Russia has denied the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to the penal facility in occupied Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, where at least 40 Ukrainian POWs were recently killed in a suspected Russian attack, the ICRC said in a Twitter post On July 31.
31 July 2022, 03:53 PM 1591
Nation