On Friday, Aug. 18, Kyiv Post hosted a very special event in its office – a pre-32nd anniversary of Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence celebration with a difference. It brought together a rich mixture of our distinguished authors, friends, readers, contributors, and partners.
The guests ranged from representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and former political prisoners, who had sacrificed their freedom in the cause of Ukraine’s liberty in the Soviet era, to representatives of the diplomatic and business communities.
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With Russia’s barbaric war on Ukraine still raging after more than 540 days, we wanted not only to say thank you to Ukraine’s defenders of today but to express our appreciation and support to them through a symbolic practical gesture – gifts of equipment to be used in the battle for our freedom.
Chief editor of Kyiv Post Bohdan Nahaylo told the guests that their presence and support is a recognition of the important role of the free press and our efforts to remain the credible and valued global voice of Ukraine, and of our solidarity in these challenging times.
Ukraine has experienced 32 years of freedom, he emphasized, during which for 9 of them the country has been forced by its ruthless, imperialist Russian neighbor to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and European democratic values.
Recognizing the continuity in this long struggle, Kyiv Post had invited not only representatives of today's armed forces but also some of the remaining courageous former political prisoners and activists from the repressive Soviet era: Mustafa Dhzemilev, legendary leader of the Crimean Tatars, Oles Shevchenko, a journalist, former political prisoner and lawmaker who voted for independence; and Leonid Milyavsky and Larysa Lokhvytska, also former political prisoners and civic activists.
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The Chief Editor reminded the guests that Kyiv Post is now also approaching its own 28th birthday. In its current recently revamped form, under the benevolent patronage of its owner Adnan Kivan and his son Ruslan, it is really moving forward on all fronts.
In 2021, Kyiv Post had 5000-6000 unique visitors per day and around 1 million per year.
“I am pleased to tell you,” Nahaylo revealed, “that we now have over two and a quarter million readers of our site each month, and that the number is growing rapidly. We also have the highest rating for reliability of any English-language publication in Ukraine, according to NewsGuard.
"Moreover, we now have Ukrainian language and Arabic language sites, and we've successfully expanded our social media and video.”
After the Chief Editor’s opening remarks, Kyiv Post’s CEO, Luc Chenier, made a surprise announcement: “Kyiv Post has decided to donate one full month of net advertising revenue to our brave defenders. We feel this is a small number considering the huge sacrifices our defenders are dealing with on a daily basis and which too many of whom have lost their lives defending us and our democracy. I challenge all other leading media to donate one month of their revenues as well so that collectively we may have another year of freedom and move closer to total victory.”
The CEO revealed that Kyiv Post had bought for the military an anti-drone gun with 2 batteries (total time of 1 hour) and a Mavic Pro 2 drone with 4 batteries.
He proceeded to hand these over to the representatives of the Armed Forces along with a StarLink Satellite system.
Chenier also announced that Kyiv Post is donating Hr.100,000 UAH to the Goncharenko Center in Kyiv.
And there was a special message from Kyiv Post’s owner, Adnan Kivan of the Kadorr Group: “I have always been and will always be a staunch supporter of Ukraine’s democratic aspirations, rights, and prospects. It is with great honor that I pledge my continued support to our brave defenders and am honored that Kyiv Post could help contribute to their continued bravery in defending all of us and democracy.”
The event was rounded off with a beautiful performance by the celebrated bandurist and singer Maryna Krut.
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