Taken Hostage by Pro-Russian ‘DNR’ Forces

More than a decade after Simon Ostrovsky documented Russian troops inside Ukraine while Moscow denied their presence, the PBS Newshour correspondent and former VICE News reporter joins Kyiv Post’s Jason Jay Smart to explain what firsthand reporting revealed in 2014 and what has changed since. Ostrovsky, who was taken captive by the so-called “DNR,” recounts how “Selfie Soldiers” traced a serving Russian soldier from Siberia to the fighting near Debaltseve, exposing the gap between Kremlin claims and what reporters could verify on the ground.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. From Ukraine’s Brave1 defense platform to the military’s rapid technological transformation, Ostrovsky describes how battlefield data now shapes weapons choices, manufacturer feedback, and government priorities. He explains why the system is far more than a points program, how soldiers feed real combat experience back into development, and why Ukraine has emerged as one of Europe’s most experienced and technologically adaptive military powers. The conversation also returns to Crimea in 2014, where ordinary people often failed to grasp what Russian annexation would mean until the consequences arrived. Ostrovsky explains why original field reporting still matters in an online environment dominated by secondhand commentary, and discusses his new independent documentary work, YouTube channel, and Substack supporting reporting from Ukraine.