Photos from the frontlines: Sergi Mykhalchuk gathers haunting visual evidence in aftermath of occupation
As Russian forces have been dislodged from their occupation of towns around the Kyiv region, journalists have finally been able to document the aftermath. The scope of viciousness by Putin’s military has been revealed in a continuous wave of images showing the...
An advocate for Irpin: How Boris Nayflish searched for his Ukrainian roots and found a Sister City
Milwaukee was founded as a city of immigrants, with traditions embedded into the culture and passed down for generations. The population grew in 19th century, as industrious people from predominately European nations sought better economic opportunities. But by the...
Cavalier Johnson: A photographic retrospective from before becoming Milwaukee’s first elected Black Mayor
It would be overly dramatic and an inaccurate stretch to say that I always knew Cavalier Johnson would become Mayor of Milwaukee. But from the beginning I had the feeling that he was going somewhere special in his political career. In my early career as a...
When Wisconsin parents yell fire after ensuring their unsupervised children have matches and gasoline
For any casual observer of Milwaukee’s 2022 election season, the biggest topic of debate between candidates for Mayor has been the issue of crime, and by extension handguns. The subject has been a dog whistle used by White people for targeting the Black...
Maks Levin: Missing Ukrainian photojournalist known for documenting Russian war crimes found dead
In the early days of the Russian invasion, the photo of a family carrying their German Shepherd while fleeing across a destroyed bridge in Milwaukee’s sister city of Irpin went viral. It showed the world the humanitarian crisis unfolding from Putin’s...
Scenes from the frontlines: Sergi Mykhalchuk details the wreckage of Irpin in the wake of its liberation
Since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Milwaukee’s sister city Irpin has been a strategic roadblock thwarting the Russian advance to capture the capital of Kyiv. After weeks of bloody fighting to dislodge the enemy from its foothold in the area, Ukrainian...
Irpin Liberated: Ukrainian forces drive Russians out of Milwaukee’s besieged Sister City and retake control
The mayor of Irpin, Milwaukee’s sister city, said on March 28 that the area had been “liberated” from Russian troops. After weeks of fierce fighting, Ukraine declared that its forces had retaken the strategic town in the northwestern suburb of Kyiv, as...
The Rape of Irpin: Survivors of the Russian siege share disturbing accounts of escaping the inhuman cruelty
The Instagram page War. Stories from Ukraine has been collecting stories of Ukrainian people who detail how they live during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. Milwaukee’s sister city Irpin faced the brunt of Russia’s fierce invasion, because its location...
From Litigation to COVID-19 Mitigation: Milwaukee County Courts after two years of the pandemic
Two years ago on March 22, 2020, COVID-19 closed access to public buildings, but not to the courts within them. When the Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered the suspension of nearly all in-person hearings, the Milwaukee County Circuit Court already had geared up for the...
Irpin Billboard: Ukrainian Creatives use Milwaukee advertising space to inspire global info campaign
Documenting the destruction of Milwaukee’s sister city of Irpin, Ukraine, a new billboard has gone up along I-94 near 84th Street with a simple plea to local residents: “Milwaukee, your sister city is waiting for your support.” But the story of the billboard’s...
Images from the frontlines: Sergi Mykhalchuk photographs the people of Kyiv living daily with war
Kyiv-based photojournalist and cinematographer Sergi Mykhalchuk, has been on the ground and capturing images of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine since February 24. Milwaukee Independent previously published his evacuation images from Irpin, Milwaukee’s sister...
Irpin under siege: Alderman Rainey asks public to help Milwaukee’s sister city as it faces humanitarian crisis
Milwaukee’s sister city in Ukraine has been under siege for weeks by invading Russian forces, and agencies have been enlisted to facilitate aid to those affected by the crisis. As chair of Milwaukee’s Sister Cities Committee, Alderman Khalif J. Rainey said that the...
