RETURN TO UKRAINE: This editorial collection recorded news from locations across Ukraine, including Milwaukee’s sister city of Irpin, from June to July of 2023. The purpose of this journalism project was to document a humanitarian aid mission from Milwaukee and compare conditions after a year of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion.

Milwaukee Independent has reported on Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine since it began on February 24, 2022. In May of 2022, Milwaukee Independent was the first news organization from Wisconsin to report from Milwaukee’s Sister City of Irpin after its liberation. That work has since been recognized with several awards for journalistic excellence. Between late June and early July of 2023, Milwaukee Independent staff returned to Ukraine for a second assignment to report on war after almost a year. The editorial team was embedded with a Milwaukee-based nonprofit, Friends of Be an Angel, on a humanitarian aid mission across Ukraine. For several weeks, Milwaukee Independent documented the delivery of medical supplies to military and civilian hospitals, and was a witness to historic events of the war as they unfolded.

• Links to complete news coverage of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine: mkeind.com/ukraine
• Reports from Ukraine – Series of news reports from May 2022 in Ukraine: mkeind.com/reportsfromukraine
• Return to Ukraine – Series of news reports from June-July 2023 in Ukraine: mkeind.com/returntoukraine
• Selected features that focus on news from Milwaukee’s Sister City of Irpin: mkeind.com/irpin

Return to Ukraine: A trauma loop of travel from Milwaukee to a country still at war a year later

From Weddings to War: How Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov photograph Ukraine’s daily horrors

Being Friends of Angels: The Milwaukee nonprofit saving lives and offering hope in Ukraine

Mayors of Milwaukee and Irpin expand Sister City cooperation after visit by nonprofit delegation

Interview with Tom Barrett: U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg reflects on forging ties with Irpin

Wisconsin Ukrainians host annual fundraising picnic to support homeland on 500th day of war

Advanced Wireless to donate 840 access points to rebuild Irpin’s citywide Wi-Fi network

Children of Irpin begin planning mural for Mitchell Airport to showcase Sister City friendship

Irpin is not forgotten: Residents thank Milwaukee Independent for reporting on their “Hero City”

Milwaukee photojournalist on assignment in Kyiv during July 2 Russian drone strike targeting civilians

Russian cruise missile attack kills residents far from front lines in Western Ukraine city of Lviv

Ukraine arrests man accused of directing Russian ballistic missile strike on Kramatorsk pizza parlor

Milwaukee offers Ukrainian refugee family life-saving treatment for son’s genetic condition

Nikita Pirnach: Irpin student hopes to help his country after finishing education in Milwaukee

Sick children wait for overseas medical treatments as a new generation is born in Ukraine during war

Iryna Suslova: The superwoman saving Ukrainian children abducted by Russia

How a group of Ukrainian mothers, wives, and daughters are distributing vital humanitarian aid

Freeing Freddie: Educational program aims to reduce PTSD for Ukraine’s war-weary children

The trauma of living: When being killed is the preferred choice to being disfigured from battle

President Zelenskyy offers gratitude and awards to wounded soldiers while visiting Lviv Hospital

Former Vice President Mike Pence visits Irpin during unannounced campaign trip to Kyiv

Military Hospitals provide vital care for Ukrainian soldiers in need of hope and healing

Combat surgeons pioneer advances in maxillofacial reconstruction of Ukraine’s injured heroes

Milwaukee donors cover cost of reconstructive surgery for American volunteer wounded in battle

In their own words: Listening to the Voices of Children talk about their experiences from war

Traumatized by War: Children of Ukraine carry on after losing parents, homes, and innocence

Widespread Torture: U.N. report documents Russia’s systematic executions of Ukrainian civilians

Wisconsin volunteers sort and pack donated medical supplies for use in Ukraine’s hospitals

Lviv warehouse serves as vital link in medical supply chain from Milwaukee to frontlines

Aid from Milwaukee is providing internally displaced people in Ukraine with food and clothing

Iryna Pletnyova: How the city of Uman transformed into a hub for refugees fleeing war

Bombs in the night: Why children in Uman are still traumatized by Russia’s missile attack

School Bunkers: When a national flag becomes a memorial to dead Ukrainian students

Hasidic life in Uman: A journey across Ukraine to the Tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

Tetiana Storozhko: Being a witness to the history of Roma culture in Ukraine

Remembering Oskar Schindler: A photojournalist’s diary from the streets of Jewish Kraków

HOW TO HELP: The City of Irpin established a Reconstruction Fund with Patreon to accept international charitable donations.