Russian invasion of Ukraine
Special Coverage
Vladimir Putin began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that he started in 2014. The invasion received widespread international condemnation, including massive economic sanctions. Milwaukee’s Ukrainian American community began with immigrants in the early twentieth century, and continued to grow in the years after World War II and the fall of the Soviet Union.
These news stories cover the local connections in Milwaukee to an international crisis, and all the complexities woven into America’s political climate.
- Selected features that focus on news from Milwaukee’s Sister City of Irpin can be found here: mkeind.com/irpin
- Complete coverage from the series Reports from Ukraine can be found here: mkeind.com/reportsfromukraine
Featured: Jennifer Vosters: A visit to Kyiv that offered insight, awareness, and an inspiration for solidarity [Feb 24, 2022]
Winter of Discontent: Poor performance and low morale of Russian soldiers expected to worsen
By Liam Collins, Founding Director, Modern War Institute, United States Military Academy West Point With Russian troops digging trenches to prepare for an expected winter standoff, it would be easy to conclude that fighting will slow in Ukraine until after the ground...
No longer just pawns: How the war in Ukraine is shifting the balance of power to Eastern Europe
As 2022 is coming to a close, the war in Ukraine rages unabated. Russian President Vladimir Putin sees what he still calls a “special military operation” as a life-or-death contest with the United States and its allies in NATO. The West, for its part, considers the...
The Winter Campaign: Putin has been weaponizing energy for years and has no incentive to stop now
By Thomas Froehlich, Research Fellow, King’s College London Not since the 1970s oil crisis has the west seen such a focus on energy security. Suddenly in 2022 it became a critical part of the battle for Ukraine. Russian attacks on energy facilities have left...
Over dependence on Russian oil and gas has accelerated a global swing to clean energy
By Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School, Tufts University The year 2022 was a tough one for the growing number of people living in food insecurity and energy poverty around the world, and the beginning of 2023 is looking bleak. Russia’s war on Ukraine, one of the...
Ukrainian soldiers recover at rehabilitation center in Kharkiv before returning to front lines
Sitting on comfy armchairs in a low-lit room smelling of lavender and pine trees, the men take deep breaths as they close their eyes and listen to meditation music. But this is not a spa. Uniformed Ukrainian soldiers are taking a break at this rehabilitation center in...
Fighting War Fatigue: Volunteer network continues saving lives in Ukraine as public donations dry up
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine shocked the world over ten months ago, Anya Verkhovskaya’s phone began to fill with messages from friends and former colleagues in Ukraine asking for help. In the space of just a few months, the informal network transformed into an...
World leaders thanked for their support of Ukraine in billboard series by the “Brave Society” of Irpin
In the first 10 months of the war, about about 100 world-famous dignitaries visited Milwaukee’s Sister City of Irpin. For those foreign guests, Irpin became a symbol of hope, and the cost of freedom was represented by the city’s destruction. The Ukrainian...
A missile cemetery: Where spent Russian ordinance used to terrorize eastern Ukraine is stored as evidence
The eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has a peculiar “cemetery,” one that recalls some of the worst damage done since the Russian invasion: the debris of rockets used against this town and its people. The graveyard has more than a thousand missiles, or...
Lola Vaganova: A journey from Izium to Milwaukee in the footsteps of an ancestor who also fled a war
Lola Vaganova’s Ukrainian great grandmother was 20 years-old when WWII started. She became an “Ostarbeiter,” a Nazi German designation for foreign slave workers in Germany. Vaganova’s first stop as a displaced refugee from Izium was Oppeln, Germany, now known as Opole, Poland. A terrible history had again repeated itself.
Year In Review 2022: First-hand reports from the early days of war in Ukraine
2022 began with Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The traumatic war crimes against the Ukrainian people the escalating humanitarian crisis has strained the global economy and every level of civilized society. While taking place a continent...
Year In Review 2022: Milwaukee stands in solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s invasion
2022 began with Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The traumatic war crimes against the Ukrainian people the escalating humanitarian crisis has strained the global economy and every level of civilized society. While taking place a continent...
Year In Review 2022: The humanitarian crisis faced by Milwaukee’s Sister City of Irpin
2022 began with Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The traumatic war crimes against the Ukrainian people the escalating humanitarian crisis has strained the global economy and every level of civilized society. While taking place a continent...
World leaders thanked for their support of Ukraine in billboard series by the “Brave Society” of Irpin
In the first 10 months of the war, about about 100 world-famous dignitaries visited Milwaukee’s Sister City of Irpin. For those foreign guests, Irpin became a symbol of hope, and the cost of freedom was represented by the city’s destruction. The Ukrainian...
Featured: Photos from the frontlines: Sergi Mykhalchuk documents images of war as civilians evacuate Irpin [Mar 16, 2022]
Featured: Milwaukee formalizes Sister City status with Ukraine’s Irpin [Mar 23, 2018]
Milwaukee has a small but thriving Ukrainian American community, and Irpin is a sister city. Follow our special coverage at mkeind.com/ukraine for updates on Putin’s invasion, and about how the fight by Ukrainian people to preserve their democracy is having an impact on the families and businesses here in Milwaukee. 🇺🇦 Слава Україні! Героям слава!
Help maintain a reliable news source in Ukraine by supporting the Kyiv Independent, an English-language media outlet created by journalists who were fired from the Kyiv Post for defending editorial independence. Donations can be made via patreon or gofundme.
