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.
- 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
Featured: Jennifer Vosters: A visit to Kyiv that offered insight, awareness, and an inspiration for solidarity [Feb 24, 2022]
Trauma still haunts some families as Ukraine’s Bucha rebuilds two years after brutal occupation
Days after Russian forces withdrew from the outskirts of Kyiv in the dramatic first weeks of their full-scale invasion two years ago, a photo revealed what had become of Nataliia Verbova’s missing husband. Poring over the image of eight men executed and lying on cold...
The humanitarian case for why Ukraine cannot accept anything less than total liberation of its land
In a detailed analysis published on December 31 by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), experts Frederick W. Kagan, George Barros, Noel Mikkelsen, and Daniel Mealie outlined a compelling argument for Ukraine’s complete liberation from Russian occupation....
MAGA’s gift to Putin: Lack of U.S. aid making life very difficult on the front line in Ukraine
Delays in weapons deliveries from Western allies to Ukraine are opening a door for Russian battlefield advances, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, making the fight “very difficult” along parts of the front line where the Kremlin’s forces...
Out of sight, out of mind: UN refugee chief worries the world has forgotten about the brutal war in Ukraine
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in late January that that he was worried that the war in Ukraine has been forgotten, as the country prepares to mark two years since the start of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion. UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi also...
Russia’s empire of lies: Why Putin is desperate to control the narrative of Ukrainian self-identity
By Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Associate Professor of Critical Cultural & International Studies, Colorado State University Controlling the narrative has long been crucial to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in his brutal war against Ukraine. In the worldview he...
President Zelenskyy invites Trump to Kyiv to fulfill his self-proclaimed ability to stop Russia’s war in 24 hours
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was worried by the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House, branding Trump’s claim that he could stop Ukraine’s war with Russia in 24 hours as “very dangerous.” In an interview with...
Budget deadlock: White House warns of dire situation in Ukraine as Republicans hold military aid hostage
President Joe Biden’s top budget official warned in stark terms in early January about the rapidly diminishing time that lawmakers have to replenish U.S. aid for Ukraine, as the fate of that money to Kyiv remained held hostage to demands by Republicans over...
Mstyslav Chernov’s “20 Days in Mariupol” earns first Oscar nomination for 178-year-old Associated Press
“20 Days in Mariupol,” Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing chronicle of the besieged Ukrainian city and the international journalists who remained there after Russia’s invasion, was nominated for best documentary at the Academy Awards, handing The...
Maksym Kryvtsov: Beloved poet who was killed protecting Ukraine’s independence honored in Kyiv
Hundreds of people attended a ceremony on January 11 honoring the memory of renowned Ukrainian poet Maksym Kryvtsov, who was killed in action while serving as a soldier in the war Russia started in Ukraine nearly two years ago. A large crowd gathered in the courtyard...
Survivors lose a lifetime’s possessions in seconds as missiles destroy more apartment buildings in Kyiv
With trembling hands and labored breath, Serhii Slobodiannyk meticulously searched his fire-damaged apartment, seeking to salvage any of his family’s treasured belongings following a Russian missile attack on Kyiv. “Everything I had worked for over 30...
A Gift to Putin: Why Republican policy to block aid trades Ukrainian lives for lives of asylum seekers
A deal to provide further U.S. assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden. The impasse is deepening in Congress despite dire warnings from the White House about the consequences of inaction as Republicans insist...
President Zelenskyy says Ukraine will not back down as winter brings new phase to Putin’s brutal invasion
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the war with Russia is in a new stage, with winter expected to complicate fighting after a summer counteroffensive that failed to produce desired results due to enduring shortages of weapons and ground forces. Despite...
Senator Ron Johnson tells Congress he sees no point in using taxpayer dollars to stop Putin in Ukraine
At about 2 a.m. on February 13, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin stood on the Senate floor and explained why he opposed sending more aid to help Ukraine fend off the invasion launched in 2022 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “A lot of the points...
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.