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]
Milwaukee hosts U.S. premiere of film documenting Russia’s brutal war on education in occupied Ukraine
The North American premiere of “War on Education,” the acclaimed documentary about Ukraine by filmmaker Stefano Di Pietro, arrived in Milwaukee on June 1 with a message of urgency and a quiet sense of warning. The film investigated how Russia’s brutal 2022...
Autopsies indicate an intentional system of brutality as Ukrainian POWs die in Russian prisons
“Everything will be all right.” Ukrainian soldier Serhii Hryhoriev said this so often during brief phone calls from the front that his wife and two daughters took it to heart. His younger daughter, Oksana, tattooed the phrase on her wrist as a talisman....
U2’s Bono questions if the world still values mercy as peace retreats in an age overshadowed by war
Cannes is a short trip from Bono’s seaside villa in Eze-sur-Mer. He bought it with The Edge in 1993, and considers himself grateful to a coastline that, he said, gave him a “delayed adolescence.” “I can tell you I’ve slept on beaches...
Drone battlefields: Ukraine’s advanced tactics shows U.S. deficiencies in adapting to modern warfare
A battlefield revolution is unfolding across Ukraine, driven by wire-guided FPV drones and improvised strike tactics that have transformed front-line warfare into a test of adaptability and production, not just firepower. While this shift continues to alter the...
Ukrainian drones destroy more than 40 strategic warplanes in a stunning attack deep within Russia
A Ukrainian drone attack has destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep in Russia’s territory, Ukraine’s Security Service said on June 1, while Moscow pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones just hours before a new round of direct peace talks in Istanbul....
Russia’s claim of Kursk victory masks deeper failures as Ukrainian forces hold ground amid fading momentum
The brutal Soviet-style dictator, Vladimir Putin, visited Russia’s Kursk region for the first time since Moscow claimed that it had supposedly driven Ukrainian forces out of the area. On May 21, the Russian military announced that its troops had fully reclaimed...
Ukraine’s allies hit Russia with new sanctions after Trump’s phone call with Putin brings no ceasefire
Kyiv’s European allies slapped new sanctions May 20 on Moscow, a day after an over-hyped phone call between the American autocrat Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin failed to produce a breakthrough on ending the 3-year-old war in Ukraine, which...
The Mariupol Plan: How Trump betrayed America and intended to help Putin carve up Ukraine
In the shadows of two controversial elections and the worst European war since the defeat of Nazi Germany, one truth has emerged with brutal clarity: Donald Trump was never an agent of peace. He was the delivery mechanism for Vladimir Putin’s blueprint to dismantle...
Milwaukee Independent reflects on third anniversary of its first assignment to cover the war in Ukraine
Three years ago, almost to the day on May 20, a team of journalists from Wisconsin crossed into Ukraine during the early phase of Russia’s full-scale invasion. It was the first time any news outlet from the state had reported directly from within Ukraine after the war...
Оглядаючись на третю річницю своєї першої поїздки для висвітлення війни в Україні, Milwaukee Independent
Три роки тому, майже день у день — 20 травня — команда журналістів із Вісконсину перетнула кордон України в перші місяці повномасштабного вторгнення Росії. Це був перший випадок, коли медіа зі штату висвітлювали події безпосередньо з України після ескалації війни у...
From Abuja to Irpin: Milwaukee’s Sister Cities Day celebrates international ties built through people
City Hall came alive with music, dance, and heartfelt stories on May 16, as Milwaukee marked its 2025 Sister Cities Meet and Greet Day, honoring the relationships that continue to grow between Milwaukee and its seven international partners. From Abuja to Irpin,...
Parade of Denial: Russia exploits 80th anniversary of VE Day to honor a war it worked with Hitler to start
While most of the democratic world solemnly marks VE Day, as the Victory in Europe Day and end of World War II on May 8, the Kremlin will again stage its annual May 9 military parade across Red Square. It is a performance designed not to commemorate, but to control a...
Echoes of Yalta: How Stalin got what he wanted in Poland and now Putin could get in Ukraine
By Wendy Webster, Professor of Modern Cultural History, University of Huddersfield As Britain celebrated Victory in Europe (VE) Day on May 8, 1945, the Polish airmen of RAF 305 Bomber Squadron captured a starkly different sentiment in their diary. “‘Victory!’ every...
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.
