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]
Russia’s brutal invasion pulls Ukraine closer to Nordic allies as Europe’s security map shifts
Sweden’s decision to send 16 Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine is more than another weapons transfer. It is the latest sign of a deeper shift that has emerged during Russia’s full-scale invasion: Ukraine’s growing alignment with the Nordic countries....
Azov fighters return to Mariupol airspace with drones nearly four years after Azovstal siege
For much of the war, Mariupol has symbolized both Russia’s brutality and Ukraine’s resistance. The southern port city was reduced to ruins during Russia’s siege in 2022. Tens of thousands are believed to have died. Satellite imagery later revealed mass graves...
Chernobyl at 40: What secret files from the Soviet nuclear disaster reveal about political deception
By Lauren Cassidy, Lecturer German and Russian Studies, Binghamton University, State University of New York On April 26, 1986, Soviet engineers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were conducting a safety test. Doomed by a fatal design flaw and pushed to the limit by...
A Ukrainian city still gathers annually for a midnight Chernobyl vigil despite Russia’s brutal war
People streamed into the central square of Slavutych in the early hours of April 26, placing candles on a large radiation hazard symbol laid out on the ground as a midnight commemoration began for those killed in the Chernobyl disaster 40 years ago and the thousands...
How Ukraine is reshaping the meaning of victory in modern warfare by using strategic neutralization
Ukraine is redefining what the concept of victory looks like in modern warfare, not by chasing the total destruction of Russia, but by systematically stripping that brutal enemy of the ability to fight effectively. After 46 months of full-scale invasion, the conflict...
Why a lasting peace in Ukraine depends on justice that holds Russia accountable for its crimes
By Valerie Morkevicius, Associate Professor, Political Science, Colgate University Efforts to end the war in Ukraine have grabbed global attention, fueled by debates over U.S. President Donald Trump’s 28-point plan, which many analysts see as favoring Russia, and...
Year In Review 2025: Milwaukee stands with Ukraine as democracy and compassion face global assault
2025 marked a year of profound political tension and moral reckoning across Milwaukee and the nation. The return of authoritarian governance to the White House reshaped daily life and deepened divisions that tested civic institutions and personal faith alike. Against...
How a grassroots Ukrainian school became a vital community anchor for a growing diaspora in America
In Bellevue, Washington, a grassroots cultural center shows how one immigrant’s determination to teach her children Ukrainian became a community hub for hundreds When Oksana Krivizuk arrived in Washington State in 2015 with two small children, she faced a...
Ukraine’s sea drones force the Russian Black Sea fleet into retreat as Kyiv prepares for next stage of war
The commander of sea-drone operations for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency says more complex strikes against Russian forces are expected next year, after Kyiv’s uncrewed fleet succeeded in curbing the movements of Russia’s once-dominant Black...
When war ends: Why the U.S. is unlikely to invest in Ukraine’s recovery with a new Marshall Plan
By Frank A. Blazich Jr., Curator of Military History, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution President Donald Trump wants Ukraine to repay the United States for helping to defend the country against Russia’s invasion. Since 2022, Congress has...
Russia outlines plan to rebuild its armored forces in preparation for large-scale war with NATO
In its most recent intelligence assessment, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Russia’s defense industry is pursuing a long-term effort to expand T-90 tank production and reestablish its pre-war tank reserves, signaling intent to maintain a...
A diminished Russia risks losing control of Far East territory as China and North Korea expand influence
Russia’s remote Far Eastern territories are becoming the focal point of what Ukrainian intelligence describes as a gradual foreign takeover, with China and North Korea tightening their economic and demographic grip on a region that makes up nearly half of the Russian...
How Putin isolates Russia’s internet from the rest of the world by blocking access to websites
YouTube videos that won’t load. A visit to a popular independent media website that produces only a blank page. Cellphone internet connections that are down for hours or days. Going online in Russia can be frustrating, complicated, and even dangerous. It’s...
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.
