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]
Pacifist principles: Japan steps away from its post-war policy by exporting military aid to Ukraine
Japan’s Cabinet approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets to other countries on March 26. It is the latest step away from the pacifist principles the country adopted at the end of World War II. The controversial decision to allow international...
Defenders of Irpin honored at Bucha memorial on second anniversary of the liberation of Kyiv region
On the second anniversary of the liberation of Kyiv region from Russian invaders, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in the raising of the State Flag of Ukraine on the flagpole of the Memorial to the Defenders of the Bucha Community. By the end of March 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...
A “God’s-Eye” view: Aboard secretive surveillance flights keeping watch on Russian forces in Ukraine
Off in the distance, Ukraine is fighting for its survival. Seen from up here, in the cockpit of a French Air Force surveillance plane flying over neighboring Romania, the snow-dusted landscapes look deceptively peaceful. The dead from Russia’s war, the shattered...
Vigilante justice: Why enemy collaboration in occupied Ukraine evokes painful memories in Europe
By Ronald Niezen, Professor of Practice in Sociology and Political Science/International Relations, University of San Diego Collaboration with the enemy is a common and often painful part of armed conflict. It is also an issue in which I have both a professional and...
Irpin and Zelenskyy: Documenting the brutality of Putin’s full-scale invasion in images for two years
Two years ago today, the free world awoke to the horrific news about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation in the heart of Europe. February 24 marks the second anniversary of a brutal conflict that has reshaped the geopolitical landscape,...
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...
Cult of War: How the Kremlin weaponized Russian history to justify the era of Soviet terror
When Tucker Carlson asked Vladimir Putin about his reasons for invading Ukraine two years ago, Putin gave him a lecture on a fictional version of Russian history. The brutal 71-year-old dictator spent more than 20 minutes showering a baffled Carlson with dates and...
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...
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....
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.