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]
Putin flaunts his so-called doomsday weapons as ongoing threat to block support for Ukraine
This year has seen Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin repeatedly brandish the nuclear sword, reminding everyone that Russia has the world’s largest atomic arsenal to try to deter the West from ramping up support for Ukraine. He ordered his military to hold...
Weaponizing migration: How Russia and Belarus are targeting Poland to benefit Europe’s far-right
A Somali woman pushed her bandaged hand between two vertical bars of a thick metal barrier separating Belarus from Poland, as she and four other women gazed toward the European Union. They nodded gratefully as a Polish humanitarian aid worker called to them across a...
Ukraine marks 33rd Independence anniversary without fireworks or parades as war against Russia rages
A somber atmosphere pervades Ukraine’s 33rd Independence Day on August 24, as the nation’s war against Russia’s aggression reaches a 30-month milestone. No fireworks, parades, or concerts are planned and instead Ukrainians will mark the day with...
A deal with the devil: Why Ukraine cannot sign a peace deal with a Russian gun to its head
Signing an agreement with Russia to stop the war with Ukraine would amount to signing a deal with the devil, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as external forces seek to pressure the nation into a toxic deal to end more than two years of...
Secretary Blinken highlights global pledges to support Ukraine in case it is abandoned under Trump
Ukraine is on its way to being able to “stand on its own feet” militarily, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on July 19, noting that more than 20 other countries have pledged to maintain their own military and financial aid to the country even if the...
A fight for survival: It is no longer just a personal battle for Ukraine’s athletes at the Paris Olympics
For Ukrainian hurdler Anna Ryzhykova, each stride on the Paris Olympic track will have meaning far beyond the time she clocks. Her competitions are no longer strictly an individual battle, but war on a different front. Her goal is not just gold, but also to rivet...
A home in ruins: Ukrainian high jumper keeps one eye on the raised bar and the other fixed on the war
Kateryna Tabashnyk’s success depends upon utter concentration on the here and now, on the height of the bar in front of her, and her body’s ability to leap it. That focus and drive is a requirement for all high-level athletes. But the 30-year-old Ukrainian...
A generation of hope: Young gymnast crushed by Russian missile dreams of competing in Paralympics
When Oleksandra Paskal first took to the mat as a 4-year-old, her rhythmic gymnastics coach saw nothing but potential in a sport where the Olympics is the ultimate goal. Then a Russian missile crushed her summer house in the southern Odesa region, burying her beneath...
Halyna Zdyrko Salapata: The sacrifices that come with supporting Ukraine while raising a family in Milwaukee
Parents in Milwaukee, like those everywhere, understand the universal struggle of balancing work with home life. It is a common challenge to juggle job responsibilities with family demands. What is more uncommon is when the job in Milwaukee involves raising funds to...
Betraying Ukraine: Trump reveals prior knowledge of Putin’s Mariupol Plan while bragging of hostage deal
Trump has been focused on 32-year-old “Wall Street Journal” reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested by Russian officers in March 2023 and is currently on trial for the trumped-up charge of espionage. The State Department considers him “wrongfully...
A dream come true: Ukraine begins EU membership talks a decade after Putin illegally seized Crimea
The European Union on June 25 launched membership talks with Ukraine, a decade after Russian troops seized the Crimean Peninsula to deter the country from moving closer to the West, part of a chain of events that set the two neighbors on the path to war....
Damaged by war: Vibrant church in Ukraine rises as a symbol of the nation’s faith and culture
During the Orthodox Easter season, an extraordinary new church brought spiritual comfort to war-weary residents of the Ukrainian village of Lypivka. Two years ago, it also provided physical refuge from the horrors outside. Almost 100 residents sheltered in a basement...
Ukrainian armed forces now control almost 390 square miles of Russia’s Kursk region in blow to Putin
Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control 386 square miles of Russia’s neighboring Kursk region, the first time a Ukrainian military official has publicly commented on the gains of the lightning incursion that has embarrassed the...
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.