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]
Failing Ukraine: Why cutting aid now would cost the United States $808 billion later to protect NATO
Ukraine is not only fighting Russia, but a group of four autocratic states that all help Putin’s war. They have been dubbed CRINK: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. China sells micro-electronic components used in weapons systems and is a political partner...
Traumatized by War: Children of Ukraine carry on after losing parents, homes, and innocence
Return to Ukraine: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that recorded news from areas across Ukraine, including Milwaukee's sister city of Irpin, from June to July of 2023. It was the second time in the span of a year that the...
Widespread Torture: U.N. report documents Russia’s systematic executions of Ukrainian civilians
Return to Ukraine: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that recorded news from areas across Ukraine, including Milwaukee's sister city of Irpin, from June to July of 2023. It was the second time in the span of a year that the...
Military Hospitals provide vital care for Ukrainian soldiers in need of hope and healing
It was deeply moving to visit military hospitals across Ukraine. The experience offered a glimpse into the lives of wounded soldiers and their spirit. Upon entering each room was the sight of shattered bodies, left with the indelible marks of war. Their scars bore witness to terrible battles that could not be imagined.
Combat surgeons pioneer advances in maxillofacial reconstruction of Ukraine’s injured heroes
GRAPHIC PHOTO WARNING: This gallery contains news images from war that some viewers may find disturbing. Return to Ukraine: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that recorded news from areas across Ukraine, including Milwaukee's...
Weaponized Education: Ukraine schools remain a key battleground in the fight for the nation’s future
By Katja Kolcio, Associate Professor of Dance, Environmental Studies and Education Studies, Wesleyan University When Russian missiles struck Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv on New Year’s Eve, the damaged buildings included a university and at least two schools. As a...
Wartime Ukraine reclaims national identity with surge to erase Colonial Russian past from public spaces
On the streets of Kyiv, Fyodor Dostoevsky is on the way out. Andy Warhol is on the way in. Ukraine is accelerating efforts to erase the vestiges of Soviet and Russian influence from its public spaces by pulling down monuments and renaming hundreds of streets to honor...
No longer just pawns: How the war in Ukraine is shifting the balance of power to Eastern Europe
As 2022 is coming to a close, the war in Ukraine rages unabated. Russian President Vladimir Putin sees what he still calls a “special military operation” as a life-or-death contest with the United States and its allies in NATO. The West, for its part, considers the...
The Winter Campaign: Putin has been weaponizing energy for years and has no incentive to stop now
By Thomas Froehlich, Research Fellow, King’s College London Not since the 1970s oil crisis has the west seen such a focus on energy security. Suddenly in 2022 it became a critical part of the battle for Ukraine. Russian attacks on energy facilities have left...
Over dependence on Russian oil and gas has accelerated a global swing to clean energy
By Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School, Tufts University The year 2022 was a tough one for the growing number of people living in food insecurity and energy poverty around the world, and the beginning of 2023 is looking bleak. Russia’s war on Ukraine, one of the...
Ukrainian soldiers recover at rehabilitation center in Kharkiv before returning to front lines
Sitting on comfy armchairs in a low-lit room smelling of lavender and pine trees, the men take deep breaths as they close their eyes and listen to meditation music. But this is not a spa. Uniformed Ukrainian soldiers are taking a break at this rehabilitation center in...
What madness looks like: Russia continues to escalate onslaught with new levels of death and devastation
Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials said, bringing new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, monthslong battle for control of eastern Ukraine that is part of...
How unwitting Americans are assisting Russia’s toxic program to spread election disinformation
The Kremlin was using unwitting Americans and commercial public relations firms in Russia to spread disinformation about the U.S. presidential race, top intelligence officials said in August, detailing the latest efforts by America’s adversaries to shape public...
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.
