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]
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...
Why Putin covets Ukraine’s territory and turned Crimea from a playground into a battleground
Russia’s seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine exactly 11 years ago on March 18, 2014, was quick and bloodless, but it sent Moscow’s relations with the West into a downward spiral unseen since the Cold War. It also paved the way for Russia’s...
A small Ukrainian theater reinvents itself with an all-female cast while male actors are away at war
The 43-year-old Ukrainian actor took to the stage wearing a black leather jacket and with a moustache painted on her face. Ruslana Ostapko was performing in multiple traditionally male roles in a recent production of the Chernihiv Regional Youth Theater. With so many...
Ukrainian veteran amputees crippled by Russia’s full-scale invasion learn adaptive skiing in U.S.
Ukrainian war veteran Oleksandr Shvachka lost his left leg to Russian tank fire outside Kyiv. Three years on, the latest step in his physical and mental rehabilitation recently unfolded under a brilliant blue sky on a snow-covered mountain more than 5,000 miles away....
A Russian asset: Trump’s policy behavior confirms evidence he was groomed by the Kremlin since the 1980s
The “Kyiv Independent” published an explosive interview on February 26 that torched any lingering doubt about President Donald Trump’s deep ties to Russian intelligence. Veteran journalist Craig Unger has tracked Trump’s relationships with Moscow for years...
President Zelenskyy shares concerns about excluding Ukraine from US-Russia talks about the war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that excluding his country from talks between the U.S. and Russia about the war in Ukraine would be “very dangerous” and asked for more discussions between Kyiv and Washington to develop a plan for a ceasefire....
A sense of duty: Why more wounded Ukrainian soldiers are returning to battle after amputation
The Ukrainian intelligence soldier does not know how long his clinical death lasted after an explosive detonated beneath him. All Andrii Rubliuk remembers is overwhelming cold, darkness, and fear. When he regained consciousness in his shattered body — missing both...
Inside the Ukrainian military operation that captured two North Korean soldiers fighting for Putin
When Ukrainian soldiers captured two North Korean prisoners of war in January, it provided the first undeniable proof of Pyongyang’s direct involvement in the war against Ukraine. It also shed some light on the mindset and training of the conscripted North...
Road of Life: Romanivsky Bridge Memorial earns global acclaim for Irpin’s journey since wartime devastation
A somber reminder of the early days of the brutal Russian invasion now stands as a beacon of unity and rebirth in Milwaukee’s sister city of Irpin, located on the outskirts of Kyiv. The memorial installation was unveiled last August on the site of the destroyed...
The 24-hour lie: Trump’s political impotence persists after failing to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
It has been more than 48 hours since convicted felon Donald J. Trump took the oath of office for his second presidential term on January 20. To nobody’s surprise, except his most delusional loyalists, the war in Ukraine was not brought to an end in his first 24 hours...
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...
High price of war: Milwaukee reacts to how Pyongyang’s support in Ukraine is being repaid by Putin
North Korea’s calculated support for Russia in the Ukraine war has thrust the secretive nation into a new level of international intrigue. Reports from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) revealed that Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Moscow and...
Life goes on in the Ukrainian city of Sumy despite the bloody Palm Sunday attack and daily threats
The humdrum of daily life in Sumy belies the constant threat of death its people have lived with since Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago. Days after Russia targeted the city’s center in back-to-back missile strikes, killing 35 people and injuring more than...
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.
