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...

“Scorched Earth” tactics: Russia accused of destroying Kakhovka dam in Kherson to submerge frontlines
A major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed on June 6, flooding villages, endangering crops, and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war scrambled to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction. Ukraine accused Russian forces of...

A brutal invader: Ukraine aims to brand Russia as a “terrorist state” in hearings at top UN court
Lawyers for Ukraine told the United Nations’ top court on June 6 that Russia bankrolled a “campaign of intimidation and terror” by rebels in eastern Ukraine starting in 2014 and sought to replace Crimea’s multiethnic community with...

Not planting means death: Ukraine farmers continue to risk losing their lives or livelihoods during war
A grassy lane rutted with tire tracks leads to Volodymyr Zaiets’ farm in southern Ukraine. He is careful, driving only within those shallow grooves, and veering away might cost him his life in the field dotted with explosive mines. Weeds grow tall where rows of...

Deterring Russian aggression: The United States will provide Ukraine with $1.2B in long-term security aid
The U.S. will provide $1.2 billion more in long-term military aid to Ukraine to further bolster its air defenses as Russia continues to pound Ukraine with drones, rockets, and surface-to-air missiles, the Pentagon said. The aid package will be provided under the...

A zero-sum game: How the war in Ukraine is helping Iran achieve its national security objectives
By Aaron Pilkington, U.S. Air Force Analyst of Middle East Affairs, PhD Student at Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver The war in Ukraine is helping one country achieve its foreign policy and national security objectives, but it is neither...

Magruder’s Principle: The rapid advance by Ukraine against Russia shows its skill in modern warfare
By Benjamin Jensen, Professor of Strategic Studies, Marine Corps University; Scholar-in-Residence, American University, American University School of International Service Ukrainian forces, aided by Western firepower, have upset traditional military logic once again....

A Paper Tiger: Ukraine has exposed the deep institutional weakness of Russia’s military capability
Viewed purely in terms of the size of their formations and equipment, Russian ground forces in Ukraine still pose a serious threat on a number of axes. In practice, however, it is highly unlikely the Russian military can recover from its increasingly terminal...

Beyond Ukraine: How Putin wages war on the world from energy blackmail to threats of starvation
The Ukrainians have (again) done what nobody believed they could. They have (again) defeated the supposedly mighty Russia on the battlefield, shown up the underlying incompetence and moral rot of the Putin system. It took them just six days to take back whole swaths...

A show of weakness: Partial military mobilization reveals Putin’s desperation and perhaps his last stand
By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham; and Tatyana Malyarenko, Professor of International Relations, National University Odesa Law Academy Declaring a partial mobilization and threatening the use of “lots of Russian weapons” in...

Illegal Annexation: Putin escalates war to dangerous new phase as ploy to avoid accepting defeat
By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato A lot has changed since world leaders last met in person at the United Nations General Assembly: a global pandemic, a looming food crisis, economic stress, climate disasters – and the Russian invasion of...

Leading from behind: Why Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now more than a proxy war for the United States
Although Washington insists that it is not interested in a direct military conflict with Moscow, the latter claims that the United States is, in fact, directly involved. On September 8, Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared in Kyiv on an unannounced visit. He...

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.