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]
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...
Munitions, radar, and new weapons: Ukraine to receive another $2.6 billion in military aid from United States
The U.S. will send Ukraine about $500 million in ammunition and equipment and spend more than $2 billion to buy an array of munitions, radar, and new weapons to help Kyiv counter drones in the coming months, the Pentagon said in April, as Ukrainian troops gear up for...
Organization of Russian journalists suspended from IFJ over invasion coverage of Ukraine
The International Federation of Journalists has suspended the Russian Union of Journalists on February 22 over its action since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its role in annexed Ukrainian territories. The IFJ, which represents more than 600,000 media workers...
Déjà vu of Photojournalism: Forced progress, brutal invasion, mother nature, and the detritus of life
Back in March, I stood among the ruins of a neighborhood in Antakya, Türkiye. The Biblical city, once known as Antioch, had been devastated by the February 6 earthquake. As I took pictures of the collapsed residential areas, a member of the Turkish Red Crescent team I...
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: An interview with the Ukrainian President on what a Russian victory would mean
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on March 28 that unless his nation wins a drawn-out battle in a key eastern city, Russia could begin building international support for a deal that could require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises. He also invited...
Why Putin’s genocide in Ukraine is rooted in a long tradition of dehumanizing former Soviet cultures
By Kseniya Oksamytna, Lecturer in International Politics, City, University of London Former war crimes prosecutor Sir Howard Morrison recently highlighted the dangers posed by the negative, often insulting and dehumanizing, statements made by some Russian politicians...
Volunteers in Kyiv endure burdens of exhuming bodies to help investigate war crimes by Russian troops
Oleksandr Bugeruk covers his mouth in horror as five men lift his mother’s body from a grave using two straps of taught cloth. The men then stumble over the wet, uneven ground as they carry the body away from the grave. One of them begins to retch from the smell as...
Army of Thieves: Putin’s military weakness follows a long history of corrupt Russian regimes
By Tony Ward, Fellow in Historical Studies, The University of Melbourne In explaining the reasons for Russia’s unexpected military weakness in Ukraine, few have expressed it better than “The Economist.” The magazine noted “the incurable inadequacy of...
The sum of Putin’s fears: Why Ukrainian national identity drifted West even in Russian-friendly regions
By Lowell Barrington, Associate Professor of Political Science , Marquette University Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022 has, thus far, produced the opposite of what he expected. Rather than deepening political fissures in...
Stories from Ukraine: Anya Nakonechna shares why the Lviv Opera is a symbol of her nation’s culture
Reports from Ukraine: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that recorded news from cities across Ukraine, including Milwaukee's sister city of Irpin, in May 2022. It was the first and, at that time, only news organization in...
Images from Ukraine: A folk village where visitors can experience the life of past generations
On the outskirts of Kyiv is the village of Pyrohiv, home to the outdoor Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine. Founded in 1969, the 370-acre museum contains over 300 pieces of folk architecture brought from all parts of Ukraine and carefully reassembled.
Images from Ukraine: Signs of renewal sprout from under Irpin’s rubble as city looks to the future
Reports from Ukraine: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that recorded news from cities across Ukraine, including Milwaukee's sister city of Irpin, in May 2022. It was the first and, at that time, only news organization in...
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...
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.
