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]

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...

Fighting War Fatigue: Volunteer network continues saving lives in Ukraine as public donations dry up
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine shocked the world over ten months ago, Anya Verkhovskaya’s phone began to fill with messages from friends and former colleagues in Ukraine asking for help. In the space of just a few months, the informal network transformed into an...

Lola Vaganova: A journey from Izium to Milwaukee in the footsteps of an ancestor who also fled a war
Lola Vaganova’s Ukrainian great grandmother was 20 years-old when WWII started. She became an “Ostarbeiter,” a Nazi German designation for foreign slave workers in Germany. Vaganova’s first stop as a displaced refugee from Izium was Oppeln, Germany, now known as Opole, Poland. A terrible history had again repeated itself.

World leaders thanked for their support of Ukraine in billboard series by the “Brave Society” of Irpin
In the first 10 months of the war, about about 100 world-famous dignitaries visited Milwaukee’s Sister City of Irpin. For those foreign guests, Irpin became a symbol of hope, and the cost of freedom was represented by the city’s destruction. The Ukrainian...

A missile cemetery: Where spent Russian ordinance used to terrorize eastern Ukraine is stored as evidence
The eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has a peculiar “cemetery,” one that recalls some of the worst damage done since the Russian invasion: the debris of rockets used against this town and its people. The graveyard has more than a thousand missiles, or...

A Matter of Conscience: Acclaimed combat photojournalist Maks Levin reported missing near Kyiv
War photojournalist Maksym “Max” Levin has gone missing from the front line near Kyiv, according to his friend and news correspondent Markiian Lyseiko. First reported by Ukrіnfоrm news service and later confirmed by the Kyіv Іndependent, Lyseiko reported...

A War on Journalism: When reporters in Mariupol were hunted for covering the truth about Russian cruelty
The Russians were hunting us down. They had a list of names, including ours, and they were closing in. We had been documenting the siege of Mariupol by Russian troops for more than two weeks and were the only international journalists left in the city. We were...

Kherson Diary: A first-hand account documenting three weeks of life in a Russian-occupied Ukrainian city
Since Kherson became the first Ukrainian city to be captured during Russia’s invasion, its population of more than 280,000 has been living under brutal occupation. Two female journalists, whose identities are being protected, have been documenting the struggles they...

Irpin under siege: Alderman Rainey asks public to help Milwaukee’s sister city as it faces humanitarian crisis
Milwaukee’s sister city in Ukraine has been under siege for weeks by invading Russian forces, and agencies have been enlisted to facilitate aid to those affected by the crisis. As chair of Milwaukee’s Sister Cities Committee, Alderman Khalif J. Rainey said that the...

Suffering for art: What Mikhail Baryshnikov gets wrong about being punished for a nation’s sins
The Creative Arts have always been a bridge in times of trauma. They can inspire a population struggling with the daily impact of trauma, and teach lessons to later generations who were not alive during such times. Music and dance have also helped bridge cultural...

Fear and Retribution: Why the Russian diaspora shows little support for Moscow’s massacres in Ukraine
By Vic Satzewich, Professor of Sociology, McMaster University Members of diaspora communities often mobilize to provide support to their ancestral homeland during a crisis. While the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a crisis for Ukrainians, it is also a crisis for...

Community Solidarity: Faith leaders come together in support of the people of Ukraine at Milwaukee rally
Following the example of Ukraine’s interfaith community, faith leaders in Milwaukee joined together with members of the public to show their solidarity and support for the people of Ukraine as they defend their independent nation and democracy from unprovoked Russian attacks.

President Biden calls for solidarity with Ukraine near the beaches of Normandy during D-Day ceremony
President Joe Biden marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6 by pledging “we will not walk away” from Ukraine, drawing a direct line from the fight to liberate Europe from Nazi domination to today’s war against Russian aggression. “To...


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.