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]
Ukraine’s LGBTQ soldiers rally for legal rights in hope that their military service is changing public attitudes
Several hundred LGBTQ Ukrainian servicemen and their supporters marched in central Kyiv on June 16 to demand more rights and highlight their service to their country in its war with Russia. The service members — many wearing rainbow and unicorn patches on their...
Occupation Billboards: Russia’s propaganda war has been waged in tandem with the battlefield brutality
A Ukrainian firefighter tears off a Russian billboard in Kherson, southern Ukraine, November 17. 📸 Bernat Armangue (AP) In the liberated city of Kherson, Ukrainians have been tearing down a glaring symbol of occupation, billboards spreading Russian propaganda....
Culture as a target: Why Russian attacks specifically aim to erase Ukrainian identity
Russian troops in Ukraine are deliberately attacking the country’s museums, libraries and other cultural institutions, according to a report issued on December 2 by the U.S. and Ukrainian chapters of the international writers’ organization PEN....
Peace and PTSD: Ukraine is already working to heal the mental wounds of its soldiers
Sleep plunges the soldier back into the horrors of Ukraine’s battlefields. He can hear bombs falling again and picture explosions. He imagines himself frantically running, trying to save himself and others. The nightmares are so vivid and frightening that he...
President Zelenskyy thanks America for making Ukraine stronger to defend against Russia’s tyranny
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on December 21 that “against all odds” Ukraine still stands, as he paid a defiant wartime visit to Washington to thank U.S. leaders and “ordinary Americans” for their support in fighting off...
Is Vladimir Putin a War Criminal? Understanding the legal implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the world must officially recognize that, under Putin, Russia has become a terrorist state. United States President Joe Biden has labelled his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, a “war criminal” for the war in Ukraine, drawing sharp...
Photos from the frontlines: Sergi Mykhalchuk documents images of war as civilians evacuate Irpin
Milwaukee’s sister city remains a strategic area as Russian invasion forces push to the capital city of Kyiv. Irpin has been under siege since March 4 and, like many smaller towns, has been targeted with indiscriminate and heavy bombardments. Lacking the ability...
Evacuees fleeing to Kyiv share dire stories about escaping Russia’s terror campaign on small towns
While Ukrainian forces have, so far, successfully held off the Russian troops from taking Kyiv, the towns around the capital have become some of the most intense battlegrounds of the ongoing war. Russia seized the outlying suburban towns with vehicles and infantry,...
Humanitarian Corridors: Russia has a long history of targeting vulnerable civilians in pathways to safety
By Kirsten Gelsdorf, Professor of Practice and Director of Global Humanitarian Policy, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia, University of Virginia; and Jacob Kurtzer, Director and Senior fellow, CSIS Humanitarian Agenda, Georgetown...
Pandemic in a time of war: The dilemma of seeking shelter from bombs while COVID-19 infections continue
In late February, Kyiv resident Serhii Fokin had a tough decision to make: walk into a bomb shelter during an air raid and risk infecting those around him, or stay at home, risking being killed by a Russian missile. Fokin chose the second option, staying in his...
Wrong about the future: How unsetting events at home and abroad have upended hope for tomorrow
Nationalism is disappearing, democracy is inevitable, and nuclear war cannot happen. Then came the invasion of Ukraine and all those certainties were proven wrong. I used to believe several things about the 21st century that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and...
Beyond Censorship: How China amplifies propaganda for Russia’s distorted version of the war in Ukraine
While international audiences saw images of besieged Ukrainian cities and thousands of civilians fleeing the country through humanitarian corridors that have faced Russian bombardment, Chinese viewers were shown Russian aid convoys bringing supplies to beleaguered...
President Zelenskyy accuses China of aiding Russia by pressuring countries to avoid Ukraine peace talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused China on June 2 of helping Russia to disrupt an upcoming Swiss-organized peace conference on the war in Ukraine. Speaking at Asia’s premier security conference, Zelenskyy said that China is pressuring other...
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.
