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]
From Abuja to Irpin: Milwaukee’s Sister Cities Day celebrates international ties built through people
City Hall came alive with music, dance, and heartfelt stories on May 16, as Milwaukee marked its 2025 Sister Cities Meet and Greet Day, honoring the relationships that continue to grow between Milwaukee and its seven international partners. From Abuja to Irpin,...
Grassroots funding: Music concerts are part of the innovative ways groups seek to fund Ukraine’s military
The concert took place in an old movie studio in Kyiv, the location kept secret until the final moment in case it was the target of a Russian attack. More than 1,000 soldiers and young people gathered to listen to the artists who joined forces with a military brigade...
Trump’s criticism of Ukraine’s Jewish president raises new concerns about his antisemitic undertones
Donald Trump has repeatedly made headlines for his unpredictable alliances and frequent criticism of those who oppose him. One figure who has found himself in Trump’s crosshairs was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Observers have pointed to a range of reasons...
Milwaukee stands with Ukraine: Rally marks 3rd year of full-scale invasion and condemns Trump’s betrayal
A wave of blue-and-yellow flags filled the air along East Wisconsin Avenue on February 23, as hundreds of Milwaukee residents gathered to mark the somber third anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine. With a firm stance supporting a free and sovereign Ukraine, participants urged unwavering U.S. support.
Ukrainians rally around their president after Trump’s ego is bruised for parroting Putin’s lies
Days before the third anniversary of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion, Ukrainians were as somber and tense as they were right before Moscow launched the unprovoked war. Only now, they are not just worried about their longtime enemy. Ukraine’s stunning...
Relentless onslaught: Russia presses its summer offensive in Ukraine as the West tries to blunt the push
Slowly but steadily this summer, Russian troops are forging through Ukraine’s outgunned and undermanned defenses in a relentless onslaught, prompting the West to push for new weapons and strategies to shore up Kyiv. That, in turn, has brought new threats by...
Kremlin critics: Russia uses its spy network to target dissidents abroad with poisonings and harassment
The military defector was killed in a hail of gunfire and then run over by a car in Spain. The opposition figure was struck repeatedly with a hammer in Lithuania. The journalist fell ill from a suspected poisoning in Germany. Since President Vladimir Putin launched...
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...
Ukraine marks 33rd Independence anniversary without fireworks or parades as war against Russia rages
A somber atmosphere pervades Ukraine’s 33rd Independence Day on August 24, as the nation’s war against Russia’s aggression reaches a 30-month milestone. No fireworks, parades, or concerts are planned and instead Ukrainians will mark the day with...
A deal with the devil: Why Ukraine cannot sign a peace deal with a Russian gun to its head
Signing an agreement with Russia to stop the war with Ukraine would amount to signing a deal with the devil, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as external forces seek to pressure the nation into a toxic deal to end more than two years of...
Secretary Blinken highlights global pledges to support Ukraine in case it is abandoned under Trump
Ukraine is on its way to being able to “stand on its own feet” militarily, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on July 19, noting that more than 20 other countries have pledged to maintain their own military and financial aid to the country even if the...
A changed battlefield: Ukraine’s bold gamble on an incursion moves deeper into Russian territory
Ukraine’s stunning incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region was a bold gamble for the country’s military commanders, who committed their limited resources to a risky assault on a nuclear-armed enemy with no assurance of success. After the first...
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....
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.
