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]

Cost of not investing: Why rebuilding Ukraine becomes more expensive each day of Russia’s occupation
By Jeffrey Kucik, Associate Professor at the University of Arizona, University of Arizona U.S. military assistance is finally on its way to Ukraine after months of being held up in Congress. Reactions to the US$61 billion spending package, signed into law by President...

Online language tools: A personal journey to learn Ukrainian after Russia’s second invasion began
I began to learn Ukrainian in the early spring of 2022, shortly after the start of Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine. For me, languages are an important way of making sense of the world and creating connections. At that time, more than anything, I wanted to feel...

Ukraine officials urge local residents from recently-liberated areas to relocate before upcoming winter
Ukrainian authorities have started evacuating civilians from the recently-liberated areas of the Kherson region and the neighboring province of Mykolaiv, fearing that damage to the infrastructure is too severe for people to endure the upcoming winter, officials said...

A barbed wire curtain: Russia’s war in Ukraine ushered in a new era of confrontation and the rise of barriers
The long border between Finland and Russia runs through thick forests and is marked only by wooden posts with low fences meant to stop stray cattle. Soon, a stronger, higher fence will be erected on parts of the frontier. Earlier this month, Polish soldiers began...

Environmental toll of war: The pollution caused by Russia’s invasion will take Ukraine years to clean up
Olga Lehan’s home near the Irpin River was flooded when Ukraine destroyed a dam to prevent Russian forces from storming the capital of Kyiv just days into the war. Weeks later, the water from her tap turned brown from pollution. “It was not safe to...

Roman Kashpur: Ukrainian war hero conquers Tokyo Marathon 2024 with prosthetic leg
3.11 EXPLORING FUKUSHIMA: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that documented the 13th anniversary of the "Great East Japan Earthquake," tsunami, and nuclear accident, including the conditions of both the people and places that...


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.