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]
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...
A fight for survival: It is no longer just a personal battle for Ukraine’s athletes at the Paris Olympics
For Ukrainian hurdler Anna Ryzhykova, each stride on the Paris Olympic track will have meaning far beyond the time she clocks. Her competitions are no longer strictly an individual battle, but war on a different front. Her goal is not just gold, but also to rivet...
A home in ruins: Ukrainian high jumper keeps one eye on the raised bar and the other fixed on the war
Kateryna Tabashnyk’s success depends upon utter concentration on the here and now, on the height of the bar in front of her, and her body’s ability to leap it. That focus and drive is a requirement for all high-level athletes. But the 30-year-old Ukrainian...
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...
Halyna Zdyrko Salapata: The sacrifices that come with supporting Ukraine while raising a family in Milwaukee
Parents in Milwaukee, like those everywhere, understand the universal struggle of balancing work with home life. It is a common challenge to juggle job responsibilities with family demands. What is more uncommon is when the job in Milwaukee involves raising funds to...
Out of sight, out of mind: UN refugee chief worries the world has forgotten about the brutal war in Ukraine
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in late January that that he was worried that the war in Ukraine has been forgotten, as the country prepares to mark two years since the start of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion. UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi also...
Russia’s empire of lies: Why Putin is desperate to control the narrative of Ukrainian self-identity
By Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Associate Professor of Critical Cultural & International Studies, Colorado State University Controlling the narrative has long been crucial to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in his brutal war against Ukraine. In the worldview he...
Cult of War: How the Kremlin weaponized Russian history to justify the era of Soviet terror
When Tucker Carlson asked Vladimir Putin about his reasons for invading Ukraine two years ago, Putin gave him a lecture on a fictional version of Russian history. The brutal 71-year-old dictator spent more than 20 minutes showering a baffled Carlson with dates and...
Senator Ron Johnson tells Congress he sees no point in using taxpayer dollars to stop Putin in Ukraine
At about 2 a.m. on February 13, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin stood on the Senate floor and explained why he opposed sending more aid to help Ukraine fend off the invasion launched in 2022 by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “A lot of the points...
Outnumbered defenders in Ukraine’s Avdiivka face collapse due to GOP’s obstruction of sending aid
Ukrainian troops in Avdiivka struggled on February 16 with severe ammunition shortages as Russian forces tightened the noose around the strategic eastern city in an intense Kremlin push for a battlefield win. The timing is critical as Russia is looking for a morale...
Carlson’s Clown Show: Takeaways from the exchange between former Fox News host and a Russian dictator
Vladimir Putin turned to a trusted ally for his first interview with a Western media figure, since he launched without provocation the brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Putin has heavily limited his contact with international media since February...
Advanced Wireless begins shipping hundreds of access points it donated to rebuild Irpin’s Wi-Fi network
Darryl Morin, President and CEO of Advanced Wireless, Inc. (AWI), formally announced on February 1 the donation and pending shipment of more than 800 site-survivable Wi-Fi access points to Milwaukee’s Sister City of Irpin, Ukraine. The donation, consisting of...
Ukrainian hospital clowns replace fear with joy for cancer patients who survived Russian missile strike
Their costumes are put on with surgical precision: Floppy hats, foam noses, bright clothes, and a ukulele with multicolored nylon strings. Moments later, in a beige hospital ward normally filled with the beeping sounds of medical machinery, there are bursts of giggles...
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.
