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]
Battlefield challenges: Ukraine fights for survival against Russia as political winds shift in U.S.
After almost 30 months of war with Russia, Ukraine’s difficulties on the battlefield are mounting even as its vital support from the United States is increasingly at the mercy of changing political winds. A six-month delay in military assistance from the U.S.,...
A web of scars: Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers face an amputee trauma on a scale unseen since WWI
The small band of soldiers gather outside to share cigarettes and war stories, sometimes casually and sometimes with a degree of testiness over recollections made unreliable by their last day fighting, the day the war took away their limbs. Some clearly remember the...
Trump’s favorite war criminal worms back into American politics as Putin supports his puppet
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin recently asserted that the criminal cases against disgraced ex-president Donald Trump were nothing more than political revenge, offering a series of toxic statements seen as his latest effort to sow discord by supporting his former...
So Long Ukraine, and Thanks for All the Hotdogs*
As I reflect on my second assignment to Ukraine from June to July, and the corresponding news series of articles, interviews, and photo essays I produced, a flood of thoughts come to mind. One in particular involved a hotdog. I originally intended to post the image...
Seeking Truth: Journalistic integrity in the face of Russian propaganda, lies, and disinformation
“A country that cannot face its past has no future.” – Yang Jisheng Recently, someone asked me about how I keep my journalistic integrity when I cover Ukraine and get so close to traumatic events. I said firstly, ethics in school and ethics in...
From invasion to liberation: Sergi Mykhalchuk earns 2 Milwaukee Press Club awards for his images in Irpin
Somewhere in Ukraine, at an undisclosed location along the frontlines, Sergi Mykhalchuk received a Facebook message from Milwaukee that his work documenting Irpin’s evacuation and later liberation had won two journalism awards. On May 12, the Milwaukee Press...
Milwaukee Independent earns 3 of its 11 Gridiron Awards for first-hand reporting of Ukraine War
The Milwaukee Independent earned eleven top distinctions on May 12 from the Milwaukee Press Club for Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism, during the 2023 Gridiron Awards at the Pfister Hotel. The journalism honors follow multiple years of double-digit recognition for...
Evgeniy Maloletka’s image of Mariupol hospital attack wins multiple photo awards including Pulitzer Prize
Associated Press photographer Evgeniy Maloletka won the World Press Photo of the Year award on April 20 for his haunting image of emergency workers carrying a pregnant woman through the shattered grounds of a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, in...
UN Nuclear watchdog sounds alarm over Russian military threat to Zaporizhzhia plant safety
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has expressing growing anxiety about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, after the governor of the Russia-occupied area ordered the evacuation of a town where most plant staff live amid ongoing...
Kremlin exploits TikTok’s algorithms to flood disinformation over its brutal invasion of Ukraine
A year ago, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, TikTok started labeling accounts operated by Russian state propaganda agencies as a way to tell users they were being exposed to Kremlin disinformation. An analysis a year later shows the policy has been...
Ukrainians mark 37th anniversary of Chernobyl disaster amid escalating nuclear threats from Russia
Workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26 marked the 37th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear disaster amid an ongoing war and nuclear threats, somberly laying flowers at a monument for victims. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used...
Russia’s Folly: NATO countries eye more help for Ukraine as Putin pushes his failing invasion
Ukraine’s Western allies have sent the country $70 billion in military aid to help thwart Russia’s full-scale invasion, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in early April, and with no peace negotiations on the horizon the alliance is gearing up to...
Navigating the darkness: Ukraine’s power blackouts return after Russia targets civilian infrastructure
During daytime, entire districts of Ukraine’s capital are disconnected from the power grid to save energy. Traffic lights stop, choking traffic, accompanied by the constant rumble of generators installed outside cafes and shops. Ukraine, including Kyiv, is...
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.
