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]
South Korea considers sending weapons to Ukraine after dictators Putin and Kim sign military pact
South Korea said on June 20 that it would consider sending arms to Ukraine, a major policy change that was suggested after Russia and North Korea rattled the region and beyond by signing a pact to come to each other’s defense in the event of war. The comments...
Echoes of Holodomor: Award-winning documentary “Famine” banned by Russia for depiction of cruel past
By Jeremy Hicks, Professor of Russian Culture and Film, Queen Mary University of London In October last year, Russia banned a documentary depicting the famine that hit parts of the Soviet Union including Ukraine between 1921 and 1923 and revoked the film’s screening...
Ukraine tries to outsmart a brutal Russian army distracted by rebellion and infighting
The ambush had been postponed three times before Ukrainian commanders decided one recent night that conditions were finally right. Cloaked in darkness, a battalion of Kyiv’s 129th brigade pressed ahead, advancing stealthily on unsuspecting Russian soldiers. By...
Ukrainian family finds closure after 16-month ordeal to identify a veteran killed in Bucha
The Ukrainian veteran’s gravestone carries his photograph and birthday, but the date Roman Shadlovskyi died is a broad estimate: March 2022, the month Russian forces brutally killed both civilians and military personnel before ending their occupation of Bucha....
Russia seeks to escalate global hunger crisis with halt to deal allowing Ukraine grain exports
Russia on July 17 halted a breakthrough wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov...
2022 Notebook: Journalists share experiences of reporting on the front lines as Russia invades Ukraine
After a year of Russian troop buildup, diplomatic wrangling, and months of consternation of will he or won’t he, on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military invasion of Ukraine. Despite the buildup, the move shocked the world, and...
Months after doctors escaped from occupied Mariupol they reassembled to open a hospital in Kyiv
A nurse wounded by a Russian sniper was spirited out wrapped in sheets. Another, sickened by the thought of working for the people who destroyed his home, sneaked out a side door and walked out through Mariupol’s shattered streets. Doctors shed their scrubs for...
A battle of attrition: Stalemate in Ukraine sets stage for possible winter escalation
With the war in Ukraine grinding through its 10th month, both sides are locked in a stalemated battle of attrition, which could set the stage for a new round of escalation. Many observers see the current deadlock as beneficial to Ukraine, allowing it to receive more...
Ukrainian-Americans responds to Russia’s invasion with book of poetry that shares both grief and hope
Milwaukee’s Boswell Book Company hosted an evening with Olena Jennings, editor of “Ukrainian-American Poets Respond” on December 14. She talked about the anthology of poetic responses to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Russia continued to indiscriminately target the civilian population with missile attacks.
Lola Vaganova: Poems written in Ukrainian bomb shelter offer a powerful witness of war to Milwaukee
During a poetry reading by Olena Jennings and Krystia Nora, from their book “Ukrainian-American Poets Respond,” there was a Q&A session with the audience at the Boswell Book Company on December 14. Instead of presenting a question, however, one young...
Zemliachky: Volunteers fill unanticipated gaps in supply operations to equip Ukraine’s women soldiers
When 25-year-old Anastasia Mokhina donned fatigues and rushed off with her husband to help Ukraine defend itself as Russia invaded on February 24, she quickly realized the military wasn’t well prepared for an influx of women volunteers. So her elder half-brother...
Zelenskyy to meet Biden and address Congress today in first trip to Washington since Russia’s invasion began
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was making his way to Washington on December 21 for a summit with President Joe Biden and to address Congress in his first known trip outside the country since Russia’s invasion began in February. Zelenskyy said on his...
Russia’s brutal advances strain Ukrainian front-line troops just as mobilization law comes into force
A divisive mobilization law in Ukraine came into force on May 11, as Kyiv struggles to boost troop numbers after Russia launched a new offensive that some fear could close in on Ukraine’s second-largest city. The legislation, which was watered down from its...
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.
