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]
European leaders say Russia is waging a shadow war on the West that needs a collective response
Perched on the open ramp at the rear of a British Chinook helicopter, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas flew home from the annual Spring Storm military exercises, pleased to see NATO allies cooperating. But she later said that other types of warfare were on her...
“Scorched Earth” tactics: Russia accused of destroying Kakhovka dam in Kherson to submerge frontlines
A major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed on June 6, flooding villages, endangering crops, and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war scrambled to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction. Ukraine accused Russian forces of...
A brutal invader: Ukraine aims to brand Russia as a “terrorist state” in hearings at top UN court
Lawyers for Ukraine told the United Nations’ top court on June 6 that Russia bankrolled a “campaign of intimidation and terror” by rebels in eastern Ukraine starting in 2014 and sought to replace Crimea’s multiethnic community with...
Not planting means death: Ukraine farmers continue to risk losing their lives or livelihoods during war
A grassy lane rutted with tire tracks leads to Volodymyr Zaiets’ farm in southern Ukraine. He is careful, driving only within those shallow grooves, and veering away might cost him his life in the field dotted with explosive mines. Weeds grow tall where rows of...
Deterring Russian aggression: The United States will provide Ukraine with $1.2B in long-term security aid
The U.S. will provide $1.2 billion more in long-term military aid to Ukraine to further bolster its air defenses as Russia continues to pound Ukraine with drones, rockets, and surface-to-air missiles, the Pentagon said. The aid package will be provided under the...
Mariupol’s Holodomor Memorial destroyed by occupation troops to further erase Ukrainian history
Russian occupiers of Mariupol dismantled the Monument to the Victims of Holodomor in late October, the Famine of 1932-33 created by dictator Joseph Stalin that claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians. The current Russian regime has asserted...
World Health Organization warns that millions face a “life-threatening” winter in Ukraine
Rolling blackouts across Ukraine may continue through March, according to one of the country’s energy chiefs, as Ukrainians brace for a grim winter after weeks of relentless Russian strikes against its power grid. Sergey Kovalenko, CEO of private energy provider...
Kherson returns to life as residents face reminders of the terrifying months spent under Russian occupation
In the time since the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson was liberated, residents cannot escape reminders of the terrifying eight months they spent under Russian occupation. People are missing. There are mines everywhere, closed shops and restaurants, a scarcity of...
Moldova seeks aid to survive being hit hard by the collateral damage of war in next-door Ukraine
Diplomats are drumming up money and other support on November 21 for Europe’s poorest country, Moldova, which is suffering massive blackouts, heavy refugee flows and potential security threats from the war in neighboring Ukraine. The international aid conference...
Irpin officials say foreign philanthropic foundations have used the city’s suffering as a PR stunt
In a recent interview with the Polish publication “Gazeta Wyborcza,” the Mayor of Milwaukee’s Sister City detailed his frustration with foreign foundations that toured Irpin with promises of help for its reconstruction, only to used the visits as a...
Ukraine United: Following his failed military strategy Putin’s war of false narratives is also crumbling
By Ronald Suny, Professor of History and Political Science, University of Michigan People understand the world, where we came from, how we got here, and where we are likely to go because of the stories we tell about ourselves and others. The very political and social...
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...
A 98-year-old Ukrainian woman escaped Russian occupation by walking in slippers for miles to safety
A 98-year-old woman in Ukraine who escaped Russian-occupied territory by walking almost 6 miles alone, wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane has been reunited with her family days after they were separated while fleeing to safety. Lidia Stepanivna...
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]
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