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]

Global populations face threat of radioactive pollution from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
By Nino Antadze, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies, University of Prince Edward Island Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put the country’s nuclear facilities at considerable risk. For example, on April 7 a drone attacked Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power...

Interview with Tom Barrett: U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg reflects on forging ties with Irpin
Return to Ukraine: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that recorded news from areas across Ukraine, including Milwaukee's sister city of Irpin, from June to July of 2023. It was the second time in the span of a year that the...

Wisconsin Ukrainians host annual fundraising picnic to support homeland on 500th day of war
Local Ukrainian Americans celebrated their vibrant ethnic culture during an annual community picnic in Franklin, while holding in their hearts the many family and friends still living under brutal Russian occupation in Ukraine. It was an immersive experience that allowed residents from all over Wisconsin to experience Ukraine’s unique heritage.

Return to Ukraine: A trauma loop of travel from Milwaukee to a country still at war a year later
Return to Ukraine: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that recorded news from areas across Ukraine, including Milwaukee's sister city of Irpin, from June to July of 2023. It was the second time in the span of a year that the...

From Weddings to War: How Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov photograph Ukraine’s daily horrors
Return to Ukraine: This feature is part of an original Milwaukee Independent editorial series that recorded news from areas across Ukraine, including Milwaukee's sister city of Irpin, from June to July of 2023. It was the second time in the span of a year that the...

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...

Diane Baima: A holiday season filled with thoughts of Milwaukee but with the trauma of war in Ukraine
People often ask me how we are doing, how is the situation in Ukraine, what it is like to live through an invasion. Usually, I am so busy that I do not have time to process how I am doing. The internet works sporadically, so I can only follow the news sometimes. When...

“We are here to fix it,” How Ukraine utility crews adapt and overcome after Russia strikes on power grids
Over the grinding wail of a chainsaw pruning trees, Oleh Braharnyk recalls how his crew sprang into action in Kyiv recently to repair power lines downed by Russian missiles and keep electricity flowing to his beleaguered fellow Ukrainians. Braharnyk, an electric...

Ukrainian youth choir sings in defiance of war with messages of hope and freedom
From a dank Kyiv bomb shelter to the bright stage lights of Europe’s theaters, a Ukrainian youth choir’s hymns in praise of freedom offer a kind of healing balm to its war-scarred members. The Shchedryk ensemble, described as Kyiv’s oldest...

Ukraine celebrates the Jewish Festival of Lights in the darkness of Russia’s war against humanity
Jews in Ukraine waging a “war between darkness and light” lit a giant menorah on December 18 to start the eight-day Hanukkah holiday as tens of thousands remained without electricity and Russia’s nearly 10-month war produced new victims. Dozens...

International donors race to supply generators and medical aid to hard-hit Ukraine ahead of winter’s grip
When Russian forces launched a military campaign against infrastructure in Ukraine nearly two months ago, they opened a front that carried the war along power lines, water mains and heating systems to homes, schools, offices and churches. The government in Kyiv and...

Russia concludes secretive political trial with conviction of U.S. reporter on espionage charges
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was falsely convicted on July 19 of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison on charges that his employer and the U.S. government have rejected as fabricated. The swift conclusion of the secretive...


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.