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]

Ukraine can finally target Russian-occupied areas with long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S.
Ukraine for the first time began using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea and Russian forces in April. Long sought by Ukrainian leaders, the new missiles give Ukraine nearly double the...

Year In Review 2022: First-hand reports from the early days of war in Ukraine
2022 began with Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The traumatic war crimes against the Ukrainian people the escalating humanitarian crisis has strained the global economy and every level of civilized society. While taking place a continent...

Year In Review 2022: Milwaukee stands in solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s invasion
2022 began with Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The traumatic war crimes against the Ukrainian people the escalating humanitarian crisis has strained the global economy and every level of civilized society. While taking place a continent...

Year In Review 2022: The humanitarian crisis faced by Milwaukee’s Sister City of Irpin
2022 began with Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The traumatic war crimes against the Ukrainian people the escalating humanitarian crisis has strained the global economy and every level of civilized society. While taking place a continent...

Putin’s weaponization of winter leaves a Christmas in Ukraine without its traditional holiday glow
Just a year ago, Sophia Square in Kyiv was all about the big Christmas tree and thousands of lights spreading over the plaza. These final days of 2022, in the middle of a war that has ravaged the country for 10 months, a more modest tree stands there, its blue and...

Truth as collateral damage: Why Republicans ignore lies at home while denouncing Putin’s war on facts
There is a lot that is terrible about Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s brutal attempt to erase Ukraine from the map of Europe. From the incalculable humanitarian disaster that has seen millions of Ukrainians flee their home country, to the appalling carnage on the...

If Americans are unwilling to abandon Trump then we should not expect the Russians to give up on Putin
By Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Associate Professor of Critical Cultural & International Studies, Colorado State University; and Evgeniya Pyatovskaya, Ph.D. Candidate in Communication, University of South Florida While Russia is leading a merciless war in Ukraine...

A month of war: Russia’s stalled invasion of Ukraine has left death, destruction, and no clear endgame
Russia’s month-long war on Ukraine has killed thousands of people, displaced millions of refugees and devastated cities, but its armed forces remain largely frustrated by fierce Ukrainian resistance, with no end in sight to the conflict. On February 24, Russian...

An Age of Impunity: How Putin’s crimes against humanity puts international justice on trial
By Shelley Inglis, Executive Director, University of Dayton Human Rights Center, University of Dayton Images of pregnant women fleeing a bombed maternity ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, raised again the question of how far the Russian military will be willing to go to...

Putin’s Other War: When historical revisionism is used like a weapon for domestic repression
By Lynne Viola, Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto Vladimir Putin’s military aims, whether based on an attempt to restore the imperial grandeur of Russia or traditional Russian territorial paranoia, have resulted in the human tragedy of...

Irpin Billboard: Ukrainian Creatives use Milwaukee advertising space to inspire global info campaign
Documenting the destruction of Milwaukee’s sister city of Irpin, Ukraine, a new billboard has gone up along I-94 near 84th Street with a simple plea to local residents: “Milwaukee, your sister city is waiting for your support.” But the story of the billboard’s...

Irpin Diary: Personal stories of war from the volunteers saving lives in Milwaukee’s sister city
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following essay is a personal account of Іgоr Kоssоv, a journalist for the Kyiv Independent, describing spending a day with a small group of volunteers helping people get out of some of the most dangerous areas outside Kyiv. A clear, frigid day...

Believe in Ukraine: Milwaukee continues its solidarity on second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion
Milwaukee marked the solemn second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the 10th anniversary of Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, with a powerful show of solidarity at O’Donnell Park in downtown on February 24. City officials,...


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.