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]
Putin mocks Ukraine conference while floating latest ploy for peace talks using 2022 draft document
A draft peace agreement that Russia and Ukraine negotiated in the early days of the conflict could serve as a starting point for talks to end the fighting, the Kremlin said recently, reviving a proposal that Ukraine had rejected. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov...
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...
Moscow’s Miscalculations: How a little tyrant botched the attempt to subjugate a fearless nation
By Anton Oleinik, Professor of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland The war started by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine is not unfolding as he expected it would. His attempts to play the Cold War game of making threats to achieve his goals were not perceived...
Is Vladimir Putin a War Criminal? Understanding the legal implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the world must officially recognize that, under Putin, Russia has become a terrorist state. United States President Joe Biden has labelled his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, a “war criminal” for the war in Ukraine, drawing sharp...
Photos from the frontlines: Sergi Mykhalchuk documents images of war as civilians evacuate Irpin
Milwaukee’s sister city remains a strategic area as Russian invasion forces push to the capital city of Kyiv. Irpin has been under siege since March 4 and, like many smaller towns, has been targeted with indiscriminate and heavy bombardments. Lacking the ability...
Evacuees fleeing to Kyiv share dire stories about escaping Russia’s terror campaign on small towns
While Ukrainian forces have, so far, successfully held off the Russian troops from taking Kyiv, the towns around the capital have become some of the most intense battlegrounds of the ongoing war. Russia seized the outlying suburban towns with vehicles and infantry,...
Humanitarian Corridors: Russia has a long history of targeting vulnerable civilians in pathways to safety
By Kirsten Gelsdorf, Professor of Practice and Director of Global Humanitarian Policy, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia, University of Virginia; and Jacob Kurtzer, Director and Senior fellow, CSIS Humanitarian Agenda, Georgetown...
Pandemic in a time of war: The dilemma of seeking shelter from bombs while COVID-19 infections continue
In late February, Kyiv resident Serhii Fokin had a tough decision to make: walk into a bomb shelter during an air raid and risk infecting those around him, or stay at home, risking being killed by a Russian missile. Fokin chose the second option, staying in his...
Wrong about the future: How unsetting events at home and abroad have upended hope for tomorrow
Nationalism is disappearing, democracy is inevitable, and nuclear war cannot happen. Then came the invasion of Ukraine and all those certainties were proven wrong. I used to believe several things about the 21st century that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and...
Irpin and Zelenskyy: Documenting the brutality of Putin’s full-scale invasion in images for two years
Two years ago today, the free world awoke to the horrific news about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation in the heart of Europe. February 24 marks the second anniversary of a brutal conflict that has reshaped the geopolitical landscape,...
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.
