By Ella Jacob ’24
Books Editor & Copy Editor
Content warning: This article discusses war and state violence.
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the largest military assault instigated by Europe since World War II. Since the attack began, more than 10 million Ukrainians are estimated to have fled their homes, and according to a statement from the United Nations, as many as 1,793 civilians are confirmed to have died.
Photo Courtesy of Vadim Ghirda
Above, an unidentified resident walks through the remains of a building in Borodyanka, Ukraine
Putin has long claimed that Ukraine is Russian territory, rather than an independent country. Ukraine, the second-largest country in Europe, gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Soon after, in 1994, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, declaring that they would not use military or economic force against Ukraine, Belarus or Kazakhstan except in situations of self-defense, according to Brookings. In turn, Ukraine, Belarus or Kazakhstan gave up their nuclear weapons. Both before and after Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons — the third-largest stockpile in the world — the country only had physical access to the nuclear power, while Russia maintained operational control, according to the Jamestown Foundation.
In 2013, the Budapest Memorandum broke when Ukrainians rebelled against their pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, for refusing to sign an EU association agreement, according to Vox. Yanukovych attempted to violently quell these demonstrations, leading to anti-government protests that ousted Yanukovych as president. Since then, Russia has invaded and annexed Crimea, a region recognized by many countries — such as the United States and France — as belonging to Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainians have died amid the conflict.
Putin has justified this advance by claiming that Russians and Ukrainians are one and the same, stating in a Feb. 21, 2022 speech, “Modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia … from the very first steps they began to build their statehood on the denial of everything that unites us. They tried to distort the consciousness, the historical memory of millions of people, entire generations living in Ukraine,” as reported by Reuters. Although Putin believes that Ukraine is inherently tied to Russia, Ukraine has long been an independent country.
Students discuss current war
Millions of citizens of neighboring Eastern European countries have experienced the immediate effects of this conflict. Eastern European students from the Five Colleges commented on the circumstances in the hopes of helping others to better understand the war and its fatal consequences.
“War is horror and pain,” Masha Klymenko ’23, a Ukrainian student, began. “I dreamed of coming to Kyiv to my mother for the summer break … I loved to sit on the swing and read a book in our garden, inhaling the scent of dozens of rose bushes. In the evenings, [my] grandfather watered them, and the yard was filled with freshness. Now, I don’t know when it will all be in my life again.”
Klymenko emphasized the cruelty of war and how it disturbs the path many are familiar with. “You make plans, dream about the future, you rejoice, grieve, date. … Then one moment, [there are] rockets and bombs, people die. And time for you starts to go differently. You no longer have Mondays, Tuesdays — now, you have the first day of the war, the second day of the war, the 48th day of the war … everything around [you] is changing. What was important to you one day is now completely insignificant. All your plans for the future are no longer a reality. Your world has changed: a lot of death, pain, cruelty and injustice.”
A Smith College student from Georgia, who wishes to remain anonymous, expressed that “the war is absolutely horrible … it is the pure ambition of a single man who wants to expand his territories further and disrupt the emerging democracy in Ukraine.”
Georgia, a country located in the Caucasus, emerged as an independent republic after a revolution against the Russian Empire in 1917. After World War I, the country was invaded by the Soviet Union until it successfully seceded in 1991, with other countries under Soviet control declaring independence soon after, according to The Washington Post. The War in Abkhazia began the year after the country’s independence — the first time Russia encroached into Georgia after the fall of the Soviet Union, intending to start an ethnic conflict between Abkhazians and Georgians.
Anno Kostava ’24, a Georgian student, provided context about this conflict.
“Abkhazians and Georgians have been united under [Georgia] … When we had kings, they all were called the kings of Abkhazians, Kakhetinans, Georgians, so we were always together. … What Russia tried to do was make [a] conflict between our ethnicities by saying they are an independent country. Georgians have been living there for a very long time, but after the conflict, Russians made Georgians [out to be] villains and even encouraged [Abkhazians] to create [the] Abkhaz language, when they always talked in Georgian,” Kostava explained. “It is not just Putin. In 1992, there was no Putin. Russia has been doing this for a very long time.”
The tensions borne from the conflict led to the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, when Russian-backed forces began attacking Georgian villages. It is largely regarded as the first 21st-century European war.
“I was seven when my country got into a war with Russia and I still remember the emotions from many years ago,” the anonymous student stated. “The war with Ukraine feels like my country, my family and my loved ones are fighting, even though I have no relations with Ukraine except for a few friends from there. This war is definitely personal and makes me feel scared that my country and [I] will be the next to suffer similar casualties.”
According to the BBC, the 2008 war, which lasted for 12 days, saw Russia take over two Georgian provinces — South Ossetia and Abkhazia — and worsened relations between the two countries. Russia continues to unlawfully occupy a portion of Georgia, with the border between the two countries continuing to move as Russia illegally gains territory.
Kostava and Mariam Gabidzashvili ’24, also from Georgia, weighed in on how the conflict has hit close to home.
“It is disheartening and extremely scary,” Kostava began. “I am grateful that my family is safe right now, but I can’t seem to stop thinking about people fighting in Ukraine, brave Ukrainians and many Georgians who are there to help. I am deeply worried about the future.”
“If this aggression is not stopped, then Ukraine will simply cease to exist, and my country will be swallowed next,” Kostava said.
Gabidzashvili did not refrain from sharing her true feelings about Putin.
“Putin is a piece of shit formally known as a war criminal,” Gabidzashvili began. “It’s scary to think about how long this was being planned because even though it happened in one night for people in Ukraine and everyone else, this has been on Putin’s agenda for years. … He has been occupying territories and making smaller scale invasions that every other country has been neglecting.”
Similar to the sentiments of the anonymous Smith student, Gabidzashvili expressed the fear “that something can happen any minute. Especially to my country and my family … Everyone I love is scared for the future because they live next to Russia.” Gabidzashvili emphasized that “Putin will want more, and he will take more if countries don’t start acting. … This is not going to stop with Ukraine.”
Kostava echoed this sentiment. “[This invasion] has been going on longer than it seems and this attack on Ukraine is not a surprise,” Kostava said. “Unfortunately, people are not aware of the [Russian] aggression that has been going on before this war.” Kostava ended with a criticism of other governments and their actions, or lack thereof, toward the war, noting, “I would want others, especially in the West, to know that their governments are responsible … and sanctions are too weak — some of [them] are lies, even — to stop these killings.”
Not only are citizens from countries neighboring Russia disturbed by the war, but some Russian citizens themselves have expressed similar sentiments.
“I despise this war started by Russia. It ruins the lives of Ukrainian citizens, mutilates beautiful Ukrainian cities and land, and irreversibly degrades the countries of Russia and Belarus,” Ivan Gurov, a Russian freshman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said. “I despise all the intentions and factors which made such war desirable and all the committed war crimes possible. [The] imperialistic urges of the marasmic old man with absolute power, ever-present xenophobia in Russian people, patriarchy consuming Russian society and fear of the government inherited by generations of Russian all enabled this war.”
Gurov recognized that “because of the war, as a Russian citizen, I realized that I had a terrible misunderstanding of how Russian hearts and minds are truly changed by propaganda … from people faithfully supporting the war to the masses disagreeing … who have adopted the fear to take action induced by the Russian government. … I had no real conception of the proportions of this influence prior to the war. I also realized how privileged I am to be away from the fighting, to be away from economic disasters and to be able to speak my mind truthfully based on my values. I hope and know that the free-minded people of Ukraine will defeat the authoritarian threat that has already consumed my nation,” Gurov concluded. “Fuck Red Cross, donate to local initiatives and real people.”
As the seventh week of the invasion began, the violence continued. In the wake of apparent war crimes committed in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, including mass graves with the bodies of civilians killed by Russian soldiers, and other instances of executions and brutalization of Ukrainian citizens, U.S. President Joe Biden has called for a war crimes trial against Putin, according to CNBC.
Klymenko concluded, “Our family is lucky, we are all together, and we are safe, but our hearts remain … in Ukraine, and they bleed.”