The university’s international studies department hosted a webinar on the Russian-Ukrainian war on Tuesday, featuring prominent speakers from around the world as well as university departments.

The event was moderated by Nancy Stockdale, Director of the Department of International Studies. The conference brought together four different contributors, all from diverse backgrounds to provide context on the conflict with diverse perspectives.

The first of the speakers was Marta Havyrshko, professor at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. She spoke about the specific damage that war has done to women and children, as well as the common effects that refugee crises and war in general have on women. Havryshko’s presentation focused on what women in Ukraine have been through since the start of the conflict, showing photos of women’s battalions making supplies for frontline soldiers, as well as a photo of a leaflet distributed to Ukrainian refugees warning them of human trafficking and exploitation that is occurring. at increased levels among refugees.

Havryshko herself is Ukrainian and was calling from Hamburg, Germany, where she has been staying since fleeing Lviv with her 9-year-old son. During the webinar, Havryshko had an emotional moment where she stumbled over her words after receiving notification from relatives in Ukraine confirming they were safe.

Two professors from the Department of History, Olga Velikanova and Vojin Majstorovic, also provided insight into Vladimir Putin’s justification of the war and the historical context of the conflict, respectively. Velikanova published five books on Russian history and lived in Russia until Putin was elected, after which she left due to her history as an agent of the KGB, Russia’s former secret police and agency. of intelligence. Majstorovic is an associate professor specializing in Soviet history during World War II.

“I believe that professionals and also journalists, media people, can contribute to the resolution of this terrible, terrible situation by bringing our very well-funded opinions to the people, to compete with the inadequate information circulating in the media space” , said Velikanova. “So, I appreciate this opportunity to contribute to this great mission, to inform the public.”

Greek freelance photojournalist Nick Paleologos ended the presentation part by presenting images from the Polish-Ukrainian border. Paleologos noted that the Russian-Ukrainian war is “the most covered war in history” and warned that while it is very important for the world to know what is happening, people must also be careful not to become desensitized. to the horrors of war.

“I think we need to open up a conversation at some point about what we’re feeding our children,” Paleologos said. “All these generally dangerous and ugly images. We need to know what’s going on, what’s going on, but at some point we don’t need to question our sanity.

Paleologos said seeing previous refugee crises made him hesitant to travel to Poland at first, but he was relieved to find that Poles were “moving quickly” and giving Ukrainians the care they needed.

“I hope I never have to cover something like this again, but I will, and all we have to do is communicate it by any means necessary,” Paleologos said.

The webinar ended with a question and answer session, where students had the opportunity to ask speakers for their opinions on the conflict and provide insight into specific circumstances. Many questions have swirled around the reactions that other nations might have regarding the conflict.

“You know, I’m a historian of the Middle East, and people often ask me to predict [the social ramifications of the conflict in Europe] and I really can’t,” Stockdale said. “So I think the ultimate answer to that question is we just don’t know.”

Featured artwork by Erika Sevilla