WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Last week, dozens of people again showed solidarity with the nation of Ukraine in their ongoing battle against Russia.
IU students, professors, and Bloomington residents alike came together for the second time in the past two weeks to spread awareness of the Russian-instigated war in Ukraine, marching from the Showalter Fountain down to the Sample Gates, where blue and yellow flags flew high and clear voices sung the national anthem: Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished.
Ani Abrahamyan, treasurer of the Ukrainian Studies Organization at IU responsible for organizing the protest, expressed her frustration at the territory conflicts preventing nations from claiming their sovereignty.
“I would just like to say it’s not a conflict, it’s an outright war,” said Abrahamyan. “It certainly makes it much more difficult with each subsequent war to deal emotionally and mentally with this.”
She feels that Bloomington residents are doing a good job in spreading awareness of the war.
“The one thing that can and needs to be done is just the continuation of spreading the information, making sure we call things by the right names and trying to attend, educate and attend events organized to shed light on the war,” she said.
Having been displaced from the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh at an early age, she doesn’t have to imagine what so many Ukrainians are going through right now. But she wants them to know how important it is to have hope.
“The struggle for freedom is one of the most noble struggles in the history of humankind, and the most important thing is hope. Even when things don’t look like they’re going to get better, we have to have hope, because that helps us to continue existing, promoting our culture and educating our children. So just don’t give up, have faith and hope,” said Abrahamyan.
Kystyna Lopez, a physics graduate student from the Chicago area, knew the words to the national anthem by heart. She understands the importance of bringing awareness of the invasion close to home.
“It has such extreme implications, that it’s something that people should be aware about and care about, because it will affect them, sooner or later in a much more direct way,” said Lopez.
She said that this Russian-Ukrainian war is something that even U.S. citizens should pay attention to.
“I think the the level of threat this poses is something that we need to be very critically aware of,” she said.
Lopez said it’s important to keep up the awareness and the momentum.
“It will be very easy for this to be something that people care about for a short time and it goes on and and people forget about it,” said Lopez. “Not letting it die, I think is important, especially because this is not the beginning.”
Tatiana Ford, a native Ukrainian who moved to Bloomington just a few years ago, expressed her pain at her inability to help her family members who are now stuck in her hometown.
“My native town is Mykolaiv , which is destroyed right now. And I have my mother and my niece who are hiding in a bomb shelter for seven days,” said Ford. “What actually is going on right now: it’s just destroying of nation, culture and cities and all infrastructure; including TV towers, including energy supplies, water supplies, television, military bases, even civilian airports.”
She thinks that Western governments should do everything they can to protect Ukraine.
“Truly, I think they are afraid to take part, because if they take part it will be actually a third world war,” says Ford.
She believes Russians, too, must take responsibility.
“I think that the population of Russia is 145 million. If they all stand up against the war, it will work,” she said.
Ford said the only hope against dictators like Vladimir Putin is the truth.
“The best help against information war, it’s to show world the truth. We have kids in the hospital right now who don’t have legs and arms. We have 16 kids dead, and I wish everybody sees it and knows what’s going on,” said Ford.
The Ukrainian Studies Organization has organized teach-ins throughout this week to educate residents on Ukrainian history and amplify Ukrainian voices in the community. It will continue to be a beacon amidst the uncertainty.
