Seeking to Understand War in Ukraine

History department chair Stefan Stawnychy typically offers lunchtime discussions throughout the year on topics that tie to the Politics and US History curriculum. His Ukrainian heritage has added a particularly insightful perspective on the war in Ukraine.

In a talk on February 4, prior to the outbreak of war, Stefan explained, “This conflict began in 2014. Ukraine is 7% occupied and more than 15,000 people have died so far. Any escalation will result in many more deaths.”He gave an abbreviated history of the region and described Ukraine as the buffer zone between Europe and Russia with its long coastline of warm water, long coveted by Russia. In a subsequent talk on March 3, Stefan discussed the larger context of the invasion and debunked recent propaganda that sought to place the blame of the Russian invasion on NATO and characterizes Ukraine as a neo-Nazi state. He encouraged students to seek trustworthy news sources including:Masha Gessen,Tim Snyder,Alexander Motyland Kyiv Independent.