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The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

“They Will Survive This”: Georgetown Community Members Express Support for Ukraine

CW: This article discusses mass violence in Ukraine. Please refer to the end of the article for on- and off-campus resources.

The sound of bombs abruptly woke up Katya Sedova’s (GRD ’18) family early Feb. 24 in Kyiv, signalling the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which had been looming for weeks. 

“I’m here before you because my family is still in Ukraine. They indicated they awoke today to the sirens and sounds of air raids, something that Kyiv and many cities in Ukraine have not heard since World War II,” Sedova said at a town hall event Feb. 24. “That experience alone is surreal.” 

Sedova, who is from Ukraine, spoke about her family’s experience and the current crisis facing Ukraine at the event hosted by Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS). 

Kirk Zieser/The Hoya | Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Georgetown Walsh School of Foreign Service hosted a town hall to show solidarity with Ukraine’s people. At the event, Katya Sedova (GRD ’18) recounted her family’s experience waking up to bombs falling on Kyiv.

The Russian military invaded Ukraine, storming the Eastern European country by air, land and sea. The invasion followed years of rising Russian pressure and recent weeks of escalating Russian militarization along its border with Ukraine. Leaders around the world have condemned the invasion, which is rooted in Russia’s history of imperialism.  

The event also featured SFS professors Caitlin Talmadge and Charles Kupchan, and SFS Dean Joel Hellman. 

Following the Russian invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law throughout Ukraine. At least 137 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Wednesday, with heavy artillery and shelling from Russia targeting airports, major cities and military infrastructure. 

Ukrainians will resist the invasion, Sedova said. 

“I want you to understand to what extent Ukrainians will resist. It’s not a hashtag. It is a reality for every Ukrainian, wherever they are in the world,” Sedova said. “Their struggle for sovereignty — for independence — goes back centuries. It is not just an idea. It is something they live and breathe and internalize.” 

The SFS organized the event to show solidarity with Ukraine’s people, Hellman said.

“I thought it was very important for us as a community to come together to show our solidarity for our students who are suffering, to show our solidarity with the people of Ukraine and come together,” Hellman said at the event. 

Kupchan, whose parents are from Ukraine, but no longer live there, believes Russia will take over Ukraine within days. 

“I’m guessing that we will see the Russians in the city center in a few days. And that’s because the Ukrainian military, despite the fighting spirit, is no match for one of the best armies in the world,” Kupchan said at the event. “By suppressing the country’s defenses, there’s effectively clearing the way for a set of tanks and armored columns to come in.” 

The United States must continue to focus on it’s own democratic domestic challenges before getting intertwined with Russia and Ukraine, Kupchan said.

“One of the things I’m most worried about, is that we’re going to be preoccupied with this problem when in some ways the much bigger threat to us as a country is right here at home, solving our domestic problems, getting our political central back to life,” Kupchan said.  “I hope that the preoccupation in Russia does not distract us from that very important domestic agenda.” 

In a pretext to the invasion, Russian President Valdimir Putin spun a conspiracy theory that Ukraine was on a path to nuclear power in an address aired to Russian people on Feb. 21. 00

Talmadge is particularly alarmed by Putin’s discourse on nuclear weapons. 

“He’s really saying that, no, I’m going to do what I want at the conventional level. And if you respond, I may actually turn to my nuclear weapons as a means of getting you to back down,” Talmadge said at the event. “This is a development we’re seeing in quite a few countries in their nuclear arsenals, using nuclear weapons as a shield for conventional aggression.” 

The invasion, however, may backfire due to unpopular support for the move among the Russian people, Talmadge said.  

“It absolutely could be devastating for Putin politically. We’re already seeing evidence of what to me was surprising in terms of Russian domestic protests against this military operation,” Talmadge said. 

As they have in the past Ukranians will persevere, Sedova said. 

“Ukrainians have a long view of history because they’ve had a lot of history and a long struggle. To this moment, they survived Stalin’s Holodomor genocide. They survived Hitler. They survived Stalin’s gulags and resettlements. They survived the Soviet regime,” Sedova said.“And they will survive this, too.” 

Resources: On-campus resources include Health Education Services (202-687-8949) and Counseling and Psychiatric Service (202-687-7080); off-campus resources include Crisis Text Line (text 741741).

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    David DzidzikashviliMar 20, 2022 at 7:07 am

    What is happening in Ukraine today these events had been happening for the past 20+ years, when Putin came into power by bombing his own people – civilian apartments and committing atrocities against the Chechen people. The response from the US, EU and NATO had been just complete silence and welcoming Putin to the summits and holding red carpet meetings for him. This further emboldened Putin who attacked Georgia in 2008 and conquered Abkhazia and Samachablo. What did the Western powers do? Absolutely nothing! Reset by the Obama Administration and warm handshakes by Merkel, total ignorance of the international laws and Putin’s war crimes against the Georgian people. What happened afterwards? Putin invaded Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. What did the Western powers do? Bare minimum of symbolic sanctions that continued to feed Putin’s war machine. Then Syria, use of chemical weapons, more atrocities… What did the Western powers do? Absolutely nothing!
    So we are here as a result of Putin’s false perception that he could chew more than he could bite and the 20+ year ignorance from the EU, US and the NATO. Today there is strong response and sanctions that will take the Russian economy back to the 1990s indicators, however it is too late and too little. Ukraine needs the Patriot missiles, S-400s, S-300s, missiles to shoot down airplanes and incoming rockets at much higher altitudes than Stingers could reach, Ukraine needs much more firepower and the ability to control and close its own skies. Lets help Zelensky establish the No Fly Zone! The Biden administration looked weak, but slowly they are starting to wake up and see the true face of evil – Vladimir Putin who is trying to restore the new Russian empire…

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