Ukrainian students: ‘So many lies’

Postdoc researcher Andriy of CEG faculty

“I can’t concentrate so much on my work. I try to follow the news as much as possible, via Facebook partially. Things are happening so rapidly. In Crimea the situation is frightening. The Russian influence there is very strong. People are being beaten and kidnapped. All Ukranian TV is blocked, people can only see Russian propaganda. The elderly look back with nostalgia at the Soviet Union. Most of the young people don’t want to join Russia however.

If Crimea is separated from Ukraine, I think it will turn into an area like Transnistria, a place that isn’t really recognized as a country internationally and where the economic situation is very bad. Crimea thrives on tourism, yet what tourist will go to a place full with armed people.  I was in the Ukraine when the most dramatic events occurred (the killings at Maidan square in Kiev). But I was in the western part of the country, with friends and relatives. You’re the furthest away from Russia there, and thus safest.”

Erasmus Mundos student Kateryna (specializing in wind energy) comes from a Ukrainian speaking family in the south eastern part of the country. Rocket science student Olga is from Kiev and has a mixed background, Russian and Ukrainian speaking parents. Both can speak both languages.

Kateryna: “When we are speaking together we sometimes, without noticing it, switch language.” They say that there are no “hard feelings” between the two language groups in Ukraine. “And there is no conflict between east and west either”, adds Kateryna, who recently organized a protest in front of the Russian embassy in The Hague.

Olga: “The radical people form a small minority. Take that new prime minister of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov of the party Russia Unity; during the last elections in Crimea that party got only four percent of the votes.”

Kateryna: “In my city Zaporizhia things are quiet now. More to the south soldiers are protecting the border with Crimea. I think that Ukrainian soldiers will keep protecting the country. I follow the news through Facebook and on a website that reveals lies. Recently a video was release that supposedly showed Ukrainian soldiers misbehaving. But they were Russian in disguise. You could notice because of the weapons they were carrying.”

Olga: “If Russia had not interfered with the country with propaganda, then this whole situation would never have occurred. An uncle of mine living in Crimea said that his neighbor had heard on television rumors that busses filled with Ukrainian where on the y way to go and kill Russians. It’s nonsens. I try not to follow the news anymore. I get to stressed, especially from the headlines. There are so many lies.”

Sasha, a PhD candidate from Kiev who will defend his thesis on drag reduction on ship hulls later this month

“My wife and I speak to friends and relatives on the phone every day. Most of them live around Kiev, but my wife also has a Russian aunt and Ukrainian uncle who live in Crimea. On a daily basis they don’t notice much about the state of affairs. The situation is especially tense around the military basis’. It is clear that these bases are surrounded by Russian soldiers. It really is a dirty job they are doing. The reason for all of this is that Putin feels threatened by democracy. He doesn’t want to have neighboring country where demonstrations are allowed.”