It’s been two years since Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine and 10 years since Russian President Vladimir Putin unilaterally annexed Crimea from Ukrainian territory.
Oregonians by the hundreds gathered for continued Ukrainian resilience and resistance on Feb. 23 at Reed College and on Feb. 24 in Pioneer Courthouse Square.
Reed sociology Professor Alexandra Hrycak moderated a separate discussion on Feb. 23 from New York City’s Cooper Union that included 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk. A large crowd of Ukraine supporters gathered to watch the NYC discussion on a big screen at Reed before talking among themselves over pizza, juice and coffee.
Vasyl Safin, a visiting assistant psychology professor at Reed, moderated the campus discussion to explore the issues of Russia’s invasion. Safin recently has become interested in examining how propaganda, such as massive social media disinformation campaigns conducted by Russia, harms societies.
"The two-year anniversary brings out strong emotions for most Ukrainians as we relive those traumatic memories, so it means a great deal that Reed students, faculty and the broader local community showed up to learn about and support Ukraine's fight for freedom from occupation and authoritarianism,” Safin said.
Among the attendees of the free and public event at Reed included Ukrainian-born students and Safin’s sister who also escaped the Russian occupation of Ukraine when the siblings’ hometown was invaded. They said that their extended family now lives in several houses in a Milwaukie neighborhood of Clackamas County, not far from the Reed campus.
As head of the Center for Civil Liberties, Matviichuk said that her organization has documented over 64,000 cases of Russian war crimes that include everything from torturing people to banning Ukrainian language and culture in occupied territories.
“We have an ambitious goal to document each criminal episode,” Matviichuk said.
Matviichuk said that the Nuremberg trials were the only 20th century case where a whole country’s war criminals were held accountable in court, but justice in the 21st century shouldn't have to wait for the collapse of the Russian regime to form a special tribunal to hold Putin and other war criminals accountable.
“Unpunished evil grows,” she said of Putin’s increasingly brazen attacks on human rights.
Other panelists in NYC included PEN Ukraine President Volodymyr Yermolenko and Kristina Hook, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
Beaverton-based Ukrainian Foundation Board members Tetyana Horner and Tatiana Terdal were among the attendees of the Feb. 23 event at Reed College. Terdal spoke at the end of the event about the work of the foundation with refugees in the region and support for those who remain in Ukraine.
Terdal said there was great value in exercising democratic rights like freedom of speech and assembly. She invited Oregonians to continue to attend the weekly rallies on the I-205 bridge, where demonstrators wave Ukrainian and American flags from noon-1 p.m. every Saturday.
After the regular flag-waving event on Feb. 24, pro-Ukrainian activists held a “Believe in Ukraine” rally at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland, part of a worldwide campaign supporting Ukraine’s struggle for democracy and freedom.
More than 100 cities around the world — including Washington DC, New York, Boston and San Francisco — took part in the “Believe in Ukraine” campaign.
Terdal said her family in Ukraine has lived in fear since the Russian invasion.
“There were constant air raids. Sometimes you can go into the bomb shelter when it’s during the day, when it’s available,” she told KOIN 6 News. “You just pray and hope that you won’t be hit and you’ll stay alive.”
Many Ukrainians now living in Oregon, like Inna Kovtun, have not been able to go back since the invasion.
“I miss my home. I miss my parents. I miss my husband who is now in Kyiv,” Kovtun said. “Ukraine is a nice country, and I love this country. Like nice, wonderful people. And I love my life in the Ukraine and I hope the war is over really soon so we can come back home.”
The Census Bureau reports 20,000 Oregonians have Ukrainian ancestry, with the third-highest percentage of its population who speak Ukrainian at home.
“We’re hoping that the struggle will not be in vain,” Terdal said. “All of the territory will be de-occupied, liberated and people will be able to go home.”
Pamplin Media Group news partner KOIN 6 contributed to this report.
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