Students from the University of Edinburgh and Kyiv National University’s Institute of International Relations met virtually on Wednesday afternoon as part of a Kyiv-Edinburgh student forum.
The forum aimed to share lived experiences, disprove Russian misinformation and examine the theory of Russia’s fraught history with post-Soviet states.
The event was open to all Edinburgh students of Contemporary Russian Politics or Russia’s Foreign and Security Policy. It took place despite being held under the threat of air raid sirens for the Ukrainian students.
The presentation included images from Russia’s siege of Mariupol, Ukraine and prior occupation of Gori, Georgia, dismissing the Russian state narrative of its own forces as “peacekeepers” in the respective regions.
Edinburgh students were also invited to hear the first-hand testimony of Ukrainians who had fled Russian occupation in the Eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.
The European Parliament has designated Russia as a state-sponsor of terrorism in response to its actions in Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court has been investigating Russia for acts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity since the invasion in February 2022. Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, was issued an arrest warrant by the ICC for unlawfully transporting and deporting Ukrainian children from occupied territory in May 2023.
The forum also discussed Ukraine’s post-invasion energy security, touching on Russia’s targeting of electrical substations, treatment of personnel within the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.
These events lead to mass flooding in the region, depriving Ukraine of hydroelectric power.
Kyiv students critiqued the behaviour of Western media outlets in publishing Ukrainian and Russian statements on the Dam explosions beside one another without appropriate context, allowing misinformation to foment online.
Michael Albert, an Edinburgh lecturer in Global Environmental Politics, touched on the environmental cost that war brings, citing a study showing the war’s emissions in Ukraine are equivalent to the country of Belgium.
This came after the Kyiv students cited statistics on Russia’s mass environmental destruction in Ukraine, noting over 600 species are threatened with extinction, with over 23,000 hectares of land burnt or deforested, and 200,000 square kilometres in need of de-mining.
Speaking to The Student, co-organiser and Edinburgh student Clara Zhang said:
“As students of Russian politics, [this forum] helps us to appreciate what exists beyond academic articles and research. The personal experiences heard will help us understand these topics in a new way.
“Having these conversations helps us to understand what matters to Ukrainians whose lives are presented to us by the media and come with a second-hand bias of a Western or even Edinburgh perspective.
“But these conversations also help us to show that we care about them, that we want to give them a platform to share the emotional difficulty if not the physical difficulty of the war. I think we can help them in that situation.
Fellow organiser Zlata Stefanchuk told The Student:
“Remembering the last winter has made our team take up [the] responsibility to connect with our peers abroad and bring awareness to how Russia’s illegal war affects both Ukraine and Europe.
“[In addition to] discussing the spheres of environment and energy, the discussion of the war’s widespread effects on the lives of Ukrainians was a very welcoming addition to the program, as it truly showcased every aspect of the consequences of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, thus making this discussion more sincere and uniting.
“Personally, this event is of deep importance to me and my colleagues. Presenting and sharing our lived experiences of this invasion is one of the crucial deeds we can do to help our country stand against barbaric aggression. It was an honour and we are extremely grateful to everyone involved in this historic moment.
*The Kyiv-Edinburgh student forum was also co-organised by Joe Sullivan, outgoing Editor-in-Chief of The Student. Sullivan was neither consulted for the writing of this article, nor involved in its editing process.
“Anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine (War Ukraine)” by Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.