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Over 50 people gathered at Syracuse University’s Hall of Languages Monday to commemorate the three-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war’s outbreak. The Moynihan Institute’s Center for European Studies hosted a panel discussion about the Ukrainian experience as the conflict continues.

Panelists said Russia must take responsibility for the war and emphasized the importance of global support for Ukraine’s defense efforts. In his first month in office, President Donald Trump has upended many Biden-era policies supporting the Ukrainian military, falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war and called Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky a “dictator.”

“We definitely need to return to our temporary protective status for Ukrainians that has been lost (under) the new presidential administration,” Anna Meehan, president of SU’s Ukrainian club, said.
”Biden introduced that clause that Ukrainians could come during this time to be refugees in America, and that has been lost.”

Meehan said it was important for SU to host an event recognizing Ukraine, adding that the media has “forgotten” about Ukraine.

The current war is not Russia’s first war effort against Ukraine; it is a continuation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Putin claimed Crimea as part of Russia, reversing what he called historic injustice inflicted by Western powers during the Cold War.

Tetiana Hranchak, a visiting assistant professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said Russia’s violence in Ukraine dates back centuries, including atrocities during the Caucasian Wars of the 19th century. She also stressed the importance of understanding the history of Russia’s brutality in Ukraine as a tool for preventing future conflict in the region.

“Russia must be condemned,” Hranchak said. “It’s time to admit that this is not an international state that accidentally caught the violence of communities.”

Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea, SU Russian politics professor Brian Taylor said hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions have been injured. The Wall Street Journal estimated close to 200,000 Russian deaths as of Sept. 2024, and reported on a Ukrainian estimate of 80,000 dead troops and 400,000 wounded.

Taylor, who is also the director of Maxwell’s Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, announced the United States’ choice to vote against a United Nations resolution condemning the invasion during his speech. He expressed concern for a growing relationship between the U.S. and Russia.

Before the UN’s vote, Trump hosted French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House Monday. Trump expressed hope for an end to the conflict and encouraged Putin to pursue peace.

“Even if we move to some sort of temporary end of hostilities in the coming years between Russia and Ukraine, I think it’s extremely important that the US never formally recognizes the ‘any territory Russia controls is somehow Russian territory,’” Taylor said. “It remains Ukrainian territory until it is returned.”

Maria Avdeeva, a senior fellow in the Eurasia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, recalled the confusion and fear from hearing missiles fired in Ukraine when the war first broke out. She has covered the war since its first day as a frequent contributor to international media with BBC, CNN and NBC News.

Originally from Kharkiv — the second-most populated city in Ukraine, just 20 miles from the Russian border — Avdeeva said her hometown remains free from Russian control. She recalled the chaos and spread of disinformation following the first firing of Russian missiles into Ukraine, adding that she’d never experienced anything like the attacks.

“No one was knowing what’s happening and this is how I decided to start telling people what is the situation in the city by reporting small videos,” Avdeeva said. “I had my face on the videos because by doing this I was making sure that people actually show the belief in what they see because they see a real person behind the videos.”

Avdeeva said she hopes to see a deal come together that condemns the Kremlin for the war and clearly recognizes Russia as the oppressor and the Ukrainian people as its victims. To prevent future conflict, she said it’s important to hold Russia accountable and suggested limiting Russia’s military spending in the future.

Echoing Avdeeva, Mariana Semenyshyn, a Ukrainian citizen and a team leader at the German Development Cooperation Agency, spoke about her country’s resilience. She said Ukrainians responded by calling for decentralization and reform of public administration. In her work, she designs and implements capacity development measures for municipal officials across Ukraine.

To cope with the hardships her home country is facing, Semenyshyn said she finds comfort in discussing the strength that the Ukrainian government and its partners have shown throughout the course of the war.

“(Putin) acknowledged the Ukrainian state now existed before, and has no right to exist in the future,” Semenyshyn said. “Ukraine’s internal sources of resilience have helped them as the country didn’t receive support right away after dealing with shock and uncertainty of the future while refusing to surrender.”

When the war first broke out, Ukrainians were told by Western allies that the country should not resist Russia, Semenyshyn said. Three years later, she said the country has preserved its statehood against Russia, which is said to have the second-strongest military in the world.

Semenyshyn talked about the initial Russian attack 11 years ago, saying that Putin wanted to demilitarize and denounce Ukraine.

“I caught myself thinking that today and in the last week I feel exactly like three years ago when I was okay. Shocked, lost, and uncertain about my country’s situation,” Semenyshyn said. “Putin thought the war would only last three days but has since then proved false.”

Published on February 24, 2025 at 11:56 pm

Contact Chloe: cfrinka@syr.edu