A student experience of war

Caitlin Boulton talks to Maryna Pertsovych for a Ukrainian perspective

While living in Ireland for my year abroad I was fortunate enough to share an international house with Maryna Pertsovych, a girl from Ukraine who had chosen to study for a semester far from her native country while still sharing in its fight against Russian oppression. Maryna’s position demonstrates that of a student heavily involved in the politics of conflict, an unfair reality for millions of young adults learning against the backdrop of conflict.

As a student in Ukraine, how have the demands of the war e ort a ected your education?

It is essential to understand that the war did not begin in 2022 but in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and invaded the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

My friends who lived there were forced to escape from the Russian occupation and leave their homes not knowing if they could ever return. On 24 February, 2022, the whole country woke up with explosions, rockets, and sirens.

During the first months of the Russian invasion, I tried to balance studying and volunteering. I spent days organising volunteer work on the campus of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Between receiving aid from Europe and sending aid boxes to our military and civilians in the war zone, I was also studying online.

Con Ict

It seemed studying did not make sense when your life is constantly in danger. My university almost didn’t take a break because they understood that without education and culture, we could not win this war. Our generation has an important role to play –to win a free Ukraine – a dream passed down as a legacy. Students have many obstacles. Due to constant Russian missile attacks on critical infrastructure objects, our electricity is cut o every day for up to 16 hours.

People must go down to the shelter almost every day during air raid alarms. Not all shelters are well adapted for students.

How do you believe the crisis is a ecting young people’s mental health and morale?

War a ects everyone, and this trauma will be passed on for several generations to come. Nobody’s mental health could be ready for such a great shock as war. There is much anxiety. Last semester, as an Erasmus student sometimes I wanted to scream from what was happening at home. I worried for my family and friends during each attack and realised that other students could not understand me. I do not blame them for this – they felt a lot of empathy toward me but not understanding. No one can teach you to understand war, and I would like none of my foreign friends to ever understand what I feel.

War is not normal, and the Ukrainian military is now fighting to ensure that Europe does not feel what war is. Russia is an empire, and empires can never rest, they must constantly expand.

You don’t see your future because Russians are trying to take your future away. Every time you see pictures of injured children being pulled from the rubble, knowing their parents are dead, you can’t just go back to living and learning as if nothing happened. You know that you could be in their place. Sometimes you just want to stop feeling. Being Ukrainian these days is a great honor, and I am proud of it, but in the end, it hurts a lot.

Ukrainian students are playing a huge role in this conflict through volunteering and even fighting. In terms of the future, how do the uncertain times of your country measure up against your own professional aspirations and choices?

Russia is trying to take away our future and has already killed thousands of young people who were changing this country and had many future plans. Many young people who should have become specialists in their field have joined the army because they feel that nothing will make sense if we lose our country. And it is true.

As for me personally, it often seems that I should help my country more, volunteer more, and not learn cultural studies at university. But it is important to remind ourselves that in the long term, we cannot build a state without culture and education. If before I really wanted to get an education abroad and travel a lot, now these dreams have lost their relevance for me. It is di cult for me to leave Ukraine now and I choose to stay here.

For students at Durham it can seem overwhelming knowing where to start with providing aid for Ukraine – are there any initiatives of specific ways to get involved that you would particularly recommend?

First, it is important to stop Russian propaganda. Russia colonised Ukraine for hundreds of years and did everything to silence our voices. If you want to learn more, you can watch Yale historian Timothy Snyder, “The Making of Modern Ukraine”, on YouTube. Speak about Ukraine with Ukrainians. Go to protests in support.

All my friends and I try to make regular donations. COME BACK ALIVE is one of the biggest and most trusted foundations which provides competent military assistance. Since 2014, this has raised over $130 million for the Armed Forces. Hospitallers is a volunteer organization of paramedics. You can donate to both foundations from any country.

travel@palatinate.org.uk