To the Teacher:
Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is in the news and on many students’ minds.
This activity has students reflect on the news and on Ukrainian voices. These guidelines for discussing difficult issues may be helpful to review before entering into this discussion.
Another helpful step is to make sure that you have a good grounding in the events you will be discussing. Below is a report on the attack on Ukraine from the International Crisis Group, an independent organization that aims to “prevent wars and shape policies that will build a more peaceful world”:
“In a chilling act of aggression, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military assault on Ukraine in the early hours of 24 February. That Western leaders had warned of this possibility for weeks did little to cushion the shock.
President Putin announced what he characterized as a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine, and made a barely coded threat of nuclear strikes upon any outside power that might come to its aid. Residents of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and cities throughout the country woke to explosions as Russian bombs and missiles fell on military facilities and infrastructure. The bombardment follows a months-long build-up of as many as 200,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders, to the north, west and south.
Ground forces that then entered Ukraine indicate that Russia has embarked upon not only an air campaign aimed at toppling Ukraine’s government but a full-scale invasion. The human toll could be catastrophic. ….
How horrific things get mostly depends on decisions taken in the Kremlin. Moscow faces not only the sanctions and NATO troop build-ups that Western powers will now undertake, but also prospectively fierce Ukrainian resistance that it seems to have discounted, potentially immense costs to its global repute and the need to convince its public that this war on a neighboring country in which many Russian citizens have relatives and friends is truly crucial to national security. Seemingly isolated, angry, and set on his dangerous path, President Putin may be beyond reaching.
Pivoting to the pursuit of a negotiated settlement could still lead to real reductions of forces in Europe and would do much more for Russian security than war in Ukraine. For now, though, that appears a distant hope.”
For more information on last week’s invasion of Ukraine, go to War in Europe: Responding to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
The Wilson Center, a nonpartisan research group, notes that:
“Central to the current Ukraine-Russia crisis is the territorial conflict in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. It is the unsettled site of an eight-year war that has resulted in more than 14,000 deaths, millions of displaced persons, and continued skirmishes along the line of control. While the Kyiv government controls the western part of the Donbas, the eastern side is run by separatist authorities supported by Russia. Diplomatic dialogues often overlook the views of ordinary people in conflict zones. What precisely do people in the Donbas want?”
For more information on the eastern Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk (which are part of the Donbas region), go to the International Crisis Group webpage Russia and the Separatist in Eastern Ukraine.
Crimea, in the south of Ukraine, was annexed by Russia in 2014. Writes analyst Steven Pifer at the Brookings Institute:
“March 18 marks the [seventh] … anniversary of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Attention now focuses on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in Donbas, a conflict that has taken some 14,000 lives, but Moscow’s seizure of Crimea — the biggest land-grab in Europe since World War II — has arguably done as much or more damage to Europe’s post-Cold War security order.”
For more information on the Russian annexation of Crimea go to Crimea: Six years after illegal annexation
And for more historic information about the region’s moving borders over the past century, go to Voice of America’s website to watch the 2:33-minute video:
A Century of Russia’s Changing Borders
Opening
Ask students to share what they know about:
- the news coming out of Europe (and Ukraine in particular) this past week
- any context around what is happening in Ukraine
Consider pulling up a map of (Eastern) Europe as you talk with your students about the news coming out of that continent.
Summarize what students share making sure to touch on:
- Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe.
- It is the second largest country in Europe after Russia.
- Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union from 1922-1991.
- When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ukraine became an independent nation.
- Ukraine continues to be bordered by Russia on the northeast and east, and – since the 2014 Russian invasion and occupation of Crimea – on the south as well.
- Following its independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state.
- It gave up thousands of nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the United States, and United Kingdom.
- A tug of war has since ensued over Ukraine by Russia and the West.
- On February 24, Russian troops invaded Ukraine from three sides.
- There has been heavy fighting across the country. Hundreds of people have died in just the first few days and thousands have been wounded.
- Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in search of safety.
And with all this, concerns about a renewed cold war between Russia and the West, including the U.S., is growing.
Headlines from Around the World
Invite students to read headlines from around the world included in this pdf handout. (The headlines demonstrate the global impact of this attack.)
Ask students to discuss:
- What stands out about these headlines?
- What are these headlines telling us? What is the main focus?
- What is a lesser focus?
- What are these headlines leaving out?
- What would you want to hear more about?
Ukrainian Voices: The Impact of the Russian Invasion
Video 1: Ukrainian voices from NYC
Invite students to watch this NBC News video (4:32 minutes):
Ukrainians in NYC Raise Anguished Voices in Protest After Russia Attacks
“New York City is home to the largest Ukrainian population in the U.S. On Thursday, many of them, as well as others with friends and family in the country, gathered in Times Square to protest Russia’s invasion. NBCLX storyteller Mackenzie Behm spoke with some about their anger and anguish as they watched the people they love come under attack.”
Ask students to reflect on the video by answering some or all of the following questions:
- What stood out for you about the video?
- What are your thoughts and feelings about the video?
- How does it connect to the headlines from earlier?
- How is it different from the headlines from earlier?
- What does it tell you about how everyday people are impacted by the violence in Ukraine?
Video 2: Ukrainian voices from Kyiv
Invite students to watch this New York Times video (1:50 minutes):
I'm Ready: Ukraine's Civilians Take Up Arms
“Volunteer fighters armed with assault rifles patrolled central Kyiv on Friday, ready to defend their country.”
Note: If sound does not load, watch the video using captions.
Ask students to reflect on the video by answering some or all of the following questions:
- What stood out for you about the video?
- What are your thoughts and feelings about the video?
- How does it connect to the headlines from earlier?
- How is it different from the headlines from earlier?
- What does it tell you about how everyday people are impacted by the violence in Ukraine?
Video 3: Ukrainian voices from the Donbas
Invite students to watch this video from UATV (1:37 minutes), the Ukrainian state foreign language broadcaster that is providing international audiences with news from Ukraine in a range of languages.
How to achieve peace in Donbas? Voices of locals
As the Wilson Center notes:
“Central to the current Ukraine-Russia crisis is the territorial conflict in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine [the region includes both Donetsk and . It is the unsettled site of an eight -year war that has resulted in more than 14,000 deaths, millions of displaced persons, and continued skirmishes along the line of control. While the Kyiv government controls the western part of the Donbas, the eastern side is run by separatist authorities supported by Russia. Diplomatic dialogues often overlook the views of ordinary people in conflict zones. What precisely do people in the Donbas want?”
Ask students to reflect on the video by answering some or all of the following questions:
- What stood out for you about the video?
- What are your thoughts and feelings about the video?
- How does it connect to the headlines from earlier?
- How is it different from the headlines from earlier?
- What does it tell you about how every-day people are impacted by the violence in Ukraine?
Video 4: Ukrainian voices from Crimea, 2014
Invite students to watch this video (1:37 minutes):
Voices on the Ukraine/Crimea referendum (CNN World). Note that this is a video from March 2014, when Russian forces occupied Crimea.
Ask students to reflect on the video by answering some or all of the following questions:
- What stood out for you about the video?
- What are your thoughts and feelings about the video?
- How does it connect to what we’ve been talking about so far?
- What does it add to what we’ve been talking about so far?
Reflections on "Home"
Invite students to read and reflect on the first lines of the poem Home, by Warsan Shire, below. Warsan Shire is a Somali British writer and poet born in Nairobi and raised in London.
Content warning: Read the poem excerpt ahead of time, recognizing how the painful experience of refugees it describes might land with your students.
Home (excerpt)
by Warsan Shire
no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as wellyour neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory
is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home
when home won’t let you stay.
Ask students to reflect on the poem by answering some or all of the following questions:
- What resonated with you about the (first part of) Warsan Shire’s poem?
- How does it make you feel?
- How does it connect with the people we’ve been hearing from today?
Closing Activity
Invite students to think about the voices they heard today and the feelings and thoughts they brought up. Ask students to share in turn:
- What message would you like to send to people in Ukraine as we close today’s session?
And if you and your students are interested, consider 9 Meaningful Ways You Can Help Ukraine.