A year of war in Ukraine

A year since Russia invaded Ukraine and the conflict continues, we hear from a Ukrainian student who has been impacted. Sara Kahn has the story.

On February 24, 2022, the lives of Ukrainian citizens changed forever as Russian rockets were fired into the country. Over a year later, the conflict is ongoing.

Annenberg Media covered the breaking news story in 2022 and has continued to follow it in the past year. On the one-year anniversary of the invasion, Annenberg Media is following up on the story with a testimonial from a Ukrainian student.

Masha Shevchuk is an international student from Ukraine whose life has been severely altered as a result of the conflict overseas. While her father, grandparents, and other loved ones are in Ukraine, her mother moved to the United States to find employment. For the past year, Shevchuk’s life has been riddled with anxiety about the goings on at home in Ukraine.

She recounts how she first heard about the start of the war last February.

Masha Shevchuk : It was 11 p.m. But I saw the first messages and kind of like, weird to me, messages about what’s going on in Ukraine. I started to text my mom and dad, ‘Is everything okay?’. And they said ‘No, the war started. We just woke up because of the rockets.’

Being so far from home has affected Shevchuk’s view of the conflict. She remembers what Ukraine was like before the war and has been unable to go back home since.

Masha Shevchuk : Sometimes it’s hard for me to imagine because I wasn’t there when the war started. And I remember my home country as it was at that moment. And everything that I see is just like photos from Ukraine, and it’s hard for me to imagine that it’s real.

Shevchuk’s own family, specifically her grandfather, have faced direct repercussions as a result of the war. One of her mother’s friends was watching the Russian news and saw that the TV and radio station where Shevchuk’s grandfather works was being targeted. Thanks to that tip, Shevchuk’s grandfather and his employees were saved.

Masha Shevchuk : My grandparent asked all his employees to go, to go home, and he went to the bomb shelter. And the rockets bombed the plant and the plant was ruined partially. But all his employees were saved because of my mom’s friend.

This togetherness and cooperation between Ukrainian people has served as an emblem of hope for Shevchuk to hold onto. In this time of severe hardship for her country, she still remembers the beauty of her home.

Masha Shevchuk : Ukrainian people, their unity and generally like mentality, Culture, food, everything of this, like even places-- infrastructure is a lot different from here. So sometimes I’m just going to Google, just Google Maps to see my house from the photo.

The war has not only affected Shevchuk’s personal life, but her education as well. When the conflict began, she was studying at a university in Florida. Due to financial hardship as a result of the war, she was unable to continue her studies there. Luckily, USC was able to provide both a home and an education for her.

Masha Shevchuk : I had like problems with housing because I literally couldn’t afford housing there. And my mom came to me, so and we found volunteers at USC that helped us with housing for summer. And we were living in the USC dorms for the whole summer. And then during the summer I was able to transfer to USC and got a scholarship.

Shevchuk is one of many Ukrainians affected by the war and her story serves as a reminder of the immense hardship being felt abroad. As the conflict in Ukraine continues, there are ways for USC students to help.

Masha Shevchuk : I keep donating and helping like whatever I can and just like generally supporting workers and respecting all the refugees that come to the U.S., it’s very helpful for us and we really appreciate it a lot.

For Annenberg Media, I’m Sara Kahn.