As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues and horrific images, videos and reports from the frontlines pour in, the world is watching a bloody war play out in real-time.
It’s hard to process, much less understand for many Americans, even the most avid TV news watchers among us.
Two of the most basic questions include:
- Is there hope?
- Are there solutions?
Yes to both, says Irina Khmelko, a UC Foundation professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and native of Ukraine.
Khmelko joined three other instructors—Lecturer R.J. Groh, Assistant Professor Saeid Golkar and Associate Professor Jessica Auchter—from the Department of Political Science and Public Service for the panel discussion “Ukraine and Russia, What We Know So Far.”
“When humanity is at its worst and we see that when innocent people die, but you also see humanity at its best. You can see a lot of people coming together around the world. And it’s also an opportunity for us—as citizens, as scholars, as students—to bring this world together and actually discover who we are as humans,” said Khmelko, recently interviewed by local media about her family ties in the war-torn country.
