First published March 3, 2022 in Stories Beneath the Shell.
by Eve Sampson
Around 10 p.m. last Wednesday, sophomore computer science major Alan Elbert was preparing for bed. He checked Telegram, a messaging application he uses to stay up to date with Ukrainian news. He would never have imagined what he was about to read: Russia was invading Ukraine.
Elbert did not sleep that night.
Last week, the world watched as the Russian military invaded its southwestern neighbor. In a televised message on Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.” Shortly thereafter, air and missile strikes hit Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and over a dozen other cities. Tanks and Russian troops followed.
One week later, the Russian military continues to attack Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson and other Ukrainian cities. News outlets and social media platforms are awash with the imagery of war.
For some Terps, the bombardment hits painfully close to home.
Elbert’s parents are from Kyiv and many of his family still live in Ukraine. Right now, they are sheltering from the violence.
“They are scared,” he said.
This is a situation Tetiana Tytko, a second year second language acquisition Ph.D. student, knows all too well. Tytko was born and raised in Ukraine, where her parents and many family members still live. She worries constantly about her loved ones.
“I don’t go to bed until I talk to my parents,” she said. “Because I just can’t go to bed without knowing that they’re okay.”
She stays awake until 1 or 2 a.m. every night to speak with them.
“My friends, my family, the people who I know in Ukraine are in danger – real danger,” Tytko said. “I have nightmares every night.”
For Tytko, life as she knew it is on hold.
“I can’t study. I can’t do homework. I can’t pretend that nothing happened. I can’t just live my life – my life stopped, even though I’m not in Ukraine. My life stopped when the war started.”
Elbert’s week has been similar.
“I’m just shocked,” he said. “I couldn’t do any work on Thursday or Friday or Saturday. I couldn’t sleep.”
The invasion’s trauma isn’t limited to only students who have lived in Ukraine. Stress has been acute for Abigail Kagan, a junior majoring in business management with family in Ukraine.
Thus far, she has been able to stay in communication with her extended family.
“They’re just monitoring bomb reports. Monitoring where the bombs are falling and moving between the bomb shelter and their house.”
Kagan has also been losing sleep.
“Anytime there is some really scary news, it’s like you just have these intrusive thoughts all that time about what’s happening to your family.”
Students are not the only Terps dealing with the trauma of war. Sergii Skakun, an assistant professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences and the College of Information Studies, spent most of his life in Ukraine. He has many family members who still call the country home.
“For now they are safe. We shall see,” he said. “But I don’t know what is going to happen.”
Skakun is cautiously optimistic. “Kyiv we thought would fall in two, three days to four days,” he said. “Those predictions haven’t materialized.”
As of March 2, Kyiv remains under Ukrainian control.
Though the city’s future remains uncertain, Elbert tries to focus on the Ukraine he remembers. As a child he spent happy summers going to waterparks and eating McDonalds. He visited city apartments and the countryside.
One day, he hopes to return. “I’m considering going back once the war ends and helping rebuild some sort of business,” he said. “We need educated people to go back after the war.”
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