Robert Collis, visiting assistant professor of history, is spearheading an event, with the support of the Drake University Center for Teaching and Research in the Humanities, in which several Ukrainians, including our own Professor Vira Babenko, assistant professor of mathematics, will join us by Zoom to tell us of their experiences of the Russian attack and occupation of their country.

The discussion will take place April 19 from 1–2:15 p.m. in Harvey Ingham Hall, Room 134, and on Zoom (https://drake-edu.zoom.us/j/81937085671; Meeting ID: 819 3708 5671).

This is an opportunity for you and your students to hear first-person living history from people close to these events.

Speaker biographies:

• Vira Babenko, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Drake University, is a native Ukrainian. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mathematics from Dnipro National University in her hometown of Dnipro before coming to the United States for a Ph.D. program at the University of Utah. A lot of her relatives are now in Dnipro, Kyiv and Zaporizhzhya. She is remotely helping coordinate volunteering efforts and raising funds for families with little kids displaced to her hometown due to the war.
• Olga Daubs was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, during Soviet rule. She earned her master’s degree in history from Kharkiv National University and owned an event planning business in Kharkiv before immigrating to the United States in 2013. Today, she and her husband own a photo studio in Madison, Wisconsin. Her parents remain in Kharkiv. Olga is an active volunteer with Wisconsin Ukrainians, Inc., raising funds and awareness of the tragedy caused by Russia’s invasion of her home country.
• Marina Delargy was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine. She has over ten years of diplomatic experience with Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as serving in an international organisation. She is currently a student at King’s College of London, where she is a candidate for two simultaneous programmes – MSc Russian and Eurasian Politics and Economics, and National Security Postgraduate module. Her focus is on Russia’s cognitive warfare and its impact on societies. Her mum Raisa escaped from Kyiv in March, but all her friends and the other members of her family decided to stay and protect Ukraine.
• My name is Anastasiia Miroshnikova, and I am from Kharkiv, Ukraine. I’m 20 years old. I am a student of Ukrainian Leadership Academy, and before the war started I was living in Mariupol. It’s a beautiful city.  When the war started I was living underground with the rest of the students. It was tough. I decided to escape Ukraine, hitchhiked to Poland, and came to the USA. I felt like while I was here in Cincinnati, Ohio I could be more helpful for my country. So I decided to raise money for medical and army supplies for my friends who have joined the army. They’re the same age as me and also students of the ULA. Currently I have already sent 10 huge boxes of medical supplies, over 1,000 tourniquets and a drone to Ukraine. Link for donations: https://fundly.com/m2/help-ual-raise-money-for-the-ukrainian-army.

— Robert Collis, History