By David Kilburn
It has been nearly three months since Russia’s initial invasion in Ukraine. Since then Russia has bombed hospitals, taken over towns, and left citites in decay. This war is a little over forty five hundred miles away from the campus of Springfield College, however there are students on Alden Street who have ties to Russia and Ukraine, who have been affected by this war. One of those people is me.
I was born in Moscow, Russia and lived in an orphanage for the first fourteen months of my life. Once I was adopted, I moved to Boston, Massachusetts where I have been living ever since. I have grown up to be a normal American college student, I enjoy hanging out with friends, rooting for the Boston sports teams, and playing sports here on campus. Although I have lived in America for the majority of my life, I still feel proud to be Russian; that was, until the invasion.
Once Russia invaded Ukraine, I have felt confusion and second hand guilt. I found out that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. There are a small number of students here at Springfield College who feel the same way I do and I thought it was important to talk about how this war is affecting people thousands of miles away. While making this video, I was able to talk to students who have family and friends in both Russia and Ukraine. The moral of the story was to get brutally honest opinions from these students and talk about how they were affected.