SFU professor in Ukraine teaching virtually amidst attacks

While a fourth round of talks between Russia and Ukraine is set for Monday, the hope of an immediate and peaceful end to the attacks has many in doubt.

A top aide to Ukraine’s president says negotiators will discuss peace, ceasefires, the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, and security guarantees.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says everyone is waiting for news as violence has threatened those in Ukraine for 19 days.

Among them, a Canadian permanent resident in Ukraine, who says the wail of air raid sirens has become a part of her daily life for nearly three weeks.

While the noise blares in the background, Svitlana Matviyenko is also virtually teaching students back in Metro Vancouver.

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Matviyenko is an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University and is currently teaching a graduate seminar on the history of communication theory.

She says she longs for the days when she wasn’t awoken by the warnings of attacks.

“During this first week of war when I wake up and hear silence I felt almost like a warm wave going through my body…and I was surprised by such a visceral reaction, just the fact I hear it’s quiet,” she said.

She has shared some of her experiences on social media. Last week, she detailed how the internet was starting to fail in the western area where she is staying.

She says the infrastructure around Kyiv is damaged and the internet and phone connections are getting worse every day.

my usual morning – for several weeks now – with a third cup of coffee, after the night without sleep due to a 5 hour-long air raid siren btw 2:30 am and 7:30 am – making sense of reality via maps like this. what will happen today? tomorrow? #UkraineUnderAttack https://t.co/YNu6Vv4h2P

— Svitlana Matviyenko (@svitlanax) March 14, 2022

Matviyenko travelled to Ukraine last year to care for her mother. In between teaching she is also writing a book, which she says gives her something else to focus on.

She says she needs to rush to do things quickly because of the daily possibility of attacks.

“I need to do it, I need to finish it faster… I need to do this, this kind of thing. Because something might happen now, or might happen there,” Matviyenko said.

The war has now forced more than 2.8 million people to flee Ukraine, and more than 1.7 million refugees have been taken in by Poland in recent weeks.

Robert Mardini, the director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, also called the war “catastrophic” for civilians affected by the fighting as people run out of drinking water, food, medical supplies, and fuel for heating — particularly in the surrounded Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Medical facilities also continue to be targeted in attacks.

And while the Red Cross continues to speak with Russian and Ukrainian leaders, Mardini said there’s so far been no established routes for people to safely leave Mariupol and some other areas facing intense warfare.