Ukraine war insights from Russian, Georgian students in Israel

While studying political science and communications in Bar-Ilan University’s International Program, I have met people from all over the world. My classmates, however, are predominantly Russian. The ratio of Russians to Ukrainians is about 6:1. Due to the Ukrainian crisis, the tension in the classes is palpable. As an uninvolved American, I listened quietly and attempted to unpack both sides of the conflict, and only recently came to a conclusion. I was moved the most, not by the arguments of a Russian or Ukrainian but by a Georgian.

At the outbreak of the war, I was consuming only Western media, convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin was the devil incarnate: greedy, power-hungry, and selfish. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky embodied nobility, legitimacy, and selflessness. One of my professors, a New Yorker, basically said as much in class. This led to an uproar from the Russians, and then a debate ensued. Russia is only protecting itself from Western threats, they said. 

Russia is one of the most invadable countries and has been compromised many times throughout history. The Mongol Empire in the 13th century burned and looted its foremost cities Kyiv, Vladimir, Ryazan’, and Chernihiv, as well as others. In the 16th century, the Crimean Khanate, supported by the Turkish army, invaded central Russia, devastated Ryazan, and burned Moscow.

In the 17th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied Moscow and the Kremlin. During the Great Northern War in the 18th century, the Swedes invaded Russia. The beginning of the 19th was dominated by the Napoleonic Wars, which was one of the bloodiest periods in world history. And in the 20th century, Nazi Germany invaded Russia toward the beginning of World War II.

Nowadays, Russia fears isolation and conspiracy. Most of its neighboring countries have banded with the West to form NATO, whose mission statement is to “safeguard the Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means.”

Being that the United States has always held a pro-democratic and anti-socialist stance and is the main power of NATO, Russia is worried that it will be forced out of its position as a main political actor and world power. Due to this concern, Russia is attempting to block Ukraine from joining NATO and reestablish it as a Russian-controlled state. Yet, after watching on the news the atrocities that were being unleashed on the Ukrainian people, I still wasn’t convinced.

A Russian perspective

One of my Russian classmates, who had served in the Russian military, explained to me that he was anti-war but pro-Russia. He meant that he didn’t think Russia should have tried to take Ukraine; however, now that they are at war, he stands behind his country and wants to see it succeed. 

When I heard it from this perspective, I couldn’t fault him initially. After all, if Israel invaded Iran and faced international criticism, I and millions of other Jews and Israelis would stand behind Israel and the IDF.

However, after hearing what my Georgian classmate had to say, I was swayed to sympathize and stand with Ukraine. My Georgian classmate is 18 years old and not Jewish. He came to Israel for affordable education and new opportunities. He was six years old when Georgia had its own altercation with Russia in 2008. His father was from South Ossetia; his mother was from Georgia. Ossetia lies on the Russian-Georgian border, its northern half belonging to Russia and its southern half belonging to Georgia. Since the 1920s, South Ossetia had wanted independence from Georgia, and Soviet Russia was all too eager to help them extricate themselves from Georgia and unite them with their Russian-controlled northern counterpart.

On August 1, 2008, there was an explosion (most likely orchestrated) near the capital of South Ossetia, wounding five Georgian policemen. That night, intense fighting erupted between Georgians and South Ossetians, killing six Ossetians. Later that week, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili called for an immediate ceasefire from both sides. Attacks on Georgian villages became frequent after that.

The day after the broadcast, there were Russian tanks along the border of South Ossetia. Russia invaded Georgia, claiming to conduct “peace enforcement.”

Within five days, the Russian army took control of South Ossetia and expelled the Georgian forces. Russia launched airstrikes throughout Georgia, killing hundreds and forcing thousands to flee, my classmates’ family included.

Unlike present-day Ukraine, the Georgian crisis didn’t make international news and did not receive the aid of Western countries until the very end. At the time, the Beijing Summer Olympics were being held, and most news channels weren’t interested in covering a foreign conflict. There was a movie made about this called Five Days of War, which follows the story of an American war reporter who films the ongoing events in Georgia but cannot get American news networks to broadcast the story.

The boy from Georgia

My classmate relayed to me what his life was like at that time: how he would hide in his home from the Russians and feel his room shake as the debris fell from the ceiling, how scared he felt all the time, and how he would never forget the sight of his mother crying. His father was drafted against his will to fight alongside the Russians. His uncle, his mother’s brother, was drafted into the Georgian army. His family became enemies overnight, pitted against each other, leaving only him and his mother to pick up the pieces. 

They moved from village to village, trying to outrun the approaching Russian army and overhead threats. They made it all the way to the Georgian capital on foot and lived there in a shelter until the war was over. He has barely spoken to his father since then, only on his birthdays. He hasn’t seen his father, as he has lived in Ossetia since the war, and Ossetian-Georgian relations are still negative.

His mother, overwhelmed by grief and poverty, left him in the care of her parents and went to work abroad to make enough money to support them from afar. With some unknown resilient strength, he found the courage to leave Georgia upon graduating from high school and come to Israel to make a life for himself. Despite going through so much, he is amazingly positive and wise beyond his years.

“Because I know what it’s like,” he told me, “I’m with Ukraine.” After listening to his story about growing up in a war-torn country and watching the film he recommended about the 2008 conflict, I felt thoroughly convinced that he was right. In 2008, Western countries came to Georgia’s aid in the end, and they are now gathering for Ukraine. May Ukraine liberate itself soon and restore its autonomous freedom.  ■

The writer, an immigrant from New Jersey, is a student in Bar-Ilan University’s International Program.