Williamsburg Sun

One year after Russian invasion, W&M community keeps Ukraine’s fight for democracy top of mind

On Feb. 15, William & Mary’s Russian and Post-Soviet Studies (RPSS) Program hosted students for a screening of “Atlantis,” a 2019 Ukrainian dystopian movie about life after war that was filmed predominantly in Mariupol, Ukraine, from January to March 2018.

Russian and Film Studies Professor Alexander Prokhorov was struck by the silence of the students afterward.

“They were so shocked by what they saw,” he said.

“It’s set in the year 2025 when Ukraine will defeat Russia and the victory will be accomplished,” Prokhorov continued. “The film also deals with a particular kind of damage, a psychological damage that this war caused.

“But what was shown in this 2019 film, which won an award at the Venice Film Festival, is the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and its steel mills, places that are by now completely destroyed. They don’t even exist, so this quite nightmarish dystopian sci-fi film doesn’t even depict the scale of crimes that the Russian army actually committed there.”

Feb. 24 marks the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion into Ukraine. Prokhorov, his fellow RPSS faculty and members of the W&M community continue to make efforts to keep Ukraine’s fight for democracy top of mind.

That includes events like the “Atlantis” film screening and this spring’s Tepper Lecture Series that will bring leading experts to the university to discuss the war in Ukraine. The series received funding from The Gregory Tepper Lecture Fund and is also co-sponsored by the history department and the Reves Center for International Studies.

Other departments are also hosting events, such as the March 1 lecture “Ukraine’s Unnamed War: Before the Russian Invasion of 2022.”

“The war began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea. I want to emphasize this so it’s 100% clear,” Prokhorov said. “Many people think that the war began a year ago, but this crime has been happening for nine years.

“We shouldn’t forget that it’s happening. Every day, hundreds of people are dying. We need to provide as much help to the Ukrainian army and people at this point.”

Original source can be found here