By Evan Robinson
Margot is an intelligent young woman with a passion for international security and a goal of one day being a diplomat for her native Ukraine. Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing her. Our discussion included the origins of the war, her experience as a young Ukrainian in Europe and Canada, and what she thinks will happen with the war moving forward.
Born in Kyiv in 1999, Margot graduated high school in Ukraine, leaving the country for prep school in Germany at age 18. After prep school, she attended university in Paris, graduating in 2021. Margot’s graduation from school in Paris should have been a time of great jubilation, as she planned to head back to Ukraine. War was not on her mind, she tells me. The Ukraine-Russia war had been going on for years, and the Ukrainian population had become used to hearing the phrase, “Russia will invade.” To Margot and other Ukrainians, war was part of life, and the US media’s proclamation and constant news coverage of Russia’s build-up of military equipment on the Ukrainian border seemed overblown. Expressed through her discussion with a Dutch reporter at a Berlin bar hours prior to Russia’s invasion, Margot proclaimed, “Russia will not invade!” when asked if she thought Russia would invade Ukraine. It would be difficult to criticize Margot, as sometimes people so closely connected to an issue hope they can speak truth to it. Still, for many in Ukraine, the invasion was concurrently a shock and not a shock. This strange feeling, as Margot described it, stems from living in a country that has been under constant threat of Russian aggression for the better part of eight years. When Ukraine was invaded, this mindset of war immediately kicked in, and the Ukrainian people were again living in a world where the expected worst was occurring.
A large part of our conversation was focused on disinformation. After all, Margot currently works in the field and gave me plenty of thoughtful analysis. The focus of the broader project in which I write this blog is disinformation and combating it within the context of Ukrainians in Manitoba. Although I have conducted a lot of research on this issue, I have never discussed it with someone from Ukraine. How does Russian disinformation affect the Ukrainian people, or does it? According to Margot, disinformation is not targeted to make people believe something, especially in the context of Ukraine, but to reinforce preconceived opinions critically. To help me understand this, Margot shared an anecdote. Her grandparents, residents of Kyiv, have been overly susceptible to believing Russian propaganda. Specifically, they believe Ukrainians are Nazis and Russia is on the right side of this war. These views, though, lie in deep nostalgia for the Soviet era and her grandparents’ time in Russia. She adds that targeting someone with strong pro-Ukraine views would be an inefficient use of propaganda. Instead, it is designed to create a network of individuals who already believe a particular narrative and to make them explicit in their beliefs. Our conversation quickly shifted to the war itself and her hopes for 2023. Although she told me she was unsure what would happen, she seemed confident that Ukraine was in a good place. She also was complimentary of the west and the efforts of countries like the US to send military and financial aid to help the Ukrainian cause. Like most Ukrainians, she said there is always more that can be done but cautioned against western “boots on the ground.” While her sentiment toward the US and Canada was positive, she criticized Germany and France for “talking out of both sides of their mouths.” On the one hand, she says Germany is buying Russian oil and gas, lobbying against sanctions, and building pipelines, and on the other hand, they are standing rhetorically against Russia. France and Macron are trying to keep their options open so that if a Russian victory occurs, France does not entirely close itself off from Russia. What can be taken away from her sentiment is that the war is much different for Europeans. America is removed, she added. It is hard for Americans to see the consequences of opposing Russia, as they do not deal with the immediate consequences. For many European nations, these political decisions cannot remain entirely ideological.
My conversation with Margot was very enlightening. Having an intellectual conversation with a student of global affairs and a Ukrainian was a great experience. Perspectives such as hers give us here in Canada an authentic look into the mind of Ukrainians. It is sometimes difficult to find what one is looking for in a world filled with information. That is why talking to people and hearing their perspectives and stories tell us a lot about the state of geopolitics. Margot is like many Ukrainians. Brave, humble, and intelligent. If Russia is successful in their invasion, she will not have a place to go home to, to thrive and fulfill her dream of becoming a Ukrainian diplomat. Margot’s story is just one of the millions whose lives are affected by Putin’s tyranny. There are people behind every story of the war. We need to share their stories to tell the full extent of the overall effects of this unjust invasion.