Sophomore Natasha Forrest has been immersed in the vibrant culture of the Ukraine her entire life. Born near Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine, she moved to America with her family in 2004. Forrest, like many other American immigrants, is proud of her heritage.
“People in America from Ukraine consider their heritage to be something that they hold on to. They look at their culture and country and feel pride towards their traditions,” she said.
In recent months, the eastern European country of Ukraine has been facing opposition from Russia regarding the highly contested Crimea region. Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, sent military forces into the region towards the end of February according to NBC News. After increasing numbers of protests and demonstrations favoring both the Russian and Ukraine intentions, the Russian military seized regions of the Crimea in early March. On March 16, official results from a secession referendum taken by Crimean government said that 97 percent of voters backed a proposal to join Russia. Russia soon after annexed the area.
Sophomore Vanessa Ostapovich’s family is from various parts of Russia. She has mixed feelings towards the situation.
“It’s hard. My dad is very against what’s happening, and feels that Russia should leave it alone. But I also feel like while the current system is not ideal, it’s been working to an extent–the leadership isn’t great, but it’s working,” Ostapovich said.
The Crimea region is composed of a large majority of ethnically-Russian peoples. Throughout history, the area has been governed by the Soviet Union and many of its citizens identify themselves as being Russian rather than Ukrainian. Even though the majority of the voting citizens want to join Russia and have stated that they identify more with the Russian culture, many of the other countries involved do not accept the process that played out. President Obama went as far as to state that it breached international law, according to ‘Time’ magazine.
Ostapovich feels that the politics trump the ethnicity of the peoples. In her opinion, it does not matter so much whether you identify as Russian or not, it is more about which country will have your interests at heart.
The annexation of the Crimea has generated additional backlash from the United Nations and the United States government. President Obama has pledged to stand with Ukraine against Russia, and many countries, including the U.S., have imposed sanctions against the country.
Forrest agrees with the decisions to put pressure on.
“Russia has been very aggressive towards Ukraine for many years and has always been trying to take us over. Ukraine is sort of the ‘breadbasket’ of the region because they have so much farming land, and Russia is in a way in debt to Ukraine because of that. I feel that they would want to use Ukraine for this purpose,” Forrest said.
Ostapovich has a different view. She feels that the United States should stay out of the situation.
“The U.S. has tried so hard to be independent, and by getting involved they’re kind of contradicting the founding values of America. America just isn’t in the place right now to intervene. We don’t have the budget, and we’re getting into so much debt by being involved,” she said.
“People in America from Ukraine consider their heritage to be something that they hold on to. They look at their culture and country and feel pride towards their traditions,” she said.
In recent months, the eastern European country of Ukraine has been facing opposition from Russia regarding the highly contested Crimea region. Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, sent military forces into the region towards the end of February according to NBC News. After increasing numbers of protests and demonstrations favoring both the Russian and Ukraine intentions, the Russian military seized regions of the Crimea in early March. On March 16, official results from a secession referendum taken by Crimean government said that 97 percent of voters backed a proposal to join Russia. Russia soon after annexed the area.
Sophomore Vanessa Ostapovich’s family is from various parts of Russia. She has mixed feelings towards the situation.
“It’s hard. My dad is very against what’s happening, and feels that Russia should leave it alone. But I also feel like while the current system is not ideal, it’s been working to an extent–the leadership isn’t great, but it’s working,” Ostapovich said.
The Crimea region is composed of a large majority of ethnically-Russian peoples. Throughout history, the area has been governed by the Soviet Union and many of its citizens identify themselves as being Russian rather than Ukrainian. Even though the majority of the voting citizens want to join Russia and have stated that they identify more with the Russian culture, many of the other countries involved do not accept the process that played out. President Obama went as far as to state that it breached international law, according to ‘Time’ magazine.
Ostapovich feels that the politics trump the ethnicity of the peoples. In her opinion, it does not matter so much whether you identify as Russian or not, it is more about which country will have your interests at heart.
The annexation of the Crimea has generated additional backlash from the United Nations and the United States government. President Obama has pledged to stand with Ukraine against Russia, and many countries, including the U.S., have imposed sanctions against the country.
Forrest agrees with the decisions to put pressure on.
“Russia has been very aggressive towards Ukraine for many years and has always been trying to take us over. Ukraine is sort of the ‘breadbasket’ of the region because they have so much farming land, and Russia is in a way in debt to Ukraine because of that. I feel that they would want to use Ukraine for this purpose,” Forrest said.
Ostapovich has a different view. She feels that the United States should stay out of the situation.
“The U.S. has tried so hard to be independent, and by getting involved they’re kind of contradicting the founding values of America. America just isn’t in the place right now to intervene. We don’t have the budget, and we’re getting into so much debt by being involved,” she said.