HELENA — Many of us cannot fathom war in our home country, but students at Carroll College heard the harsh realities of what some people are currently facing from someone who has lived it.
During a panel at Carroll about the war in Ukraine, students heard about the country's history and what could come with the new federal administration.
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"The new administration has taken sort of an abrupt about-face. Trump's approach to foreign policy is more 'America first' than multilateralism. So that's a big shift," said Dr. DJ Cash, an associate professor of history at Carroll.
The college held the panel on Tuesday, 10 years to the day Russia annexed Crimea and over three years after the invasion of Ukraine.
Asiie Abliatipova is a Carroll college student in the school's Global Student Refugee Initiative.
She was born and raised in Ukraine but came to Helena after the war started. It was her idea to put together the panel.
"It means a lot to me. I feel like I appreciate it even more, realizing that those are people from a different continent," Abliatipova said. "What I really appreciate is the students coming and listening to this discussion."
In addition to her personal experiences, students heard from experts in political science and international history who are all doctors who teach at the college.
They discussed the history of Ukraine, how it compares to Russia, why Russia wants to occupy Ukraine, and the involvement of the United States.
"I think it's important to have people get information from academics to the extent possible," said Cash.
