Slava Ukraini: Despite all odds, OU students return to Ukraine to support defense efforts

Editor’s Note: This story was previously featured in The New Political’s 2022 summer magazine The More Y{ou} Know.

On Feb. 24, two graduate students at Ohio University watched in horror as Russia launched an invasion on their home country, Ukraine. Three days later, they made the difficult decision to return home.

Oleksandr “Les” Yakmchuk, grew up in the small village of Lopatyn, located in the countryside of western Ukraine. The area’s weather is “a lot like Ohio,” and many people have jobs as farmers. Others used to work in the mines that dot the landscape, but many have since closed, leaving people without work.  Yakmchuk noticed Lopatyn was very similar to Athens, Ohio, where he and his partner, Olena “Lena” Zenchenko, lived while attending graduate school. 

“We had a farm. I had two cows, some chickens, and goats, and dogs and all kinds of animals. And I never bought meat or milk in my life,” Yakmchuk said in a video interview where he called from Kyiv, Ukraine. 

Outline of Ukraine with Les and Lena’s hometowns starred. Graphic by Emily Zeiler.

While his family has since sold the animals, they still have the farm. Yakmchuk hopes to return the farm to its former glory in the future. “I have a dream to make it like new and make it work again; I really want to come back.”

After 14 years, Yakmchuk and his family moved to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where Zenchenko grew up. Zenchenko fondly remembered Kyiv as the huge city where she spent her childhood having fun. She recalled walking with her best friend and their dog through the streets. Zenchenko was “homesick from the first day,” upon her arrival at Ohio U.

However, on Feb. 27, Yakmchuk and Zenchenko returned to Ukraine under vastly different circumstances, making the trip back to Kyiv to provide support to Ukrainian forces on the frontlines.

“They are prepared but not enough,” Yakmchuk said. Before their departure, he and Zenchenko, along with several other Ukrainian Ohio U students and students in their MFA program, worked to gather monetary donations, food, tactical medicine and other supplies. Using these donations, Yakmchuk and Zenchenko were able to fill suitcases and deliver them to soldiers upon their arrival in Ukraine. 

The pride that Yakmchuk and Zenchenko feel for their country is evident in their decision to willingly enter an active warzone.

“I was, growing up, really proud of my country and really proud to be Ukrainian,” Zenchenko said.

Yakmchuk and Zenchenko are not the only ones to return to their home country. Yakmchuk noted that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian natives have since returned to the country to help Ukrainian soldiers defend the country against Russia’s invasion. 

“Everybody, all my friends (are) volunteering. I mean, everybody's doing something,” Yakmchuk said.

Both stated that volunteers have worked to bring goods and supplies from other parts of Europe into Ukraine. Other volunteers have taken up arms in the territorial defense of their country and communities have come together to provide food and housing for refugees displaced as a result of the warfare.

“I think we're doing our best because we can’t do anything else,” Zenchenko said. “This is the fight (for the) existence of this country.” 

Coming to Ukraine, Yakmchuk and Zenchenko both acknowledged the possibility that Yakmchuk might have to learn how to use a gun. In an effort to defend itself against Russia, the Ukrainian government banned most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. 

“I think, emotionally, it's got to be a bit frightening to think about having to use that tool,” Ohio U’s Director of International Services and Operations Diane Cahill said in a video interview reflecting on the two’s decision to return.

Nonetheless, the two returned, fully prepared for the worst. Although Zenchenko does not believe her partner will be selected to help Ukraine’s armed forces due to his lack of military experience, the possibility lingers. 

“If I see that my country needs me in the military, well, I will,” said Yakmchuk

Although he was fearful upon returning to Kyiv, Yakmchuk’s fear had since waned. This concerns him. “If you don't have fear you will die,” Yakmchuk said. He worries he will begin to accidentally ignore sirens as a result of this lack of fear, mentioning that, on the 12th day of the invasion, he began to overlook soldiers.

Yakmchuk explained: “Every day we are just in huge stress because sometimes they're bombing cities during night. So you can’t properly sleep.” He describes the vicious and persistent cycle of alarms sounding, going to take shelter, and then returning home, only to hear another siren half an hour later. “You can stay home, you can ignore it, but who knows what’s going to happen?”

To deal with the stress, Yakmchuk is practicing yoga and meditation and seeing a therapist. Zenchenko began reading to distract her mind and escape to a “safe zone” as tensions rose between Russia and Ukraine.

Opening his online calendar, Yakmchuk was stunned as he looked at the due dates and plans he had input before he departed from Ohio U. “I was like, ‘Oh my god … I had a life before this.’”

Before returning to Ukraine, Yakmchuk and Zenchenko were both working toward earning their MFA in Communication Media Arts. Yakmchuk focused on filmmaking, while Zenchenko, coming from a graphic design background, concentrated on informational and interactive design. 

“Now I have more problems than filmmaking, I would say,” said Yakmchuk, reflecting on the current state of his country. However, by coordinating with their MFA program director and professor in the School of Visual Communication, Stan Alost, the two plan to return to Ohio U.

“It’s one little touch of normalcy,” Alost said about Ohio U while the two have been away. “Or at least a window into a normal world, or a world that was normal for them, before all this unfolded; I think that has a real value to them.” 

Following the news of the invasion, both Cahill and Alost privately reached out to support the students. They provided Yakmchuk and Zenchenko with resources and worked to help them navigate the situation, which they knew was emotionally tumultuous for the graduate students. 

“They were very outgoing and engaging and happy people. I guess that's the biggest shift to have seen. As there was the threat, they were a little more concerned, but then as the invasion unfolded, incredibly distressed and really anguished,” said Alost in a phone interview. “They didn't want to leave, but they also felt that they had to go back and help their parents and their country.” 

Alost has stayed in touch with the two over Microsoft Teams, checking in on their well-being and offering to help in any way that he can.

Cahill worked with the students to set up a table in front of Baker University Center, where they worked to inform Ohio U students of the situation. There, Yakmchuk and Zenchenko urged students to call their local senators and persuade them toward action. They highlighted that, although sanctions against Russia have been helpful, Ukraine requires aid from other countries in protecting its skies from Russian missiles and bombs. It was then, as they rallied support from passersby, that Cahill noticed the two were thinking of leaving.

Ukraine flags at DC Pride Parade. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has effected many OU students including Les and Lena. Photo by Audri Wilde.

“I have never spoken with someone who visibly seemed pulled to another place,” Cahill said.

Alost recalled the painful conversation he had with the pair before their departure. “It's heartbreaking to see them worried about whether or not we would take them back.” He assured Yakmchuk and Zenchenko that they were more than welcome to return to their studies when they saw fit.

“As a parent, I looked at them and thought, you know, I would tell my children, ‘Don't come back here,’ and I think they had probably heard that,” Alost said. “But I also looked at two people that really, they're proud of where they're from. They're proud of their country, and they just felt like they had to go be a part of helping.”

Yakmchuk and Zenchenko are holding out hope for their return. 

“(I want to) come back to Ohio to finish my studies, to continue my education, to continue doing filmmaking and to rebuild my country,” Yakmchuk said.

As the sound of sirens filled the air, a video call with Zenchenko was cut short as she had to make her way to a bomb shelter. “I’m sorry, this is the alarm,” Zenchenko said moments before hanging up.  For now, the two continue to support the soldiers on the front lines as they endure life in the war-torn country that they call home, hoping to soon see Ukraine return to its former glory.

For support, international students can visit International Student and Faculty Services or email isfs@ohio.edu. The Office of Global Affairs and International Studies is available to support students who have been affected by these events. Students may also contact Counseling and Psychological Services at 740-593-1616 for additional support.