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Lila Dlaboha's avatar

This piece crackles with truth on many levels. Thank you for offering a multifaceted perspective.

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

I'll share a quick story for you. This was in 2013 at Stanford, where I was visiting my good friend. His colleague was really into ballet and we got to talking about it. When she heard I lived in Kyiv, she asked me if I'd been to the Bolshoi. I was confused. The Bolshoi? Yes, she said. 'Well, uh, no, it's pretty far away. I'd have to fly or take an overnight train, I don't like ballet enough to make that trek. Besides, Kyiv has a wonderful ballet and opera.' Now she was confused. 'Kyiv is far from Moscow?' Oh dear...the conversation continued to get more surreal, and she seemed to think Ukraine and Russia were the same. And this was a Stanford professor we're talking about.

When the Revolution of Dignity happened in 2014, friends and relatives seemed to start paying more attention. But there was still a lot of 'isn't Ukraine part of Russia?' chat and confusion. It got tiring and some of what I heard was insulting, but I struggled to make people understand.

It drives Ukrainians up the wall - understandably - when so many Russian voices seem to speak for Ukrainians. Of particular 'concern' was Masha Gessen's piece in the New Yorker, and any time a Russian voice or someone of Russian descent pens a Ukraine-related piece (Simon Shuster is another name that comes to mind), the same fair question is asked: can we not get some Ukrainian voices? There are plenty and it's great to see more Ukrainian voices being heard on the global stage. It's taking time, and I fear people are losing interest, but we can all do our part.

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