Ukraine – The threat of a nuclear disaster has been on the minds of many Ukrainians since the beginning of the war, though with the current events taking place, the threat has greatly increased as the Russian military has eportedly placed mines and explosives in and around the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The U.S. and Ukrainian governments say that there is a potential for such an event to occur, and many Ukrainians have begun to prepare for this catastrophe which may or may not happen.
One of my students, who will be referred to by her first name, Olha, of Lviv, told me in a lesson that she has started to prepare for a nuclear winter by stockpiling food and water, both bought by herself and given to her by her relatives who live in villages around Ukraine. In addition to amassing supplies, she has also begun taking driving lessons and is looking to buy a vehicle in order to flee the country in case of such an event.
The family with who I volunteer for in Kyiv are not as worried about this as others are. Elena Tregubova, the owner of Vishenki English School, who is in desperate need of volunteer teachers, says, “I have no time, nor could afford to worry about such things as I have two beautiful twin boys to care for,” and at 3yrs of age, they are quite a handful. She also stated that this “… potential event would not only affect us but them [Russians] as well.” The family here is frequently in sorrow of the news that they read, though high spirits are consistently maintained, the sadness of losing your compatriots on a daily basis to something that could easily be stopped by the full support of the West is deeply upsetting.
When my girlfriend came to visit me, this was a frequent worry that she had. While not having been in this country since before the war started, she is still all too familiar with Russian aggression as she had fled from Donetsk when she was younger, which was when this war started in Ukraine, not in 2022, but in 2014 in the region of Donbas.
It didn’t occur to me until many years after I first visited Ukraine and after having lived in Russia for almost a year in 2018 that the Russian media was pushing a narrative to its population regarding a potential full-scale conflict with the “West” or NATO. My acquantices in Siberia frequently said to me, “I hope to not see you on the battlefield,” or “We are brothers, I do not want to see you on the front,” and it was so strange for me to hear that then and it wasn’t until the Kremlin pushed past the Donbas and invaded uncontested territory throughout Ukraine in February of 2022 that I had realized that the Russian people have been fed this sort of narrative, among many others that the Kremlin saw as a benefit for mass-control.
If radiation from the potential downfall of the Zaporizhzhia NPP makes its way into EU/NATO territory, one could very well be inclined to believe that this would be the moment when the “West” puts its boots on the ground in Ukraine and enters its airspace. Until such fallout or a massive strike on EU/NATO territory, Ukraine will continue pushing forward with its own and given equipment, men, women, and international volunteers, to take back its territory and liberate the Ukrainians still under Russian occupation.
About the Author: Scott Urquart is originally from Anniston and currently living in the Ukraine. He will be covering some of the special needs happening in Ukraine specifically for the Calhoun Journal. To learn more about his background please visit our introductory article “From Anniston to the Ukraine”
