Running from missiles: How Ukrainian researchers' experience the war

On February 24th Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Right away many cities with hundrends and thousands of civilians were bombed and by now according to the UNHCR over 3,5 millions Ukrainians fled the country. Those are mostly women with children, as most men are not allowed to leave the country, they come from different areas and backgrounds. Elephant in the lab talked to two Ukrainian researchers that came to Berlin and are trying to figure out what to do next. One of them - Olena Lyniuk - who is initially from Cherson, a city that has been occupied by Russian invaders, was traveling from Kyiv to Berlin. She has a PhD in cultural studies and does research about the role of women in Ukrainian traditional culture in the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. For sixteen years she has been accompanying her scientific work with art projects about Ukrainian cultural traditions and ceremonies, trying to modernize old traditions. She also worked in a childrens’ theater. Ganna Nord left the city of Mykolaiv in the South of Ukraine that has been attacked almost every day since the war started. She is a professor in economics and the director of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Postgraduate Education Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University. Apart from that, she is also a member of the Mykolaiv city council and head of the mission on education, healthcare, social protection of youth and sports of the Mykolaiv city council