Reflections on a Year of the Russia-Ukraine War Davidson Professors Discuss Past and Future of Conflict

ABBY TRUE ‘25 (SHE/HER) STAFF WRITER

In late February of 2022, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A year later, the war is raging on, and Ukraine is not going anywhere.

A little over a year ago, expectations for the outcome of this invasion were very different.

Dr. Amanda Ewington, professor of Russian studies, explains that “Putin was largely counting on not much reaction from the West, and not particularly unified Western reaction.” Since the invasion, after months of struggle and significant ceding of land to Russia in September, Ukraine emerged with an unexpected push in the northeastern Kharkiv region. This offensive forced Russia out of many long-held areas. The element of surprise was key in allowing Ukraine to triumph over a larger opponent, but so was the instability of Russian forces.

Dr. Besir Ceka, professor of political science, expanded on the power dynamic: “we have learned… that Russia is actually not as powerful militarily as we have thought. So we learned through their colossal failures on the battlefield, that the state of their army is not quite where they thought, and I think the Russians themselves were shocked at how incompetent and in some ways how poorly their army has been doing.”

In November, Russia pulled out from Kherson in an unexpected show of weakness. Much of the shifting dynamics are due to increased support from the West, which as indicated by President Joe Biden’s February visit to Kyiv, only appears to be growing.

Due to the war, life has been fundamentally and irreparably altered for all Ukrainians.

According to Dr. Ewington, “what’s [changed] most significantly is that the entire Ukrainian nation is under threat of bombing and destruction…any moment, people in their homes, it doesn’t matter where you are in Ukraine, can have a missile come down on their house. And millions of Ukrainians have had to leave the country.”

According to the UN, at least 7,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, though the number is likely much higher.

Additionally, other humanitarian violations are occurring. Dr. Ewington spoke about a recent report, which revealed thousands of Ukrainian children have been taken by Russia under the guise of “reeducation,” saying that “Russia is trying to frame this as a humanitarian thing, and that they’re saving these children.” But, she says, this is an obfuscation of the truth, which is much more sinister–so much that “the case that is being made for understanding what Russia is doing as an attempted genocide is building.”

Speaking on the geopolitical implications of the war, Dr. Ceka discussed the reality of NATO going forward, saying “NATO has gotten a renewed purpose. This conflict, I think, has provided the Western democratic countries with a unified purpose to push back against authoritarianism more generally, but especially on the military front … certainly a far more robust response than Putin expected. So the West has been unified militarily.”

Dr. Ceka emphasized that “the future of the world order is being decided on this war. And that’s why you have such a deep commitment on the side of the US and other countries to help Ukraine basically, to make it clear to potential aggressors in the future, that wars of conquest are no longer okay. If you attack democracies, there will be a vigorous response by the collective West… So this conflict matters, this war matters. It’s not just happening in another place in the world with not much significance for us. It does affect our lives and will likely affect them in the future.”

Davidson students interested in showing support for Ukraine can contact Dr. Ewington (amewington@davidson.edu) for opportunities to support refugees in the area, or to do humanitarian work abroad.