{"id":136828,"date":"2022-02-28T17:00:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T16:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=136828"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:09","slug":"students-protest-in-support-of-ukraine-i-cant-believe-this-is-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/02\/28\/students-protest-in-support-of-ukraine-i-cant-believe-this-is-real\/","title":{"rendered":"Students protest in support of Ukraine: ‘I can\u2019t believe this is real’"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the Russian attack on Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, EUR students rapidly mobilised a protest in front of city hall. At 5pm, a crowd of less than fifty protestors gathered in front of the building. By the time they returned from their walk to the Erasmus bridge, the crowd grew to four hundred people.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlisa Mahaletska<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The protest was organised by Tahmine and Nigina, both students at EUR from Uzbekistan. \u201cRotterdam has such a big population, and no one was doing anything. Coming from a post-Soviet country, you can\u2019t help but feel for someone taken over by Russia\u201d, said IBA student Tahmine. Both have family and friends in Ukraine currently and wanted to show solidarity.<\/p>\n

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Ukrainian students attend a protest at the outbreak of the war.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlisa Mahaletska<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Optimistic and scared <\/h2>

Walking alone and representing the Ukrainian blue and yellow by wearing an overcoat and festive streamer earrings, Iryna Matsiuk from Ukraine felt overwhelmed with emotion. The first-year Econometrics student walked with her cheeks flushed: \u201cI just can\u2019t believe this is real, Kyiv is my city, the city I grew up in. And my parents are there, my family, all my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the chants grew louder she continued: \u201cI got a call from my mom and she\u2019s in a bomb shelter and my friends are trying escape the occupied side of the country. They\u2019re all relatively safe, and our army is coping quite well so we\u2019re optimistic, but of course still very scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Econometrics student Iryna is optimistic and scared at the same time.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlisa Mahaletska<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Bystanders and cars passing by showed solidarity by honking and raising their fists in the air. Once the crowd reached the Erasmus bridge, all protesters faced the street and held their signs high while shouting rhythmically \u2018save Ukraine\u2019.<\/p>\n

Only focus <\/h2>

On the way back, alumni Nadiya Pysana from Ukraine and Shikar Mahmoud from Iraq expressed their reasons for participating. \u201cThis is the very least we can do. It\u2019s absolutely terrible what is currently happening against the people of Ukraine, this is something that will haunt me for the next decade\u201d, Shikar expressed painfully.<\/p>\n

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Nadia and Shikar.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlisa Mahaletska<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

On the other hand, Nadiya can hardly imagine the war is real. \u201cI still cannot believe that this is happening. It just feels like a movie. To really believe the fact this is happening, you need to accept the fact that anything can happen.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Right now, her mind is occupied only by the war \u201cMy only focus is Ukraine. I keep thinking about all the time that I came back to Kyiv for the December holidays, and this contrast that I\u2019m seeing now is hard to wrap my head around.\u201d Nadiya passionately expressed that there needs to be more action. \u201cSanctions are fine, but European countries need to do more, an invasion cannot happen so easily and go unpunished.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trying to cope <\/h2>
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IBCoM student Vitalii holding a witty protest sign.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlisa Mahaletska<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Once the protestors circled back to the front of Stadhuis, around 400 people had been picked up along the way, making the chants grow even louder. One of the people leading the crowd was Vitalii Zharinov, from Ukraine. The third-year IBCoM student explained: \u201cI\u2019m trying to cope, this is the biggest issue I\u2019ve had to cope with in my life.\u201d In between his sentences he joined the crowd shouting \u2018glory to Ukraine and glory to our heroes\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has to work on his bachelor thesis, but all he can think about is what\u2019s going on at home. \u201cConcentration has been really difficult to deal with. My days are like this: I check WhatsApp for the organisation for the Ukrainians in the Netherlands, I check Telegram, then I go to Instagram to post informational stories, then I go to BBC and Ukrainian news sites. And by the time I\u2019m done there are updates, so I repeat it all.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t

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Een lijst van afbeeldingen<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t
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