Warren Scott DISCUSSING THE UKRAINE — Sharing views and experiences of the situation in the Ukraine with students and others at Franciscan University of Steubenville Thursday were, from left: Sophia Charron, a student who recently assisted refugees from the war-torn country; Mykola Murskyj, a former analyst with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and Ron McNamra, facilitator for the university’s Center for Leadership.

STEUBENVILLE — Sophia Charron, a student at Franciscan University of Steubenville, said while assisting refugees from war-torn Ukraine recently, she was impressed by the resilience and determination of its people.

“There’s this incredible sense of courage and preparedness,” said the junior political science major who was born in Ukraine.

Charron said she recently traveled to Ukraine to serve as an interpreter with her father, an Orthodox Catholic priest aiding two Ukrainian friends and a group of more than 20 adults and children, including many orphans, to seek refuge in other countries.

Charron said while they are among many fleeing to other European countries as the Russian military attacks, many men and women have remained to stand against the invasion.

She said while there, she saw the stained-glass windows of 10th Century churches being boarded up and covers of heat-resistant material being draped over historic statues.

During her visit, Charron stayed in Kharkviv, the nation’s second largest city, which had not been entered by Russian ground troops but had been targeted by its military aircraft.

Having stayed near a Ukrainian military airfield that was bombed, she was asked if she ever feared for her life.

“You can never predict when or where a bombshell will fall,” Charron conceded, but she added she was impressed by the resolve of the Ukrainians she encountered.

“Being in a city where so many courageous people are is infectious,” she said.

Charron said many in Kharkviv speak Russian and though Ukraine broke ties with Russia with the fall of the Soviet Union, it wasn’t uncommon for its citizens to look upon their neighbor nation in a somewhat favorable light.

“They were in absolute shock a country they thought would take care of them was burning their buildings and citizens,” she said.

Joining Charron for a discussion of the war in Ukraine were Mykola Murskyj, a former analyst with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Ron McNamara, facilitator of the university’s Leadership Center, who served as a foreign policy advisor to the U.S. Senate in the 1980s.

The grandson of two sets of Ukrainian immigrants, Murskyj said Russian Vladimir Putin’s intention is to recreate a Russian empire that existed years before the Soviet Union.

McNamara noted Putin has called the fall of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th Century.

Murskyj and McNamara said to quell opposition to his actions in Ukraine, Putin has generated several myths.

Murskyj said one is that the country is ruled by Nazis when its president and immediate former prime minister are Jews.

Charron said while there is a small group of Neo Nazis in Ukraine, they ran for parliament in 2016 and lost.

He said another is that their government leadership aside, Ukrainians overall are of the same culture as Russia and the invasion is a means of reunification.

“Everybody fleeing Ukraine is going west. Nobody is going to Russia, though they could easily do that,” said Murskyj.

Charron said Putin also has cited Ukraine’s desire to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an affiliation formed to block Communist expansion.

But she said other neighboring nations are NATO members.

Murskyj said Putin isn’t concerned about NATO as much as the democratic movement in Ukraine in recent years.

Charron said of the war in Ukraine, “It’s a real, real fight for democracy that we should take notice of.”

McNamara said Putin’s actions also have been questioned in his own country, with about 14,000 Russians arrested for protesting the war and Putin threatening imprisonment for those circulating what he deems “misinformation” about its military.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)