The Russian Invasion in Ukraine

Writer's Note
As a reader, you may be asking why we would be covering a situation that is seemingly so far removed from our upper valley region. If you are reading our paper, then it can be speculated that you are also aware of the situation that is plaguing Ukraine and its citizens.

Since Feb. 24, news broke that tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees have rushed to the borders of Poland, Moldova, and Romania due to the Russian invasion.

Context:
According to Reuters, Romanian Defence Minister Vasile Dincu estimated that Romania could hold 500,000 Ukrainian refugees if needed. However, after swaths of Ukrainian refugees came to the northern Ukrainian-Romanian border, the Romanian government expressed hesitancy to permanently hold Ukrainian refugees.

Washington politicians Sen. Patty Murray provided a statement on Feb. 24 highlighting her support for the citizens of Ukraine:
“The Ukrainian people are being plunged into a deadly and devastating war because of the cruel ambition of one dictator—make no mistake, the death and destruction of this conflict will lie solely at the feet of Vladimir Putin.

“This conflict is totally fabricated but its human toll will be very real. Swift measures must be taken to inflict severe and devastating sanctions—Russia must pay a crippling price for invading a sovereign democracy unprovoked. This is a time for our country and the world to stand united—in strong support of Ukraine and firmly against Putin and his cronies.
 
“I’m thinking of my constituents with friends, family, and loved ones in Ukraine—and my heart is with the Ukrainian people who only want peace, but are being forced to endure a brutal war. I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure the United States is doing its utmost to provide the necessary support for the Ukrainian people.”

Interview:
In this article, we will be sharing an interview that was conducted with our graphic designer Catalin Daniel Ciolca, who currently resides in the Romanian capital of Bucharest.

Megan Sokol:
Let me just start by asking how everything has been?

Catalin Daniel Ciolca:
Well, here in Romania, as far as I'm concerned we don't feel anything. Except the people at the northern border where alot of refugees from Ukraine came [from], but otherwise we don't feel the world. They didn't attack us. I doubt they will because they have nothing to do here. Their main concern is about Ukraine and their business with them.

MS: So have you personally seen an influx of Ukrainian refugees near where you live?

CDC: No, because, I'm in Bucharest. Bucharest is a capital city and it's in the southern part of the country. The Ukrainian border is northwest and there's something like 500 or more kilometers from here to the border. We are watching on television, like the rest of the world.

MS: Do you believe that the Romanian government is going to get involved at all?

CDC: I truly hope not, but I don't believe anything. I have no information either way or, or another. I really hope they stay out of this because it's none of our business, it's the Russians. The easiest way to live with the Russians, because we have a long history with the Russians, is to lay low.

MS: How is NATO helping to protect Romania from this conflict?

CDC: Well, I don't know. They're sending troops over here and this is starting to worry me because it's very easy to protect someone when the worry is not on your soil. We've been in this situation in the past. We were caught because of the geographic [location]. We're a small country and we always ended up being caught between the battles of the big ones. I strongly fear [that this will] not be the case this time too. Otherwise, I don't know, [but] I don't think they will. Honestly, if Putin is crazy enough to attack Romania, which I strongly doubt, but let's say he attacks, I strongly doubt that NATO will start a worldwide war only to protect us. It's happened before in the first and the second world war, the French and the UK were warranting power for Poland and then Hitler invaded Poland and they did nothing. Apart from the rhetoric and the speeches and the slogans, I don't think they will. This is my opinion, I could be wrong.

MS: When you say that troops are getting deployed, are those Romanian troops or Ukrainian troops?

CDC: No, they started to send some, as far as I [could] read [from] the news, they started to send some French planes and also some U.S. planes and some troops, but not heavily dispatched as far as I understood. So it is not a massive war mobilization so far, but they have sent some troops. Frankly, this started to worry me for the reasons I have told you earlier.

MS: How do your friends and family feel about the situation?

CDC: Everything here is normal. We are working of course, but everybody lives life as usual. So far nothing has changed. We are more troubled about the raise of prices of energy and natural gas, which happened worldwide. But we fear that this world will increase those prices even further. So this is our main concern for now, at least that is mine.

MS: Does Romania use Russian natural gas?

CDC: Strangely enough, we have reserves and we are using about 80% of the gas from the natural resources in Romania. Despite that, we have the highest prices in Europe, so we have some marvelous leaders.


Update Note: The situation quickly evolved since giving this interview and now the Romanian government transformed many locations (such as stadiums and sport halls) throughout the country, including the capital Bucharest, into shelters for Ukrainian refugees who keep coming. The waiting time for the immigrants at the Ukraine - Romania border is well over 10 hours and the queue of vehicles waiting to enter Romania is several kilometers long.