Experts on situation between Russia and Ukraine

The following University of Victoria experts are available to media for comment on the increasing tensions along the border between Russia and Ukraine, as well as potential geopolitical impacts:

Serhy Yekelchyk (Germanic and Slavic Studies / History) has published seven books on Ukrainian history, including two on the present conflict with Russia. Born and educated in Ukraine, he can discuss how the crisis is seen from a local Ukrainian perspective and place it in the context of two recent popular revolutions in Ukraine, as well as the ongoing war in the Donbas region. Yekelchyk is a leading media commentator on this topic, with news outlets such as the New York Times turning to him for perspective and fact-checking on its coverage about the current conflict. At UVic, he teaches a variety of courses in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies and the Department of History, including a course on Modern Ukraine and Russian-Ukrainian Conflict. (Office: 250-721-7505 or serhy@uvic.ca)

Tatiana Shaban (Political Science / Centre for Global Studies) is a post-doctoral scholar at UVic and an expert in post-Soviet borders, governance of external borders of the European Union, cross-border cooperation in Eastern Europe and with the EU, humanitarian crisis on the borders, regional governance and democratic developments in Ukraine and Belarus. (Shaban is currently in Minsk, Belarus (+11 hrs), therefore please note time difference and that interviews will be on Zoom.) (Email: tshaban@uvic.ca)

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