Thousands of miles from home, two University of Richmond students are dedicated to spreading awareness about the war in Ukraine on campus.
Olena Naumenko, a sophomore from Ukraine, and Natalia Jung, a sophomore from Poland, founded the Ukraïnian Solidarity Club in February 2025, ahead of the third anniversary of the invasion by Russia. The club’s first gathering included a showing of the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” followed by a question-and-answer session hosted by Ukrainian students and faculty members from the Russian Studies department.
“Last semester, there was some misunderstanding that it was a space only for Ukrainians, and it was pretty much the opposite,” Naumenko said. “We decided to answer the questions of non-Ukrainians about the war, about the invasion and about the country itself, because we were not really known before Russia invaded us.”…