“A Special Journey to Ukraine" at the Bettendorf Public Library -- October 25.
Tuesday, October 25, 7 p.m.
Bettendorf Public Library, 2950 Learning Campus Drive, Bettendorf IA
Offered as a special presentation by the World Affairs Council of the Quad Cities, the timely lecture program A Special Journey to Ukraine will be presented at the Bettendorf Public Library on October 25, with Ukraine native Lyuda Lyashenko describing her recent visit to the Eastern European country as she helped deliver medical supplies to those suffering in Ukraine's current war with Russia.
A resident of Camanche, Iowa, and native of Kherson, Ukraine, Lyashenko will share firsthand experiences of preparing and traveling to Ukraine in May and September of 2022. The talk will include points such as feelings, emotions, and actions experiences since the beginning of the full-scale war on February 24; personal and professional activities and connections made since then; preparation for both trips; and observations made in Poland and Ukraine.
The second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast, Ukraine covers approximately 230,000 square miles, and prior to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, it was the eighth-most populous country in Europe, with a population of around 41 million people. While the country's national language is Ukrainian, most citizens are also fluent in Russian. After the Russian Revolution of the early-20th century, a Ukrainian national movement re-emerged, and formed the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1917. This short-lived state was forcibly reconstituted by the Bolsheviks into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which became a founding member of the Soviet Union in 1922. In the 1930s, millions of Ukrainians were killed by the Holodomor, a Stalin-era man-made famine.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine regained independence and declared itself neutral, forming a limited military partnership with the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States, while also joining the Partnership for Peace with NATO in 1994. In 2013, a series of mass demonstrations known as the Euromaidan erupted across Ukraine, eventually escalating into the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, which led to the establishment of a new government and pro-Russian unrest. During this period, unmarked Russian troops invaded the Crimean Peninsula, which was later annexed by Russia, and pro-Russia unrest in Ukraine's Donbas culminated in Russia-backed separatists seizing territory throughout the region, sparking the War in Donbas. This series of events marked the beginning of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, and in a major escalation of the conflict in February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the outbreak of war with Russia in 2014, Ukraine has continued to seek closer economic, political, and military ties with the Western world, including with the United States, European Union, and NATO.
Ukraine is a unitary republic under a semi-presidential system and a developing country, ranking 77th on the Human Development Index. Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe by nominal GDP per capita, yet due to its extensive fertile land, pre-war Ukraine was one of the largest grain exporters in the world. It is a founding member of the United Nations, as well as a member of the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, and the OSCE, and is in the process of joining the European Union and becoming a NATO member.
Presenter Lyuda Lyashenko's A Special Journey to Ukraine program will take place on October 25, participation in the 7 p.m. event is free, and more information is available by contacting the library at (563)344-4175 and BettendorfLibrary.com and the World Affairs Council of the Quad Cities at WACQC.org.
