Yuliya Voytenko Palgan is a Senior Lecturer at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) and has lived in Sweden since 2011. She grew up in Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, not far from the border with Russia and Belarus, and it was from there that her parents fled on 4 March. One week later they arrived in Trelleborg on the ferry from Swinoujscie and for the first time since the start of the war, Yuliya Voytenko Palgan was able to sleep more than two hours in a row.
“I could get a little more sleep after when they had arrived. Before that I was waking up very often, constantly checking the news and my messages.”
Yuliya Voytenko Palgan was something of thorn in the side of the University Management when in the first days of the war she felt that Lund University was not fast enough to state its position against Russia and the invasion.
“When the war started, I expected rapid responses from the University, but it took four or five days before something happened. It has got better and now I am impressed that there are web pages dedicated to Ukraine”, she says.
Her commitment and persistence in urging on the University Management did the trick. Together with her father, Volodymyr Voitenko, she has met Vice-Chancellor Erik Renström and Pro Vice-Chancellor Per Mickwitz.
“We talked about how the University can support Ukrainians, and my father and I provided our feedback on current and planned actions by the University. We have agreed to stay in touch and discuss future and more strategic ways of support.”
Erik Renström also thought it was a valuable meeting:
“It was good to meet. We provided information on what we are doing and were given ideas about what we could develop further. We need more input, because we don’t have a complete picture of what we need to do.”
For many people it may seem that statements and demonstrations far from the epicentre of the war don’t matter very much. Yuliya Voytenko Palgan thinks the opposite is true – all forms of support are needed. Not least condemnation of the war and statements supporting Ukraine. It is therefore important, for example, that the vice-chancellors of Swedish Universities speak out.
“It is not just a matter of supporting all those who are affected, it is just as much about motivating me and others, both inside and outside Ukraine, to continue fighting. Such statements gain attention in Ukraine, not least via social media”, she says.
She has also got involved in the fight against the war in other ways. Together with colleagues at the IIIEE, she organised a manifestation on 1 March. She is also a member of a volunteer group at the University which, among other things, has set up a Google form where those who are willing and able note down the type of help they can offer. Everything from providing accommodation for refugees to donating toys and clothes or offering their own time. The volunteer group has achieved results.
“We have arranged accommodation for around 30 adults and 30 children through our network”, says Yuliya Voytenko Palgan.
She and the other volunteers are in contact with other groups that are sending medicine and other aid to Ukraine. This involvement has helped her Ukrainian colleague to focus on helping instead of grieving and feeling sad.
“She was sad for the first few days of the war, but I said that we must mobilise and do everything we can to help. And now she is a great driving force in the volunteer group and helps out with everything.”
Yuliya Voytenko Palgan says that she is working as usual despite all the time she is devoting to the struggle for Ukraine.
“It means long evenings and working on the weekend, but I must work because it is important. Right now, I am working on an application for research about crises and how our cities recover after crises. With my research I would like to propose different ways to build and maintain resilient, just, safe and sustainable cities. I think it will be important when the time comes to rebuild Ukraine”, she says.
When the Russians invaded Ukraine on 24 February, her parents did not want to flee. After a couple of days in the apartment and a bunker in the yard plus another few days on the countryside staying with friends, they finally realised how untenable the situation was and decided to get in the car and escape.
“I sat at the computer and navigated them, telling about the roads to take. I also have quite a large network in Ukraine and helped them so they could stay overnight at several places before they finally got to Poland.”
With the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive by the EU, certain minimum standards apply to all refugees from Ukraine. One thing that the refugees coming to Sweden will not be entitled to under the Directive is access to language courses Swedish for Immigrants (SFI). Yuliya Voytenko Palgan hopes the University can introduce an initiative to cover this area.
“Learning basic Swedish is very important if people are going to make a living here. But many of them do not have any money and cannot pay for a Swedish language course. Perhaps the University could offer some courses in Swedish for the Ukrainians who come here.”
Text: Jan Olsson