SF State reacts to Russia’s invasion on Ukraine

Feb 25, 2022

Russian troops launched their attack on Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The Russian government launched a full-scale invasion by land, sea and air against Ukraine early Thursday morning at around 5 a.m. Ukrainian time, bombing and shelling the Ukrainian captial of Kyiv and the cities of Odessa and Kharkiv — later capturing the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Ukranians fleeing the attacks lined roads with vehicles and crowded into buses. Ukranians in Kharkiv used a train station to live and hide from the attacks.

SF State political science professor Andrei Tsygankov specializes in Russian foreign policy as well as U.S.-Russia relations. He disagrees with Putin’s invasion, expressing that efforts to solve the conflict by force isn’t justified and will only lead to suffering and casualties.

“That’s the fear that it will get out of control, it will turn into a major war. And there will be very, very important, very negative, devastating consequences, including humanitarian consequences for all people of the region,” Tsygankov said.

The Biden administration called Putin’s attacks an “unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine.” President Joe Biden announced tough economic sanctions would be applied to Russian banks, the Russian military and exports such as semiconductors.

SF State junior Cris Vasquez agrees that sanctions are a good way to go about handling the crisis.

“I think we need to be a lot more tough around sanctions and making sure that Russia is pretty much crippled,” Vasquez said.

SF State Senior Dylan DeLuca-Gaines said he shocked when he saw the Ukranian bombings on YouTube, though he isn’t sure how comfortable he is with America being involved with the conflict.

“I don’t know if it’s going to cause more damage or if it’s going to help more people, but something’s gonna come out of it,” DeLuca said.

President Biden on Thursday directed 7,000 troops to travel to Germany to help increase NATO’s defenses. Biden has said that he would not send troops directly to Ukraine.

Alexander Vaheid is an SF State Senior who said Russia is not justified in its invasion and thinks bloodshed is unnecessary.

“Blowing things up is not the move, not something I want to voice support of,” Vaheid said.

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About the Contributors

Matthew Cardoza, Copy Editor

Matthew Cardoza (he/him) is the copy editor for Golden Gate Xpress. He is majoring in journalism and minoring in political science. He was born and raised in San Francisco, and still lives in the city. He was previously a part of The Guardsman, the campus newspaper of City College of San Francisco. Matthew likes to write about politics, culture and interesting events on and off campus. In his free time, he likes to drive around San Francisco, rock climb, play video games and hike in the wilderness.

Benjamin Fanjoy, Staff Photographer

Benjamin Fanjoy is a San Francisco-based photojournalist. Originally from Maryland, Benjamin moved to San Francisco in the summer of 2018 after completing his five-and-one-half year enlistment in the United States Coast Guard. He is currently studying Journalism (concentrating on Photojournalism) with a minor in Political Science at San Francisco State University. Benjamin has photographed social justice movements of historical relevance including Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, Abolish ICE, the wildfires in Northern California, San Francisco's response to Covid-19, and the immigration surge at the Tijuana-San Ysidro Port of Entry in Mexico. Benjamin has worked with The Associated Press, Bloomberg, The San Francisco Chronicle, The San Francisco Standard, El Tecolote and Golden Gate Xpress.