Former Wright State student from Ukraine reports from war zone

UKRAINE — A former Wright State University student lives in the Ukraine and is working as an analyst for a TV station in his home country.

Vladyslav Faraponov is from the Ukraine but ended up attending Wright State University in the fall of 2019 to March 2020. He’s been back in the Ukraine over since and has spent many sleepless nights over the past week.

“Ukrainians have been told that the invasion could happen at any time,” Faraponov said. “We all believed that it was too irrational to start the war, to start the full-scale invasion.”

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Faraponov said he got a phone call shortly after the invasion started. He said there was something different in the atmosphere. He’s heard the sounds of war and seen some unsettling moments, but nothing compares to the uncertainty he felt in the first few hours calling his family.

“I called them, and it was a very uncertain feeling. Probably the worst feeling ever that I’ve experienced,” Faraponov said.

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Vladyslav Faraponov

He goes by Vlad for short and was a political science major and was part of the Model UN during his time at Wright State. Even though he was at Wright State for less than a year, he’s received a lot of messages from people in the Miami Valley this week.

“I’d say around 100 people reached out to me on different times, including some current politicians,” he said. “I did not realize how much people are really eager to help.”

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Faraponov said for everyone in Ukraine, time is a precious commodity because of the uncertainty of every moment. He said he doesn’t want to reveal his location and uses digital backgrounds to try and conceal where he is. He’s fearful of being attacked, but said action needs to be taken to try and stop the Russian attacks.

“Young children should not die because a guy who thinks he can literally ruin the whole country. Of course, peace talks should be in place and be active,” Faraponov said. “And we need to continue with the sanctions even if Russia says we don’t care about sanctions. But it’s just not care, of course, they care.”

Faraponov said he was very appreciative of everyone who’s reached out to him with specific concerns. He said if anyone is able to donate to charities that are set up to help the Ukrainian people, he’d appreciate that as well.

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