“I have a lot of guilt, that I’m not doing enough, not helping enough, but I’m trying to play my part in letting people know what’s happening, as best as I can, in the best way I know how, through my love of writing.”… Priya Ravindran '09
International journalist Priya Ravindran ’09, who lived in Hart Global Living and Learning Center as a student and earned a bachelor's in journalism and in international relations, writes a daily account of the Russian war in Ukraine that provides details of the aggression, suggestions for accessing accurate news outlets and personal accounts of her family’s experiences. Describing herself, her husband, and their 3-year-old son as “refugees,” she says that reporting and sharing their story as widely as possible is her means of resistance. As of Feb. 24, the family was still living in their Kyiv home, and Priya’s husband, Alex, and colleagues were continuing to work even as cities in the East were under attack. In that post, she asked friends who pray for her family to also remember those who are vulnerable, elderly, staying with their pets or disabled family members and civilians who have signed on to defend Ukraine. “Pray for them; think of them,” she wrote. “My heart is heavy thinking of all life—human and animal alike—in Ukraine today.” Late that day, while packing and weighing whether to flee or stay, she reported Russian attacks on a hospital in direct violation of the Geneva Convention. Kyiv authorities announced lights would be turned off at 8 p.m. to keep the region as dark as possible to thwart airstrikes. “Fill your bottles and casseroles; keep your phones charged at all times; keep your flashlights, batteries and candles close to where you can access them,” Priya wrote. “Keep your prayers coming. Remember, Hope dies last.” By the next day, Feb. 25, Priya reported having reached a friend’s house by car and having found herself able to sleep for two and a half hours straight. She expressed concern that her husband would be drafted, leaving her and their child to navigate the dangers of travel alone. Here is an excerpt from her Feb. 26 journal as they headed to a hotel room for the night: “We are on the road. The main task is to get out of Kyiv. Alex is looking for updates on what streets are currently under Ukraine, and which are not. It is unnerving to pass through military checkpoints. It is even more unnerving to see that only one tank and a handful of soldiers are manning some of these checkpoints against one of the biggest armies in the world. Seeing tanks on the side of the roads with smoke coming out of them, lets us know what happened to them, but no clue as to what happened to those inside. I will pray to every god out there that these brave people protecting us will be ok. "…. Normally, when [her son] sees us with a suitcase, as we had yesterday, he assumes we’re dropping him off at his nanny’s. Instead, we were in a crowded subway station. Then, we were waiting in a train, where he was forced to sit in one spot. Then, finally back onto the platform, in a car, and another home that isn’t his nanny’s.” The next day, again on the road, reporting on atrocities from the Russian Army, Priya concluded: “In the morning, when I was playing peekaboo with [her son], and he gave me his sleepy smile, it instantly warmed my heart. But then, I thought about all the fathers saying goodbye to their kids, all the parents running around with kids whose legs got blown off and my heart shattered into a million pieces.” By Feb. 28, Priya and her family had reached their point of relative safety in Western Ukraine near the Carpathian Mountains. There, as guests in a private home, they are still subject to sirens demanding they take cover in hallways or basements. On March 1, she wrote that in only a few days her son would have his third birthday amid the chaos of war. A particularly poignant journal entry comes from Priya’s reflecting upon what she abandoned when fleeing the attacks on Kyiv. “I left my external hard drive. If I lose that, I will lose photos since 2005, of my Oswego years, and my thesis that I worked so hard on. But, like Alex said, for now, I still have them in my memory, so that is enough.” It is from Priya’s “Oswego years” that I remember her. As one of Priya’s professors and her academic advisor in the Journalism Program, I cherished her for her love of learning, her commitment to her future profession and—most of all—her personal warmth. I was director of the program, and approximately 100 students were part of the major at that time. They formed a supportive community, in classes, workshops, and social gatherings, within the college of approximately 8,000 students.
Recalling her undergraduate years, Priya said, “Going to Oswego was a turning point for me. Meeting people from all walks of life and from all around the world, and being challenged and encouraged in classes like never before, transformed me from a shy girl to a confident young woman. To this day, the people closest to me are from my four years at SUNY Oswego.” Mary Ellen Murphy Holbrook ’09 said, “As seniors, our journalism group grew even closer together and tighter knit before graduating. It struck me then, and continues to strike me as I read her remarkable Ukraine Journal, that Priya is an extraordinarily driven individual. But most of all, I recognize Priya as a fun and caring friend.” Dr. Eileen Gilligan, who has been following Priya’s Ukraine Journal on social media, said, “Priya was an outstanding journalism student. In her excellent work, she demonstrated all the best skills we hope to develop in research, reporting, interviewing and writing. And, she always held a global perspective, which she's drawing on now to help keep us informed of her personal situation as well as the details of the Russian aggression.” Dr. Arvind Diddi, who taught Priya in her first journalism class, recalls her as a diligent student of obvious intelligence who had a real drive for her major. “Her reporting and writing skills were strong even then,” he said. In her March 2 post (all posts are available on her public Facebook page) Priya implores journalists to refrain from quoting Russian state media, which she notes is propaganda. She adds that even in her daily journal, she separates facts from opinion and divides her reporting into two segments: the war first and her personal experiences at the end. She urges her readers to access reliable news sources, and writes: Follow and share from Kyiv Independent ( an independent, on-the-ground source): https://kyivindependent.com/.../russia-attacks-wide.../
~Linda Loomis '90 M'97, retired professor of English and Creative Writing and former director of Journalism
CAPTIONS: Priya Ravindran '09 and her husband, Alex, at Maidan on Ukrainian Independence Day, Aug.24, 2016; Priya and her son, Neil; and Priya with then-Journalism Director Linda Loomis '90 M'97 in 2009. (photos from Priya and Linda's Facebook pages)
Watch Priya's March 3 interview with Indian news show, Bottomline with Barkha.