SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — "Going back to Ukraine and kind of being there. It was different. People are more cautious," says Matthew Kenenitz of Schuylkill County.
Kenenitz, who is originally from Frackville, works as an English professor at Ukrainian Catholic University, where, for the last two years, many of his students have now become part of the war effort.
"You know, people are tired," says Kenenitz. "You know, these guys that have been fighting on the front lines have been fighting a lot longer than just two years."
"If we stop, if we surrender, this is like no, it's like everything that was before that happened before has no sense, you know, or no meaning," student Mykhalio Tymo.
He runs volunteer missions to many of Ukraine's hardest-hit areas.
As news of Russian forces gaining ground spreads, Tymo says Ukrainians are not deterred.
"There is a very cool saying in Ukrainian that being Ukrainian is being in the constant state to prove your right to exist," says Tymo.
For others like Tymur Krasnyanskyi the war has created new kind of working class in Ukraine. The younger generation is now focused on manufacturing goods, growing food, and technological advances.
"The war changes the perspective for many children to pursue professions that will make us stronger as a nation," says Krasnyanskyi
As the fighting continues, all three men ask for continued support for a war they say is still very real.
"And it's certainly not that Ukrainians are vacationing," says Kenenitz. "You know, in the Riviera, on the money that America is sending over this money the supplies, it's not for leisure. It's to survive."
For more on our conversation with Professor Kenenitz and his students about the ongoing war in Ukraine, watch the interview below.
