From Kyiv's outskirts to the U.S. midwest, law students stand up for Ukraine - Reuters.com
A civilian trains to throw Molotov cocktails to defend the city, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Zhytomyr, Ukraine March 1, 2022. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
(Reuters) - As a lawyer in Ukraine pursuing a U.S. law degree, Dmytro Tymoshchenko is well versed in contracts, negotiation and intellectual property.
Over the past month, he has picked up new skills: preparing Molotov cocktails and sourcing supplies to help Ukraine's military repel Russian forces.
Tymoshchenko, 29, is halfway to obtaining an LL.M. — a masters degree for lawyers trained outside the United States — from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. But after putting his studies on hold due to the pandemic, he is now living in Ukraine and volunteering with the civilian defense unit in Boryspil, about 20 miles outside of Kyiv.
Since Russia's invasion began Feb. 24, he has spent his days stocking locations around the city with food, firewood and other supplies for the military, he said.
When the local curfew kicks in at 8 p.m., he said, he hunkers down with his work for the 500-person company where he is general counsel, Depositphotos Inc.
“We hear explosions every single hour,” Tymoshchenko said in an interview this week. “We see planes and helicopters. We see missiles flying above our heads.”
Boryspil's mayor on Tuesday advised civilians to leave the city if they can because of fighting nearby.
Tymoshchenko cannot leave Ukraine due to military conscription rules requiring men aged 18 to 60 to remain in the country. Many of his co-workers have already left. But Tymoshchenko said he would stay even if leaving were possible.
“I have to protect my homeland,” he said, adding that if the Russian military comes to Boryspil, he will fight.
Ukrainian and Ukrainian-American law students in the United States are also finding ways to get individually involved, albeit from afar. They are organizing rallies and outreach to lawmakers, coordinating donations and working to get supplies to Ukrainians in need.
“We’ve put on hold our life here and are trying to understand what’s going on and trying to help,” said Ukrainian lawyer Svitlana Starosvit, who is on track to earn a doctorate of juridical science at Harvard Law School in May. A former lawyer in Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Starosvit has spoken to law students about the situation in Ukraine and the role of international law in combating aggression.
Michigan State University law students Neonila Kossak and Andrew Haftkowycz organized a March 1 campus rally for Ukraine that drew hundreds of attendees, and they are coordinating donations and outreach to U.S. lawmakers. Kossak was born in Ukraine and moved to the United States as a child, while Haftkowycz is a second-generation Ukrainian-American who was raised in a tight-knit Ukrainian community in Ohio.
“The rally was our attempt to make noise and say, ‘This matters to us,’” Kossak said.
At the University of Toledo College of Law in Ohio, former Kyiv school teacher Alona Matchenko and classmate Hope Luther formed a non-profit called Toledo Helps Ukraine. They also organized a rally, and through the law school they are working to fill a shipping container with medical and survival supplies to send to Ukraine. They said they are making long-term plans to assist Ukrainians who resettle in the United States.
“Being a law student, I see an ability to help from here and that’s what I’m doing almost day and night,” said Matchenko, who said her family has fled to Poland. “I cannot sleep. My life is no longer the same."
source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/kyivs-outskirts-us-midwest-law-students-stand-up-ukraine-2022-03-23/
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