Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Wright State University graduate Vladyslav Faraponov is in Ukraine and fears for his friends and family as Russia continues its violent assault on his country’s major cities.
Faraponov was an international student who returned to Ukraine after graduating from WSU with a political science degree in 2020. He now lives in Kyiv but left his home during the invasion. He went west, though he didn’t want to give his specific location.
“I hope the peace agreement will be signed. I hope peace talks will be conducted,” he said in a phone interview with the Dayton Daily News Tuesday. “Young people and children should not die. No civilian should die because of someone who is crazy and who doesn’t give a (expletive) about people’s lives.”
Faraponov called Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal for his unprovoked attack on Ukraine.
Faraponov said Kyiv is a large city, full of not just government buildings that the Russian military aims to capture, but people’s homes. Millions of people live there, and many can’t get out.
“I’m really worried about all my friends who could not leave,” he said.
