LUBBOCK, Texas – As developments continue to unfold overseas in Ukraine, Texas Tech experts brought the situation closer to home. In a panel over zoom, professors and historians outlined further context for the Russian invasion.

One of the panelists was Texas Tech’s associate professor Alan Barenberg who specializes in Russian and Ukrainian history. Barenberg said he’s answered many questions in the classroom over the situation. The next understandable step was being a part of the panel. It’s vital to further the conversation.

“This is sort of a worst nightmare situation,” Barenberg said. “Millions of peoples’ lives are in danger. This war is going on in the area of the world that I studied, and that I traveled and that I love with people I know. This is an absolute worst-case scenario.”

Kyle Rable, panel mediator and Texas Tech graduate student, said most people are only exposed to snapshots of what’s going on between Russia and Ukraine. The conversation needed to be expanded.

“The Ukrainian people deserve to be heard in a way. We can’t ask them right now. But we can talk about this,” Rable said. “The most we can do right now is to not forget that there are people there to talk about this as a problem, as a world problem. Ukrainians are suffering the wrath of a dictator. My thought process is that a lot of people don’t fully understand what’s going on, and they’re just hearing small bits and pieces. So, maybe this can clarify. Not everything, just part of it for them.”

Barenberg said that the panel not only provided historical context but also ensured a fact-based conversation between academics.

“My students have questions in class,” Barenberg said. “What is this? Why is this happening? What’s going on? People have been emailing me, and those are great questions … If you don’t get information from good sources, you’re going to get it anyway from unreliable sources.”