COLUMBUS, Ohio — Alex Grosman is a first-generation college student. And one of the first things he did when he arrived at The Ohio State University campus was join the Russian Student Association.
He said he wanted to get more in touch with his culture and connect with others with similar backgrounds.
As for him, his parents and grandparents are from Ukraine and lived there back when it was still a part of the Soviet Union. Grosman grew up speaking Russian. But he says his family came here for a reason.
“There was a lack of economic opportunities that were available to them in the Soviet Union, and that was true for a lot of Russians and people living in the Soviet Union, but especially for them because they were Jewish, so it was also due to religious persecution, which is why so many students in the Russian Student Association are Jewish, including myself,” he said.
Grosman admits that, when he first heard of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade Russia, he thought it was a bluff. He soon learned, as did the rest of the world, that Putin was not issuing empty threats.
“I was convinced there would be no way Putin would have the true intentions of invading Ukraine, but seeing this tragedy play out, I mean, it’s very shocking to hear, and it’s very devastating, especially considering myself and a lot of other members and officers of the club still have family in Ukraine,” he said.
Grosman has been in touch with his family there, and he says everyone is still safe because they are in a region not directly impacted by the conflict yet. They’re currently trying to get to Israel or perhaps Romania.
“My family’s all Jewish, and Russians have been known to be especially brutal toward Jews, which is why a lot of the Jewish community in Ukraine is preparing for what they believe might be brutal, horrific attacks against their community, if Russia gets to their communities,” he said.
He says this history of violence and fear is what has led many to flee to the United States. And he wants to make very clear that the majority of Russian Americans very likely strongly oppose the Ukraine invasion.
“The ones who are from former Soviet republics, their families and countries were all victims of Russian colonialism, so most of them are blatantly against this invasion,” he said. “And, for those who are directly from Russia, I would say the majority of them are against this, too, because they see Russia and Ukraine, although they were part of the same country once, they see them as having their own separate cultures and their own rights to rule one another separately. So many Russian Americans are against this invasion, as a whole, and I would argue the only ones who are in support of this invasion are ones who enjoyed life in the Soviet Union, which are very few among Russian Americans, which is why there are so many Russian Americans here in the first place because they escaped the hard life they faced in the Soviet Union.”
Despite that, there have been some threats made to businesses with Russian ties. Earlier this week. 10TV reported on threatening phone calls made to Diana Deli, which is in Columbus near Worthington. It’s managed and run by two people – one from Ukraine, the other from Russia.
“Just because someone is Russian or Russian American, they’re by no means in support of this horrific invasion,” Grosman said. “In fact, the fact that they are in this country in the first place probably shows that they’re against such Russian politics in the first place because they understand what it’s like to be a victim of the Russian state. For anyone believing that being Russian or Russian American equates to supporting this invasion, I would say that is a completely false connection to make.”
In fact, he and the other members of the Russian Student Organization recently joined in the OSU Ukrainian Society bake sale to raise funds for humanitarian aid.
“We all stand in solidarity with Ukraine, and we hope to continue spreading awareness and doing what we can to continue raising charity and the necessary aid to send to Ukraine,” he said.