Oleksandra Hrybenko and Oleksandra Deineko are colleagues at OsloMet, and want to help and support Ukrainians from here.
Meet two colleagues from Ukraine
Oleksandra Hrybenko is a PhD candidate and Oleksandra Deineko is a guest researcher at OsloMet. They came to Norway in February and March.
Oleksandra Deineko - guest researcher at The Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research NIBR
Oleksandra Deineko is a sociologist and associate professor at the School of Sociology V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. There she has taken an active part in the realization of international projects. From 2018 to 2021, she was associated with the project Accommodation of Regional Diversity in Ukraine (ARDU) at NIBR at OsloMet.
When the war broke out in Ukraine, Deineko saw on Facebook how her friends at NIBR were aware of the war. They raised money to help employees and students at the University of Kharkiv.
“I wrote a message to researcher Aadne Aasland at NIBR about the possibility of being evacuated to Norway. Aadne quickly replied that they were ready to receive me and welcomed me,” says Oleksandra Deineko.
Escape from Ukraine
Her parents an her 81-year-old grandmother are still in Ukraine. After days and nights of constant airstrikes and artillery fire in their immediate area, her parents insisted that she be evacuated from Kharkiv.
After four days of travel, Deineko arrived in Oslo on 7 March. All she had with her was a small bag of personal belongings.
“During the trip, I realized that just ten days before, I was living the life I wanted. My life changed dramatically in one day. None of us Ukrainians will have the life we had before 24 February, because the war has changed us radically,” says Oleksandra Deineko.
On the journey through Ukraine, she experienced how people tried to help and support each other, and shared their food. Across the border to Poland, she met volunteers who gave them hot drinks and soup.
Will develop Ukrainian expertise
Oleksandra Deineko now has an office place at OsloMet as a guest researcher at NIBR and is grateful for all the support she is receiving.
“This morning I was invited by the head of research at NIBR, Kristian Tronstad, and lectured on the topic "Ukrainian refugees' strategies of evacuation and risks of future reintegration: the case of Russian-Ukrainian war,” says Deineko.
While at OsloMet, she will work to develop Ukrainian expertise in the field of migration, social cohesion and integration.
“It is important for me now to contribute to the Ukrainian studies at NIBR. By developing this research area, support is given to Ukrainian science, and teachers and researchers living in Ukraine,” says Oleksandra Deineko.
She is in contact with her family in Ukraine all the time.
"I want to use my energy to help and support Ukrainians who are still at home," says Deineko.
On Friday 22 March, she will give the main speech during the OsloMet seminar «Hvorfor ble det krig i Ukraina, og hvilke konsekvenser vil den få?»
Read more about Oleksandra Deinekos escape from Ukraine (khrono.no, in Norwegian)
Oleksandra Hrybenko - PhD candidate at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies
Oleksandra Hrybenko is originally from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. She is currently a PhD candidate at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at OsloMet. Here she researches the safety of female journalists who report on the conflict in Ukraine.
"The Russian occupation and war came to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine in 2014. When the conflict started in 2014, I worked as a "fixer" for foreign journalists who reported on the conflict for more than three years," says Oleksandra Hrybenko.
As a fixer, she helped journalists familiarise themselves with the area, find sources and translate. She also worked as a freelance journalist. From 2018 to 2020, she took a master's degree in Journalism in Aarhus in Denmark and Hamburg in Germany.
Until February of this year, Hrybenko has worked with media freedom and the safety of journalists at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) from both Austria and Moldova. The last six months from Moldova.
Visiting her mother when Russia attacked
When Russia attacked Ukraine on 24 February, Hrybenko was visiting her mother in Odesa in southern Ukraine.
“I had to flee back to Moldova and then to Romania to fly out, as the airspace above Moldova was suddenly closed due to the war in Ukraine. My original flight was from Kyiv on 1 March but I never took it. Instead I flew from Bucharest til Oslo,” says Hrybenko.
On 28 February, Oleksandra Hrybenko came to Norway, and began her position as a PhD candidate at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at OsloMet.
“I am researching risks women journalists and fixers face reporting on the conflict in Ukraine and the coping strategies they employ to overcome these risks. The topic was inspired by my own experience working as a fixer and by brave colleagues who are working to this day,” says Hrybenko.
Raising awareness about the situation in Ukraine
She says that the first weeks at OsloMet has been very good.
“I feel at home and I haven’t felt like this since I lost my home in 2014. My colleagues are taking good care of me and the University allows me to raise awareness of what is happening in my country and conduct this important research. What is important to me being a PhD candidate at OsloMet is the ability to think freely, and speak out on multiple platforms about the situation regarding the safety of female journalists in Ukraine,” says Hrybenko.
Hrybenko highlights the resources available to carry out the research and peer support as crucial. She is in contact with those in her family who are still in Ukraine and who are not able to get out.
“They are relatively safe. The majority of my friends are still in Ukraine and do not want to leave their homes and want to be helpful on the ground. I am doing my best to be helpful from abroad by volunteering in my free time.”
Important for OsloMet
“It makes a strong impression to hear the stories of our new colleagues from Ukraine,” says Rector Christen Krogh.
“I am glad they were able to get to Norway and OsloMet, and that they now conduct important research work here with us. The OsloMet community is doing what we can to support, and we are now continuing to work to make it easier for more Ukrainian researchers to come and work with us,” says Krogh.
“Among other things, we are currently entering into an agreement with the University of Kharkiv, so that we can strengthen the already established collaboration we have with them.”
