Valentina Izmirlieva (Professor of Slavic Languages; Director, Harriman Institute) was interviewed by Todd Prince for a RFE/RL Special Report on how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has occasioned “Soul-searching at Western Universities as Scholars Rethink Russian Studies” (Jan. 1, 2023).

Decolonization “is not a very comfortable conversation for most of my colleagues, but I think it is an unavoidable one given the circumstances. This is still a developing situation and it is difficult to know how things will change a year from now,” Izmirlieva said.

Image: Seeking shelter from Russian bombing in the Kyiv metro. Photo courtesy of Kyiv City Council on Wikimedia.