Pitt professor in Ukraine tells U.S. 'send money and weapons'

During a week when President Biden visited Europe and promised the U.S. would provide $1 billion to deal with the surge in Ukrainian refugees from the attack by Russia, a University of Pittsburgh economics professor living in Ukraine was asked what his country really needs from the United States.

“Weapons,” said Tymofiy Mylovanov, a Ukrainian citizen who splits his time between Pittsburgh and Kyiv, where he is president of the Kyiv School of Economics.

Send money, guns, bullets and missiles, he said — along with training for people on how to use them — because Ukraine has no intention of capitulating to Vladimir Putin and the Russian military that attacked his country just over a month ago.

“Just in terms of money, that’s also billions of dollars in savings. Another bridge not blown up because we managed to deliver diesel fuel to a tank makes a big difference,” Mylovanov said. “It’s easier to prevent things from happening rather than fix them afterwards.”

And as the war rages on and more cities are devastated, he said, he is prepared to take up arms.

“I have not enrolled in a territorial defense unit, but if need be, I will,” said Mylovanov.

Right now, he said, he is busy trying to keep the Kyiv School of Economics going while providing humanitarian aid and medical kits to those on the front lines.

For his own safety, Mylovanov was unable to disclose his location in Ukraine. But he said he is relatively safe and has access to power, food and water.

He also has been in touch with his colleagues at Pitt’s Department of Economics to discuss the creation of a global university to deal with issues in Ukraine and Central Europe after the war is over.

“There are a lot of intellectual challenges, and we want to have a consortium of universities in the world thinking about and shaping the future of Europe,” Mylovanov said.

However, there are more immediate concerns, such as word from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia has hit eastern Ukraine with white phosphorus bombs — chemical weapons that are in violation of international law.

Mylovanov, who has been advising Zelenskyy, said he was unable to confirm this. But during warfare, facts about some events take days or weeks to emerge. On March 16, Russia bombed and obliterated Mariupol’s Drama Theater, where many civilians were sheltering in the basement. It took until Friday for Ukrainian authorities to confirm that 300 people died in the attack.

“I have heard reports too, including from people in eastern Ukraine. I haven’t seen or heard direct eyewitness accounts from experts in chemical weapons,” he said. “But as we have seen with everything else, when Russia tries to do things, most of it comes to light, unfortunately sometimes a week or two later.”