Pentagon Visit Gives Ukrainian University Students Insight Into U.S. Support

A group of Ukrainian university students from their country's capital city, Kyiv, visited the Pentagon Tuesday to learn more about the Defense Department and gain insight into how the United States provides support for Ukraine's defense against Russia. 

During the visit, the students toured the Pentagon, visited the 9/11 Memorial in the building, and met with Laura Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia. 

The eleven students, all studying either business or information technology, are part of an internship program with a variety of private sector companies within the United States this summer. 

"These are student interns from American University Kyiv [who] have come to the United States through sponsorships with corporate America," said Daniel Rice, president of American University Kyiv. "We have eight different companies that have given internships to these students. The companies pay for the flights, the hotels, the J-1 visa, and a salary for the summer. They're getting real work experience. It's really a great cultural exchange, both for the Americans that are receiving them and for the students." 

The Pentagon visit, along with other stops in Washington, provides the students with a better understanding of how the United States government works. Rice said the students were particularly interested in their visit to the Pentagon. 

"They're all excited about it - it's kind of mystical, you know. They don't know what goes on in this five-sided building," Rice said. 

At a briefing with the House Foreign Relations Committee, Rice said students learned more about how the U.S. is supporting the war effort in Ukraine and considerations for that, including military, political, economic, cultural and religious factors. 

"They're interested here in all the same things: How is this building operating to support Ukraine?" Rice said. "I think they're all very grateful for American support." 

Rice said he considers the students to be "informal ambassadors" from Ukraine. 

During her time with the students, Cooper discussed, among other topics, the importance of equipping Ukraine to defend itself, the strength of the bilateral relationship with Ukraine that existed even before the war began, and how military assistance is provided to Ukraine though both presidential drawdown authority and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. 

Cooper also told the students that young Ukrainians can help their country by spreading the word about what is happening there. She said while much of the world is aware of Russia's invasion, messaging from young people actually in Ukraine is critical for generating international support. 

Khrystyna Ivanchuk, a student at American University Kyiv, also serves as the school's manager of international internships. She said hearing from Cooper about how the U.S. develops its support plans for Ukraine provided inspiration, something she said is much needed by Ukrainians. 

"Because living in wartime back in Ukraine is really difficult, I hear a lot that Ukrainians are tired because of the war. And I personally think that we don't have a choice ... we can be tired," she said. "I just wanted to get some inspiration here. And I got it." 

In particular, Ivanchuk said she was inspired to see so many women in the room during their briefing, including Cooper and Melanie Fonder Kaye, the deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for strategic engagement. In Ukraine, she said, women are not prominent in the defense sector, and it's something she said she'd like to see changed. 

"I saw the whole room of women," she said. "That actually inspired me because we have a weird system back there [in Ukraine], an old system, and I suppose ... young people are going to change the system." 

For former Soviet nations, she said, public opinion is that the militaries are antiquated and must be modernized, and that includes providing women a greater role. 

"I feel like a lot of people in Ukraine are thinking that our military system is awful, and we will never change it," she said. "That is one thing that that we need inspiration for, that it's possible to be changed." 

Ivanchuk said she's grateful for all the hardware, financial and training support that partner nations have provided to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. But she said what she thinks is needed most now is more people. For example, she said if foreign troops were willing to guard the border between Ukraine and Belarus, it might free up any Ukrainian soldiers currently in those roles to go fight elsewhere. She also said Ukraine is in need of doctors and teachers. 

Russia made a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 when it tried to take Kyiv. But Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014 when it annexed Crimea, so Ukraine has been at war for a decade now. Ivanchuk remains optimistic, however. 

"I'm really patriotic, a pro-Ukrainian young girl," she said. "What I personally want is to have a happy future in my country."