Dear John (if I may),

Thank you so much for reaching out and your support. It really helps me keep going and warms my heart. These last days have been terrible. I was caught up in a war during my fieldwork, became refugee who left behind his library and some of the materials, my Ukrainian home, Russian tanks rolled past our ancestral home near Chernihiv that I may never see again, and I am now facing a realistic opportunity to take up weapons under duress to defend my life.

I am grateful for the attention and the great and vocal statement by ECREA. This is exactly what we need at this moment. If you want to help, please continue spreading info regarding the plight of Ukrainian media scholars, in the ECREA network as well as in public statements. You may use my own story as an example of the brutal and lawless Russian attack on peaceful researchers and intellectuals. You can also highlight other personal stories. My friend and a leading Ukrainian media scholar Dariya Orlova has just barely survived the night with her 9-year old son caught up in the midst of fierce fighting near Bucha west of Kyiv. I can put you in touch with you. The director of Ukrainian Media and Communication Studies Institute Diana Dutsyk became a refugee. Etc etc. Dozens of journalists volunteered to fight for their homes.

Another thing we would be extremely grateful at this moment when missiles are raining on our heads is a statement in condemnation of the academic relativism and bothsidism that was silencing our voices as we urged to take Russian propaganda seriously. What is happening is the result of this relativism that put many Western governments to sleep regarding the actual Russian intentions.

Warm regards from the relative safety of Khmelnytsky,

Roman