OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) – Ukrainians living in Northeast Wisconsin are hoping for the best as peace talks begin to end the war in their country.
“There can’t be any negotiations without Ukraine, Ukraine has to be at the table of negotiations,” said Vlad Plyaka an exchange student from Ukraine who attends the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. “Secondly you can’t say the victim is the one who started the war. Russia will be held accountable for everything Russia did.”
American and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia this week to begin talks about ending the war. Ukraine wasn’t invited to participate in these talks, a move that has drawn criticism. U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said after the meeting that the United States is talking with both sides.
Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have traded verbal barbs this week.
“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle,” president Donald Trump said in a social media post.
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Zelenskyy has said that Trump is feeding into Russian propaganda with some of his comments. Trump has falsely said Ukraine started the war, called Zelenskyy a ‘dictator without elections,’ and said that the Ukrainian president’s approval rating is at 4 percent even though a recent poll showed the accurate number is 57 percent.
Plyaka said it’s frustrating to hear President Trump say false things about Ukraine. He said everyday he prays and hopes for peace.
“(I hope) the peace will be just and Russia will be held accountable,” said Plyaka.
Plyaka grew up in Rivne, Ukraine, and said he was still in his home country when the war began three years ago. He said that morning he found out his classes had been canceled prompting him to check the news and discover that Russia had began its invasion.
“And I saw my dad packing up all the emergency supplies, documents, money and I asked him a simple question, war?” he said. “And (my dad), he says war. That’s when I knew that everything had changed.”
Shortly after the war began, he said he left Ukraine to take part in a student exchange program that landed him in Oshkosh. He said he hadn’t been able to return to Ukraine to see his family for three years because of the war.
“Every day I don’t know if I’m going to wake up to the message that my dad was drafted or somebody died in my family or one of my friends was killed,” he said.
Plyaka is working on a project called ‘Ukrainian Student Stories: Three Years of Russia’s War in Ukraine’ to honor young people killed during the war. This includes his friend Kostiantyn “Kostia” Yuzviuk who he said fought for the 117th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the war and died July 18, 2024, from injuries he sustained on the frontline.
The exhibit includes pictures showcasing Yuzviuk’s life on the frontline, and honorary diplomas telling the story of Ukrainian students who were working towards their degrees when the war claimed their lives.
“Ukraine, Ukrainian people, and Ukrainian democracy,” he said when asked what gives him hope despite everything his country has gone through the last few years.
Plyaka will present his project next Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Reeve Memorial Union ballroom. He said he hopes attendees will leave the exhibit with a better understanding of what Ukrainians have gone through the last three years.
“Ukraine is the victim in this case, we didn’t start the invasion we were just living peacefully,” he said about the war.
In a statement posted to their Facebook page, the Wisconsin Ukrainians Inc. group said:
Wisconsin Ukrainians, Inc. stands firm in our unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues its courageous fight for freedom, sovereignty, and democracy. Ukraine has been the victim of an unprovoked and brutal invasion—first in 2014, with the illegal annexation of Crimea, and again in 2022, when russia launched a full-scale war against the Ukrainian people.
The ongoing war is not just a regional conflict; it is a battle for the fundamental values of liberty and self-determination. While discussions about borders and negotiations continue on the global stage, we must remain clear-eyed about the reality: Ukraine did not start this war, and any resolution must respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the will of its people.
The United States has long stood as a defender of democracy, and we urge the current administration and all elected officials to continue their strong support for Ukraine. Abandoning Ukraine now would embolden aggressors worldwide and weaken the very principles upon which our nation was founded.
We call on our leaders to reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine—not only for the sake of Ukraine’s survival but for the security of the free world. The cost of inaction is too high, and history will remember those who stood with Ukraine in its time of need.
–Wisconsin Ukrainians Inc. Statement
Local 5 News reached out to congressman Glenn Grothman and senator Ron Johnson for their thoughts on the peace talks, but didn’t hear back.
