The Ukrainian club held a meeting with the social studies department on April 9 about why teachers shouldn’t refer to the Soviet Union as Russia. Seniors Kyrylo Pyliavets and Mykhailo Glukhov spearheaded the meeting.

“As an international student, I encountered the fact that my history teacher would often use the term Russia, and it is very unfair to my country and other nations nearby,” Pyliavets said.

The main message of the meeting was not referring to the Soviet Union as Russia as it completely disregards the many nations that helped and suffered in WWII, such as Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, who all made up a significant part of the human lives lost in the war for the “Russian” side.

“Learning history is very important for everyone and I think it is important for people to be aware of all the different nations that made up the Soviet Union and that it isn’t just Russia,” Pyliavets said.

The presenters discussed how iconic photos of WWII associated with Russia, such as the raised flag of the USSR over the Reichstag, were made possible by Ukrainians. The speakers used this as an example of how referring to the Soviet Union as Russia erases the contributions of the many nations that made up the USSR.

“I think it is always good to be reminded when we teach US history or World History to be sure that we’re precise with our language,” social studies teacher Theisen Healy said.

Many stories like those were used by the presenters to prove that the Soviet Union should remain the only name for the region because otherwise there are real risks regarding erasing history.