Ukraine war Q&A event coming to USU

*Audio clip is the voice of UPR station manager Kerry Bringhurst.

Former NPR Moscow Correspondent Corey Flintoff will talk about all things Ukraine at Utah State University on Feb. 15. 

The event is a Q&A style forum, allowing students to ask questions regarding the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. 

Utah Public Radio, or UPR, will be hosting this event in collaboration with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, or CHASS, and the Institute of Government. 

Flintoff lived in Russia for four years while working for NPR. He covered various topics, such as politics and the Russian Olympic scandal, before retiring in 2016.  

UPR station manager Kerry Bringhurst said, “He was the bureau chief in Russia, correspondent in Turkey, Ukraine, so he has a real sense of that part of the region and why it’s so important to monitor what is happening there and how that could impact what we do here in the United States.”  

Bringhurst and Flintoff met in 1980 when Bringhurst was participating in journalist training in Alaska. Flintoff was one of the trainers for NPR. However, it wouldn’t be until 2019 that Bringhurst and Flintoff would work together again to kick off a funding event for UPR.  

“It was to help fund students who interned at UPR. We feel it’s really imperative that our student reporters are compensated financially for the work they do here,” Bringhurst said.  

After the fundraiser, UPR planned to have Flintoff come and do a Q&A on-campus. Unfortunately, the coronavirus hit and all plans were put on the back burner.  

“We’ve all been anxious to get together again and see this through,” Bringhurst said. “I mean, he’s like an obvious person to talk about this. Because of his objectivity, he is a well-respected journalist and spent years in that region to really understand what is going on.” 

Bringhurst also said, “He’s very good at storytelling from a factual point of view, but I think just as important is his ability to translate that into the human impact of war or any event. Corey has always been able to do that in his reporting. He’ll do that again when he’s here.”  

Bringhurst encouraged the student body and the public to come and join.  

“We would really love to have a good showing of students there because that for Corey is where change and insight will happen through the students that are here,” she said. 

When asked what question she hoped would get asked at the Q&A, Bringhurst said, “I hope that he will touch on the perspective of how this is impacting the people in Russia — Russia’s feelings about their willingness or unwillingness to participate in this act.”  

USU student Drew Eden commented on what he might ask at the Q&A, with questions such as, “What is the motive for Russian leaders? And do the Russian leaders have plans to extend their invasion to neighboring countries?”  

Along with the war’s impact on the people in Russia, Bringhurst hopes to hear personal stories and the risks the neighboring countries have.  

“There’s a lot of layers when it comes to war. I hope we can dive into that,” she said. 

The event will be from 3-4 p.m. in Room 154 of the Merrill-Cazier Library.

-Alivia.Hadfield@usu.edu

Graphic by Monique Black

This story was updated on Feb. 14 to include the date and location of the event.