For many, seeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been disheartening. For others, including Permian graduate Andy Fouche, the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine has been felt on a personal level.
Fouche, who graduated from Permian in 1993, spent a year living in Lviv, Ukraine, as a foreign exchange student after he finished high school. Andy, who is the son of Odessa businessman Phil Fouche, now lives in New York City as a marketing executive for a startup tech company called Osom. But the former Odessan has been to Ukraine a couple of times in his life and has been horrified by what is happening in the eastern European country.
“It’s unbelievably difficult to watch,” Andy Fouche said. “Ukrainians are such a proud, nationalistic, humble people. I’m not at all surprised by the amount of resistance that they’re putting up. I’m surprised that (Russian president) Vladimir Putin didn’t think this would happen by sending in troops, that thinking Ukrainians wouldn’t stand up for their lands and their homes and for their families and communities.”
On Feb. 24, people in the U.S. woke up to the news that Russia had invaded its neighboring country. The conflict is now entering its third week as Russian troops advance towards the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Russian forces have shelled civilian areas and cut off electricity, food and water supplies, forcing many to evacuate the country. Ukraine was once a part of the Soviet Union before declaring its independence in 1991 during the collapse of the USSR.
Ukraine’s rough history also saw the country fall under Nazi Germany occupation during the second World War before the Soviets reclaimed it. “Ukraine has had such a historical past and they’ve belonged to a lot different countries,” Andy Fouche said. “It was a part of Germany. It was a part of the Soviet Union. It became free in 1991. Ukraine has a very rich culture. They have their own language and traditions and food and clothing. It’s no surprise to see that they’re proud of those things and they want to keep all of that intact and it’s so disheartening to see that they’re being attacked for no reason. It’s shocking.”
It was two years after Ukraine’s independence when Andy Fouche, along with nine other Americans, went to Lviv, a city located in western Ukraine that has a population of around 721,301 people near the Poland border. “I lived with a host family that had sent their granddaughter to the U.S. the same year that I was living with them in Ukraine,” he said. “It was just fascinating.”
Ukraine in 1993 was vastly different than it is today (at least before the Russian invasion). The country had just broken off from the Soviet Union and was still in the transition period from communism to a democratic country. It wasn’t an easy transition, Andy Fouche said, as many things in Ukraine were being rationed such as electricity and food.
“It was the end of the Cold War,” he added. “Coming from the United States with no perspective of what it was like behind the Iron Curtain, it was very unique in a lot of different ways. There were things like water and electricity that were rationed on a daily basis. Electricity and water was on for 6-8 hours a day. I lived in an old Soviet block, apartment complex on the outskirts of the city.” Because of the switch to capitalism, there was a confusion in Ukraine surrounding currency and inflation.
“They were experiencing hyper inflation when I was there,” Andy Fouche said. “They were going from a Soviet style government to a democratic style. There were bread lines. People would stand for hours outside stores for a loaf of bread. Sugar and flour were rationed. … There were no grocery stores. There were outdoor markets. That’s where you would buy fruits and vegetables. Meat was super expensive and out of the question when I was there.” Andy said he and his host parents survived on beets, potatoes and cabbage. “That was the diet,” he said. “It was just different in every aspect of society than it was here. Coming from America where you don’t even think twice about electricity because it runs all day long or hot water whenever you want it.”
He said his host house in Lviv had no hot water throughout the entire time he was there.
“There was no heat in my house the entire time I was there and this is a very cold country. if you’ve seen the footage on CNN, it’s still snowing there … It was even colder back then. It was regularly minus 20 degrees Celsius 10 degrees Fahrenheit), so I slept fully clothed. I slept with a hat and gloves on. It was just a completely different world. The transition of their government and economy was just getting started. It was the formative years of a democratic republic.”
It wasn’t just the lack of water and electricity that Andy Fouche said he had to get used to. It was also learning the Ukrainian and Russian language. Most of western Ukraine spoke Ukrainian. However, there were parts of eastern Ukraine that still used the Russian language. “I went to the country knowing little to no Ukrainian at all,” Andy said. “ I learned Ukrainian and Russian and it was the most formative year of my life.”
Phil Fouche visited his son in Ukraine in the spring of 1994 for about two weeks and both visited Russia. The elder Fouche talked about his experience during that trip where they both noticed that Russia was also going through an economic depression at the time just like Ukraine was.
“I can remember going into Russia and staying in a hotel and they were using torn up newspapers for toilet paper,” Phil Fouche said. “They were in a huge depression. It was horrible.”
During that visit, he remembers also visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg, in addition to also visiting Lviv and Kyiv in Ukraine.
“My favorite was in St. Petersburg,” But I always wanted to stand in Red Square (in Moscow) and as a child, I can remember duck and cover. Back then, we were always practicing duck and cover and it was because of the Russians and the Cold War.” Phil Fouche has gone back to visit Russia, returning for a trip about five years ago.
“It’s a beautiful place but only the rich survive,” Phil Fouche said. “There’s no middle class. That seems to be the issue.”
He says his heart goes out to the people of Ukraine right now.
“It’s sad,” Phil Fouche said of the Russian invasion. “Just as a normal human, it’s sad. No one wants to see anyone mistreated. You worry about World War 3 starting. These are innocent people. Putin just wants to take back Ukraine and make it part of Russia. That’s it. Putin’s got the little man syndrome.” Things did eventually improve for people in Ukraine in the next couple of decades and Andy did go back to Ukraine during his junior year of college at Texas A&M in 1996. He was originally supposed to return for a trip this spring but those plans have since been halted due to the invasion.
“I went back to see my host family in ’96 and stayed with them for about a week,” Andy Fouche said. “That’s the only other time. I was supposed to go back this spring but that’s not going to happen now.” He has never forgotten his time in Ukraine and says the people and the culture have stayed with him since.
“It’s something that’s always stayed with me and has become a part of me very quickly because that’s the effect that people have on you,” Andy said. “They’re very inviting and welcoming. Back in those days when there was no internet or mobile phones or easy access to information. Once you were there, you were there. I learned the language in six to eight weeks because I had no other choice. There was no other way to communicate. We had no idea of what was happening on the outside because there was a lack of information so you picked up all these traditions and customs. You were made to feel as if you were Ukrainian. That year has really stuck with me.”
As for the nine other exchange students from the United States that were also in Lviv in 1993-94, Andy Fouche says he still stays in touch with them.
“We have a app group that we talk to multiple times a day. All of their host families are doing ok. They’re still in Lviv as well. We’re thankful for that.”
One of those students from the U.S. (Natasha Rybak) is from New Hampshire and is now a medical doctor and has established a joint cooperative between Brown University and a medical school in Ukraine.
“It provides for HIV and Aids services,” Andy Fouche said. “We’re using that as a backdrop to help send medical supplies for those who are staying on the front lines to fight.”
People can donate to that by visiting the link: https://fundly.com/friends-of-ukraine-ri.
“I was supposed to go with the same group to go back in the spring or summer to help with the efforts to rebuild the country and I was wanting to go back there this spring to visit and get my bearings straight even though things have changed quite a bit since I left,” Andy Fouche said. “But now I’m even more motivated to go. I’m hopeful that with NATO stepping up and us stepping up sending in ammunition and supplies that they can ward off the attack and hopefully it’ll come to an end sooner rather than later. I would love to be a part of the group that goes in and helps cleanup. I speak the language and hopefully can do some good.”
