Ukraine crisis: International Deaf community responds to Russia invasion

As TV journalists delivered the BBC News at One, air raid sirens sounded in the city of Kyiv in Ukraine – sirens which to some of the country’s Deaf community, may be completely unintelligible.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a televised address, in which he announced he had launched a “special military operation” for the “demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine”.

According to Al Jazeera, President Putin said Russia’s response will be “immediate” if anyone tries to intervene in the events, but added the country’s plans “do not include the occupation” of Ukraine or imposing “anything on anyone by force”.

This is despite footage surfacing online reportedly showing a missile hitting Ivano-Frankivsk International Airport in western Ukraine.

Wow. Video of a missile hitting an airport, reportedly in Ivano-Frankivsk in Western Ukraine. The geographic scale of this thing is crazy pic.twitter.com/odhvqin77Y

— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) February 24, 2022

Russia’s actions have since received international condemnation, with the Secretary General of the security alliance NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, describing it as a “brutal act of war”.

“President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia,” added Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations.

 

“This could be the worst war since the beginning of the century”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tells President Putin “in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia.” pic.twitter.com/L743wtUWND

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) February 24, 2022

 

In a televised address aired without a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “our worst fears have now come true” as Putin “has unleashed war in our European continent”.

“Diplomatically, politically, economically – and eventually, militarily – this hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure,” he said.

Meanwhile in Ukraine, President Volodymr Zelenskiy warned Russia’s invasion “could be beginning of a big war on the European continent”, before saying “we will defend ourselves”.

Martial law was declared in the country at 5:30am local time on Thursday.

A statement has since been issued by the Ukrainian Society of the Deaf (UTOG), which called on Deaf citizens to “keep calm and stay in touch with each other”.

“The Society is in contact with the local authorities and is coordinating actions depending on the local situation.

“A few days before the Martial Law has been declared, the Central office of the Ukrainian Society of the Deaf ordered the heads of the regional branches, together with the local administrative organs, to urgently take action to defend people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

“To keep them informed in case of the state of emergency and [keep them informed] about the implementations of the Martial Law’s legal requirements in the relevant organisations or enterprises.

“We urge you to carefully consider information you may receive from everywhere and only trust official information,” they said.

Elsewhere, the European Union of the Deaf said in a post on Twitter that it “stands in solidarity with [the] Ukrainian Society of the Deaf”.

The World Federation of the Deaf is yet to comment publicly on the crisis, and has been approached by The Limping Chicken for a statement.

Photo: Ukrainian Society of the Deaf/YouTube.

With thanks to Marina Calland for the translation support.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

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Update – 25/02/22 – 09:48: The board of Deutscher Gehörlosen-Bund, Germany’s deaf association, have released a statement in response to the ongoing conflict.

“We are still stunned by the events in #Ukraine and our thoughts are with the Ukrainian population and the Deaf people living there.

“Russian President Putin’s war of aggression marks a sad day for Europe and the world. We are worried about peace,” they said.

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Update – 25/02/22 – 13:30: In a statement to The Limping Chicken, a spokesperson for the World Federation of the Deaf said: “The WFD is in contact with the Ukrainian Society of the Deaf, our member association. We have offered our assistance to them in ensuring deaf Ukrainians are included in any necessary international humanitarian efforts which may take place.”