The 14 Scientists and a Penguin Colony Fighting for Ukraine

(Emily Schultheis – Politico) Sometimes, in the middle of a long workday or as she’s falling asleep, Anzhelika Hanchuk sees her phone jolted to life by a bright notification that means Kyiv is under attack from Russian missiles. The meteorologist is about as far as she could be from the Ukrainian capital and the conflict raging in her home country. Surrounded by the jagged glaciers and towering peaks of the Antarctic Peninsula with only a colony of gentoo penguins for neighbors, Hanchuk is leading a group of 14 Ukrainians helping the war effort in an unlikely way: by keeping its Antarctic program afloat. “Stopping the base for even one year and then trying to restart it is simply impossible,” she said. “To stop the base for a year would mean losing it forever.”. Maintaining a permanent scientific presence at Vernadsky Research Base, the mint-green structure perched on a remote, rocky outcropping nearly 10,000 miles from Kyiv, might seem an unusual priority for a country fighting for its existence at home. But Ukrainian officials see their small polar foothold as not just a scientific endeavor, but also a crucial bulwark in their fight for survival and against Russia’s expansionist plans. That’s because its very existence secures Ukraine a seat at the table where major world powers govern the vast white landmass entirely by consensus — giving the besieged country an important forum to draw attention to Russian aggression in all its forms. A long-term polar strategy adopted this year by Ukraine declares its Antarctic presence a “platform for protecting national interests.”. “Ukraine’s systematic presence in the regions of Antarctica, the Arctic, and the World Ocean is of major strategic and geopolitical importance,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said when approving the strategy in February. “It provides additional foreign policy instruments, strengthens Ukraine’s national security, enhances our country’s position on the global stage, and contributes to countering Russia’s aggressive policy in these regions.” – The 14 Scientists and a Penguin Colony Fighting for Ukraine – POLITICO