Alumni cover breaking news and document humanitarian efforts in Ukraine – University of California, Santa Cruz - Highlight News Today

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Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Alumni cover breaking news and document humanitarian efforts in Ukraine – University of California, Santa Cruz

Two UC Santa Cruz alumni—New York Times reporter Andrew Kramer and film director Cary Joji Fukunaga—have been on the ground in Ukraine breaking news and documenting humanitarian efforts early into the war. The stories they tell, either through articles, photographs, or videos, shed further light on the atrocities committed against Ukraine and highlight the determination of its people.

Andrew Kramer—New York Times reporter and UCSC alumnus—has been on the ground delivering breaking news from Ukraine since Russia’s invasion at the end of February. 

From live coverage of events on the ground to reporting the aftermath of the destruction of Ukrainian cities, Kramer’s stories document the war and keep the world informed. One of Kramer’s more recent articles, published on April 27, emphasizes the grit and courage of residents in Demydiv—a village north of Kyiv. Ukrainian troops opened a nearby dam in Demyiv, flooding the homes and streets of citizens to keep Russian troops at bay. 

“The residents of Demydiv paid the price in the rivers of dank green floodwater that engulfed many of their homes. And they couldn’t be more pleased,” Kramer’s New York Times article reads. “‘Everybody understands and nobody regrets it for a moment,’ said Antonina Kostuchenko, a retiree, whose living room is now a musty space with waterlines a foot or so up the walls. ‘We saved Kyiv!’ she said with pride.”

His other articles cover press conferences with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the U.S. response to the war, stories of refugees, and more. 

Kramer has worked for the Associated Press, The Washington Post, and The San Francisco Chronicle and shares a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting on Russian power with New York Times colleagues. Beforehand, Kramer was part of a team at the Associated Press that was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize on international reporting in 1999. 

Kramer graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in history in 1994, and a master’s in history from Oxford University. 

Cary Joji Fukunaga—renowned filmmaker and UCSC alumnus— has been using his Instagram account with over 91 thousand followers to capture humanitarian efforts in Ukraine through photographs since March 19. 

The roughly dozen photos on Fukunaga’s Instagram tell the stories of several Ukrainian refugees, volunteers, families, and first responders. On March 31, Fukunaga posted a photograph of a Ukrainian father and mother, Vasyl and Olia, and their three daughters. The family was originally from Horlivka, Ukraine, but fled their home to Slovyansk, Ukraine, in 2014 when the separatist movement turned their home into a war zone. 

“They left behind their home, their garden, their jobs, to an unfamiliar community with unfamiliar faces,” the Instagram caption reads. “They had no idea what was in store for them, but their new neighbors’ turned out to be good people willing to help,’ Olia smiled. The community invited them to a shashlyk (шашлик), neighbors gathered outside to cook together on the first warm day of spring. They had found a new home, until Russia’s invasion forced them to flee again. As the first warm days of the year return, Olia looks pensive, ‘we don’t want to leave Ukraine,’ she sighs, then adds, ’at least we are together.’”

His posts have also documented humanitarian efforts by Spanish chef José Andrés and his nonprofit organization World Central Kitchen throughout Ukraine. 

Fukunaga told the Los Angeles Times via email, “I’ve taken pictures, but I’m here as a humanitarian and not a documentarian.” 

The Japanese American director is best known for directing the James Bond movie “No Time to Die,” “Jane Eyre,” and Emmy award-winning HBO show “True Detective.” He graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in history in 1999 and later enrolled in the New York University Tisch School of the Arts graduate film program. 



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