The Caledonian-Record
Amy Ash Nixon
By Amy Nixon
10 June 2022,
Copyright 2022 The Caledonian-Record Publishing Company Inc. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by NewsBank, inc.
LYNDON CENTER — Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, the director of the Institute of Russian Language, History and Culture at Northern Vermont University has amplified Kremlin messaging about Nazi occupation in Ukraine.
Professor Alexandre Strokanov’s social media posts have drawn concerns from within the university and beyond, including complaints filed with NVU interim president, Dr. John W. Mills.
Peter K. Semler, the chief executive editor and owner of the Capitol Intelligence Group, Inc., based in Washington, DC, told Dr. Mills that his organization was investigating Strokanov for possible FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) violations.
“When people repeat this kind of propaganda they are being paid to do so and that is a violation of the law,” Semler explained. “I thought this professor was an invested character.”
Semler characterized Strokanov’s commentary as “pretty extreme.”
Semler says he reached out to Strokanov directly but his email messages were bounced back. Efforts to reach university officials have also been unsuccessful, Semler said.
“They never got back to me,” he said.
Semler said he discovered Strokanov’s messages on a Facebook page with the former US Ambassador to Russia, Jack Matlock.
“Soon, I hope, we will get an avalanche of information about the life of Ukrainian people under the regime in Kiev,” Strokanov wrote online. “Again, I have a perception of what it was but I am sure for my American friends it might be an eye-opening experiences that our mainstream media will never let you know. You might be very shocked because it will be so contradicting to what you normally read in our media. Things may go really upside down and who we were told are good guys will become monsters. Please, understand, Ukrainian people in the East and South lived under dictatorship of neo nazis for 8 long years. Now they will begin to speak. But they will do it only when they will feel safe. Let’s be patient and wait.”
Strokanov posted that mainstream media reports were unreliable.
Dr. Mills said Strokanov was free to express his opinions.
“In our community values, NVU gives credence to the objectivity of freedom of expression, no matter how wrong that may feel and even when we are opposed deeply to it,” he wrote. “The opinions of Professor Strokanov are his and his alone and do not represent NVU’s position. The opinions of our students, faculty and staff are their own and are protected under their first amendment rights.”
NVU Provost Dr. Nolan Atkins said “We are aware of what Professor Strokanov is posting on social media. ‘Action’ that we can take is complicated given First Amendment rights. We are in contact with legal counsel regarding this matter.”
Freedom of Information requests for Strokanov’s electronic communications since the start of the Russian invasion yielded an email sent by a former faculty member who wrote to Dr. Atkins in early April to express concern over his spreading of disinformation “touting pro-Russian views and sources while dismissing Western accounts as ‘fake news’.”
The former faculty member wrote, “Perhaps you know of his recent interview with the Russian state-run Sputnik, several translated screenshots of which I’ve pasted below. The headline, though cut short, speaks for itself. The paragraph stating that Ukrainians are themselves to blame for continued bloodshed I find singularly appalling.”
“Unlike Russia, this is a free country and people are entitled to their views,” the former instructor wrote. “But a full-throated nationalistic position that rejects credible, critical evidence and condones a violent invasion that has ravaged Ukraine and displaced millions of its citizens is entirely not in keeping with Prof. Strokanov’s multiple roles on now I presume multiple campuses.”
They went on, “In my opinion, over the last weeks he has essentially squandered whatever acclaim and credibility he brought to the classroom and especially the directorship of the Institute of Russian Language, History and Culture, calling into question his ability to serve NVU as students and our community deserves.”
“As a former adjunct faculty member, I leave it to you and others in administration to determine what action, if any, ought to be taken. Comments on at least one other social media platform indicate I am not alone in my concern, though, and perhaps it’s helpful for you to know that,” the email concluded.
Vermont State College General Counsel Patricia K. Turley also said there “was internal communication dated February 27, 2022 between President Mills, the Chancellor, and myself which is exempt from production, as attorney-client privileged.”
NVU spokeswoman Sylvia Plumb said Professor Strokanov was on sabbatical in the last year and he may be teaching a class this summer.
In an email Strokanov defended his comments in the interest of encouraging people to think “analytically” and “critically” about the events and consider mainstream messaging may be lacking. He also noted his comments are not made in his capacity as a NVU professor.
“My personal FB page reflects on my personal opinion over many things, including the world events. It does not even mention my position at NVU, and opinions expressed there have nothing to do with the university,” he said in the email.”I am encouraging my friends and followers to think over ALL events (domestic and international) analytically and critically. If we relied on our mainstream media sources, we should already discover WMD in Iraq, win over Taliban in Afghanistan, and built prosperous liberal democracies in Iraq, Libya, and several other countries. Very unfortunately, none of these were true. That is why in any conflict very important to know arguments from all sides involved and their rational for actions.”
He referenced one of his posts that includes quotes from a book by US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara: “Our misjudgments of friend and foe, alike, reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area.”
“We did not recognize that neither our people nor our leaders are omniscient. Our judgment of what is in another people’s or country’s best interest should be put to the test of open discussion in international forums. We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our image or as we choose.”Strokanov addes, “I think these lessons were never learned by Washington, our elite and media. Very unfortunately, our mainstream media is not very helpful for it. That is why most of my posts on FB refer to some publications around the world that allow its readers to look at any event from different sides and allow readers to think on their own, rather than blindly follow someone’s position and interpretation of events, even if this interpretation belong to the president.”
“Finally, the conflict in Ukraine for me personally is not only an academic matter and material for academic analysis, but also a personal matter and tragedy, since I have my relatives and dozens of friends on both sides of the obvious civil conflict within the country. I listen their voices also while trying to form my own position over these events,” he said.
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