The people you’ll be talking to are, in all likelihood, also proletarians. I mean I guess this could be a propaganda op on some level but whatever. They’re victims of the USA, NATO, Russia, and the bourgeois Ukrainian state. Their lives are being destroyed by the squabbles of the bourgeoisie. Complaining to them about the failures of their government right now accomplishes as much as telling some poor bastard in Alabama to vote blue and is probably equally insulting.

Since this is nominally a cultural exchange program, not an international political debate group, you should try to talk about that. What their holiday celebrations are like, what their favorite foods are, what they do for fun. Learn about their culture and try to connect with them as fellow human beings.

When the subject of the war and politics inevitably comes up, just shut up and nod along, and understand that there is a time and place to offer political critique and education, and this ain't it.