Ukrainian Americans in cities small and large across the United States paid their respects on Feb. 20 to the “Heavenly Hundred,” and rallied for additional military and financial support for Ukraine.
They voiced their concerns as the Kremlin continued to threaten to invade Ukraine with nearly 200,000 troops encircling the country from three sides.
Thousands gathered in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Boston, Detroit, and countless other local communities, calling on the US to strengthen military and financial support for Ukraine.
In Washington, several speakers standing on the marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the shadow of the iconic 60-meter statue of the person who symbolizes American democracy reflected on the words of the greatest US President: “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”
American Ukrainians rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC
Demonstrators bowed their heads in prayer and remembrance of the Heavenly Hundred, the 102 Ukrainians cold-bloodedly gunned down on a frigid Saturday morning in February 2014 in the center of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, as they defended Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence.
They were part of an encampment of thousands of like-minded, passionately dedicated protestors holding out on Kyiv’s central square during those dark winter days in what has become known as the Revolution of Dignity.
The demonstrations started after it became evident that the country’s president at that time had caved to the Kremlin’s demands that Ukraine not leave Russia’s sphere of influence.
The Ukrainian American communities commemorating the Heavenly Hundred were intent on sending a message that Russia’s current threats were not merely against Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty; that the Kremlin’s refusal to seek a diplomatic solution to an international crisis it had initiated told of its intention to upset the world order.
In Detroit, a poster held by a young girl wearing a traditional, embroidered Ukrainian blouse, said “Wake Up USA and Save the World.”
More poignantly, the statement made by the young Ukrainian American girl reflected the US community’s frustration that the US and Europe have not aggressively pursued sanctions against Russia.
The demonstrations, driven by the hashtag: #StandForUkraine, were organized by the World Congress of Ukrainians (WCU) to demand that the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union take additional political and military steps to help Ukraine stop Russia’s aggression.
The message was simple and straightforward: Ukraine is Europe and inseparable from Europe’s security.
The WCU has repeatedly stated that it believes that the US, Canada, and Europe should halt Nord Stream 2, the natural gas pipeline that Russian entities have built to circumvent Ukraine in providing the much-needed energy source to Europe; cut off Russia from SWIFT, the international system for financial transactions; and continue sending Ukraine sufficient quantities of the most modern military defense systems to enable Ukrainians to defend their territorial integrity and independence.
The US continues to maintain that it will invoke sanctions against Russia only if the Kremlin decides to invade Ukraine, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted during his appearance at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 19 was not a sufficient deterrent to a Russian invasion of the country he leads.
He continued to upset public pronunciations of world leaders when he demanded that Europe and the US stop considering Ukraine a buffer zone.
In Detroit, Jim Fouts, mayor of Warren, the third largest city of Michigan with a substantial Ukrainian American population, speaking before a gathering of nearly 500 people at the Ukrainian Cultural Center, said that he supports an independent and sovereign Ukraine because he finds no difference between life in his community and how he understands the Kremlin’s demands.
“I stand with Ukraine, and I stand with democracy! And they are inseparable,” said Fouts.
