With the start of the Russian invasion, many Ukrainians living in the US are looking for ways to try to help their home country. One of them is to help publicize donation campaigns, including to defray the expenses of the Ukrainian army, which is fighting to contain the invasion.
A Washington-based cultural center, Ukraine House, for example, has been posting data on Facebook to make money transfers that would go to Ukrainian army accounts at the country’s National Bank.
“We’ve gotten more donations in the last 24 hours than in the last few years,” said Maryna Baydyuk, 45, one of the organizers of a protest outside the White House early Thursday night.
“The entire country is under attack right now, and there will be a great need [de suprimentos] for the Ukrainian Army. For territorial defense units, medicines, hospitals and, of course, the civilian population, which will also be affected. There are territorial defense units being formed right now, as we speak. They are made up of civilians, reservists or veterans who have had some training, and will try to fight and defend the country. Even if all else fails,” he detailed.
Baydyuk said he has family members in Kiev who were seeking shelter from the bombings. “They would try to leave the city tomorrow morning, depending on the situation. It’s not safe to use the roads when you see planes coming in to bomb. But we’re hoping they can get out of the city and go west to safer parts of Ukraine.” “, commented.
The protest in front of the White House gathered about 300 people, under drizzle and 1°C cold. Speakers took turns at a megaphone with pleas for help to President Joe Biden and shouts against Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the megaphone was muted, and it was difficult to hear the speeches from afar. The lines were probably not heard in the Oval Office.
Among the main demands of the act was a request that Russia be removed from the Swift system, which allows for international financial transactions, especially sending money. The measure was not adopted for now, as European countries were against it.
Posters linking Putin to Hitler and calling for the invasion to be stopped. In addition to Ukrainian flags, there were also symbols of nearby countries such as Latvia and Georgia. “Will we be next?”, asked the phrase on a piece of cardboard, next to a Lithuanian flag.
“Russia has often invaded countries. And what happens to these countries: they are never better off than they were before,” says Anton, 24, who was protesting outside the White House draped in a large Ukrainian flag.
He, who declined to give his last name, has lived in the US for five years, and had come from Philadelphia, 220 km away, for the protest. “I will try to show my support as much as I can, because every little gesture counts for our soldiers who are in Ukraine defending our country.”
Organizers plan to continue with protests across the US. New acts were called for this Friday (25) and Sunday (27) in Washington.
In New York, hundreds of Ukrainians and supporters also staged a protest on Thursday in the Times Square area. The city is home to the largest community of Ukrainians in the US, according to the New York Times, with more than 150,000 residents.
