With prayer and protest, Philly Ukrainians call for U.S. support on 2nd anniversary of Russian invasion

Supporters of Ukraine’s decadelong battle to repel Russian invaders filled the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s front steps and spilled onto the Parkway during a rally Sunday afternoon in Center City to mark a somber anniversary.

Organizers of the “United We Win” event, which drew more than 700 participants, said they sought to bolster American resolve so that Ukraine will win the conflict, which began with the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and Donbas region in February 2014 and was followed by Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

“Unfortunately … news about Ukraine is not always on the front pages of American media,” said keynote speaker Iryna Mazur, Ukraine’s honorary consul in Philadelphia. The region is home to about 60,000 Ukrainians and Ukrainian Americans.

“Some people even think that the war is mostly over,” Mazur said. “Tragically, the war is far from over.

“The American people have a unique power that can help Ukraine: As constituents and voters, they can deliver their unwavering support for Ukraine to their representatives in Congress. This collective voice of the American nation is important as never before.”

Like Mazur, other speakers and rally attendees expressed gratitude for American support. But many were frustrated at the U.S. House of Representatives for holding up a measure to provide the weaponry and ammunition Ukraine needs to regain momentum.

“With [House Speaker] Mike Johnson’s vacation, we risk missing an unprecedented chance to uphold American principles against tyranny,” said Dan Nysch, vice president of the Philadelphia branch of the Ukrainian American Youth Association.

“To negotiate with a state that commits genocide is to negotiate with terror itself. And Ukraine will not make a deal with the devil,” he said.

“Ukraine has stood up to the second-largest army in the world, and they had to give up some territory recently because they didn’t have enough munitions,” said Paul Grod, president of the Ukrainian World Congress.

“This isn’t about a piece of territory. It’s about lives … and people [being] tortured, raped, and executed by the Russian army in occupied Ukraine,” he said. “We want all governments of the free world to give Ukraine what it needs to be victorious. It needs munitions, sanctions against Russia, and [confiscation] of Russia’s assets all over the world.”

Rada Dubashinsky, a chemist who lives in Bucks County and emigrated from Ukraine 30 years ago, said she believes the U.S. will provide the assistance.

“Time is money, but in this case, time is life,” she said. “The time we spend debating, the longer the wait, more people die.”

Dubashinsky also said great solidarity has developed within the Ukrainian American community, and with its allies as well. She and Julia Bigun, a friend she met last year at a rally for Ukraine, together created a 65-yards-long flag that was unfurled on the Art Museum steps and then carried down the Parkway to Independence Mall.

“People wrote messages of hope to their loved ones in Ukraine on the flag,” Dubashinsky said.

Earlier in the day, the Rev. Roman Pitula — who attended the rally — officiated during the 8:30 a.m. Mass at Philadelphia’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

A single candle burned in front of a Ukrainian flag on the altar, near a donation box “for Ukrainian soldiers” as well as “humanitarian aid” for the country.

Speaking to about 30 worshipers after the service had ended, Pitula said Russia believed it would conquer Ukraine “within a couple of days” of the full invasion two years ago.

”But they didn’t count on our people,” he said. “Our people’s hearts can be [gentle] but they can also be hard as stone. Our nation was united as never before, and it became a strong armor of defense.

“I ask you to continue your support against this genocidal aggression. We will have peace. After the victory.”

Olga Jakubowska, 74, a retired accountant who lives in Philadelphia, was born in western Ukraine and has belonged to the parish since 1961. Many members of her family are still in Ukraine, and staying in touch with them during the war has been difficult, she said.

”I work with the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, and there’s been a huge outpouring from the beginning,” she said.

“But human nature is such that people lose interest, and I hope people realize that what’s going on in Ukraine is genocide,” she said.

“I’m surprised that some of the Republicans in Congress, like [Ohio Sen.] J.D. Vance, and the House speaker, aren’t more sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause,” said Jakubowska.

“I wish they would reconsider.”