Protest in Chicago: Supporting Russia Equals Genocide of Ukrainians

The war in Ukraine has been ongoing for five years. For five years, a fierce enemy has been destroying our cities and villages, killing our people, brazenly lying that military targets are in the crosshairs, while ballistic and other deadly weapons hit residential buildings, schools, and hospitals, shopping centers, parks, squares, and gas stations. The elderly and infirm perish. Entire families perish. Newborn children perish. Ukraine and Ukrainians are being erased from the face of the earth. And now he does not lie — the one who started all this and observes the process from his bunker, enjoying it and openly declaring: "I just want to destroy them." Therefore, everyone who helps Russia, who has or wants to have any dealings with it, must know: the blood of Ukrainian children is or will be on your hands. And every sober-minded person understands or should understand: today Ukraine is defending not only itself. Because if it falls, the target will be aimed at others. This cannot be misunderstood. And what is happening in Ukraine cannot be unseen. But...

Just two weeks ago, Father Pavlo Drozdjak from the Cathedral of St. Nicholas rhetorically asked in his speech at one of the meetings: "World, have you gone mad?". And a few days later, the USA finally answered: yes!

The current administration and President Trump hastily announced a diesel deal with Russia. It turned out that everyone who pays taxes in America unwittingly becomes an accomplice in the genocide of Ukrainians. When this did not immediately stop the war (and were there really those who believed it could happen?), the administration emphasized that the main enemy of peace is Ukrainian interceptors, which do not allow Russian drones to peacefully kill Ukrainian civilians. The delivery of already paid-for air defense systems is blocked. The work of Starlink and Starshield is severely restricted. It seems that a more disgusting slap in the face to American partners is hard to imagine.

The response from the Ukrainian community in Chicago was not long in coming. On Sunday, October 18, hundreds of residents of the city and its surroundings gathered in downtown Chicago, near the famous Wrigley Building, to protest against the decisions of the current US administration to reject all norms of diplomacy and sell their allies to Moscow terrorists. Congressman Mike Quigley, Northwestern University criminology professor Joel Levin, and representatives of various city communities joined us. There were speeches. There were posters with eloquent calls and revelations. There was a performance where some of the attendees lay on the ground next to fuel canisters, simulating the dead, with the message: not a single liter of diesel is worth a human life; supporting Russia is equivalent to the genocide of Ukrainians...

The main demand of the action focused on canceling the diesel deal with Russia and restoring stable support for Ukraine to its previous level. It should also be noted that, despite the lack of common sense in the current administration, Americans continue to support Ukraine and are categorically against any deals with terrorists. This was evidenced by dozens of similar actions across the country.

Meanwhile, the next day, Monday, October 19, another dark news of tragedy spread around the world. Russia launched another strike in a park area in the Kharkiv region, resulting in the deaths of six people and injuries to 15 others. That same evening, the active Chicago community gathered again near the Wrigley Building. This time without loudspeakers or long speeches, but with candles and posters, on which were photos of a deceased girl in a stroller, an infant whose life was taken by a Russian "geranium." Hundreds of Americans passed by the silent protest, reading with horror the statistics of civilian Ukrainian deaths over the past week, photographing our posters, and expressing their support. The protest also made it to the evening news on ABC-7 Chicago.

Each of us now has images or just pictures in our minds that we will never forget: the hand of a deceased woman with red nail polish; a father rocking his child for the last time in a coffin; a deceased baby in a burgundy suit in a stroller hit by a Russian drone there, in the Kharkiv region. The list can go on. A terrible and dark list. And I don't want, we don't want, more new images, new pictures, new tragedies to be added to it. Those that have not yet happened. We still have a chance to stop them. And this chance starts with you. Yes, with you. You have the task list below. Act!

1. Write and call your congressmen at least once a week. It takes less than five minutes using the site AmericanCoalitionForUkraine.org/Action

2. Attend protests. All announcements about actions can be found by subscribing to the Ukrainian Daughters Foundation page (@ua.daughters.fdn on Instagram)

3. If you are an American citizen, actively participate in voting. The last day is November 3. 

Regardless of your status, continue to remind the world about Ukraine. And about Russia's crimes. And about the importance of supporting the Truth.