By Carol Tannenhauser
Nearly 100 people turned out Sunday afternoon for a solidarity rally at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Volodymyr on West 82nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues.
“I’m here today to stand in solidarity with both Ukrainian New Yorkers in the city and those over in Ukraine, who are doing such courageous and sacrificial work to protect democracy,” Rev. Chloe Breyer, director of the Interfaith Center of New York, told West Side Rag. “And with great concern about our own government,” she added, alluding to recent administration actions, including President Trump’s false claim that Russia’s 2022 invasion was actually initiated by Ukraine and a volatile Oval Office confrontation last month between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Breyer’s words were echoed by local officials, Ukrainian Americans and immigrants, along with Upper West Siders — some senior citizens, some as young as schoolchildren from P.S. 145, The Bloomingdale School on West 105th Street, which held an early pro-Ukraine rally in 2022 shortly after Russia’s invasion.
“It’s a local issue too, because we have so many families here who are from Ukraine,” said City Councilmember Gale Brewer, who helped organize Sunday’s rally. “At P.S. 145, there’s a very big Ukrainian community and also Russian children. The school has done a fabulous job of bringing those families together,” said Brewer. “That’s why I’m here — to support them. And then, of course, we are very supportive of Ukraine as New Yorkers.”
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Biden invited war with his weakness. Hundreds of thousands of needless deaths, in Europe and the Middle East.
I wish that were true. Then we would not have the deaths already occurring under this strongman’s rule.
I don’t think even a Russian bot farm would try writing this comment! A fact-checking operation run by a sixth-grade elementary school class wouldn’t approve it. Incredible.
No he didn’t,Biden was a huge supporters of Ukraine.Get your info correct before you text.
Good luck with Trump’s forever wars.
That is a lie.
A truly deranged take.
Let me fix it. Biden’s strong and confident stance, aggressive military posture, the move-for-move match of UN peacekeepers in Ukraine vs. the amassing Russian forces, the timely, uninterrupted and unequivocal military aid to Ukraine, the strong power moves toward the corrupt German, Austrian, etc elites who remain the Russia’s pockets (and said peep after MH17 was downed and 300+ Europeans were murdered), all helped prevent the potential Russian invasion of 2022 and saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Macron, Merkel and Schroeder gladhanding Putin in Moscow during the WorldCup 2018 was a masterstroke in strategic deception and lulled Putin into thinking he’s strong and can expand his reach beyond Lugansk and Donetsk, while the unified NATO, well financed from all countries managed to liberate the occupied regions and restore Ukraine’s sovereignty without any loss of life.
Ukraine didn’t start the war. The US and NATO did. They took a country right on Russia’s doorstep, helped overthrow its government, armed it, ignored peace deals, and then acted shocked when Russia saw this as a red line. This wasn’t an “invasion” and “unprovoked aggression.” This was the inevitable result of three decades of arrogance and broken promises.
1. The US overthrew the democratically elected government
2. Ukraine was engaged in an ethnic cleansing of Russians in the Eastern Provinces. They banned the Russian language and shelled the area killing 14,000 people.
3. Russian separatists were burned alive in Odessa.
4. The West has a history of invading Russia through what is now Ukrtaine. (Napoleon, Germany) not the other way around.
etc. etc. etc.
The war is over. Stop the killing and stop endangering the rest of the world
This comment goes to show the unreal amount of Russian Propaganda that is getting pumped throughout the American right wing…..
Actually much of the American Left agrees with Bill’s assessment. I’m talking about the real left, not the neocon lizards who have captured the Democrat Party.
The Ukranian Orthodox Church is being banned in Ukraine because of Ties to Russian history. They made a new church that a majority of Ukranians don’t follow