True colors in Brooklyn
Supporters mark war ann’y in Coney with flags, anthem, speeches
It has just one verse, and just one chorus, but it was more than enough for supporters of Ukraine who gathered in solidarity in Coney Island Thursday to sing the country’s national anthem on the eve of the first anniversary of its bloody war with Russia.
“Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy,” supporters fervently sang, passionate words that roughly translate into English as “Ukraine has not yet perished.”
“There is no more southern or northern Ukraine, western or eastern Ukraine,” said activist Arthur Zgurov to a crowd of about 100. “There is Ukraine, and there are Ukrainians, by blood or by choice.”
Blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags flapped in the breeze as supporters pledged their loyalty. Those without flags of their own wore capes and caps, blue and yellow, too, waving signs of solidarity and speaking words of determination.
“Stop Putin, No War,” read one sign. “365 Days of War,” read another.
“A lot of people are now telling me, ‘OK, it’s one year. How long am I going to talk about it? How long do we need to support Ukraine?’ ” said City Council member Ari Kagan (R-Brooklyn), who was born in Belarus, next to Ukraine.
“And my answer is it is not about Ukraine. I will repeat what I said one year ago. This is not the war between Russia and Ukraine. This is a war between darkness and light. Ukraine is fighting for the entire world, because we all know that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is not going to stop in Ukraine.”
It was one year ago, on Feb. 24, 2022, that Russia’s army invaded neighboring Ukraine by land, air and sea, the biggest attack by one European state against another since World War II.
Russia has called its actions “a special military operation,” while Ukraine and the West have called the invasion an unprovoked land grab.
Commemorations took place all over the world.
Paris lit the Eiffel Tower in blue and yellow, and supporters draped in Ukrainian flags gathered at a vigil in London on Thursday,
“There will be a life after this war, because Ukraine will win,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a speech before the Eiffel Tower lighting. “I think no one will run out of this fierce desire for freedom, for Europe, for democracy that the Ukrainians are showing.”
In Coney Island, Moscow-born Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny agreed. “We see that the army is not as strong as the world thought a year ago,” Brook-Krasny said of the Russian military. “Ukraine will win this war.”
He likened Putin to history’s worst dictators.
“Hundreds of thousands of people have died because one person has decided they are God-given,” said Brook-Krasny (R-Brooklyn). “The same thing happened in 1933 in Germany. Hitler was elected. It can happen anywhere.”
Justina Wlodyka, 31, a student from Maspeth, held a sign that emphasized the ongoing struggle for freedom at home and abroad.
“We need to talk about war every day, everywhere,” Wlodyka said. “Especially in the U.S.A., because sometimes people here don’t know.”
Wlodyka is originally from Poland, where President Biden gave a speech this week denouncing the invasion and re-emphasizing America’s support for Ukraine.
Boris Spektor, 76, who lives in Coney Island, is originally from Odesa, a Ukrainian city that was an early target of the Russian invasion. “Putin is a killer,” Spektor said. “He would kill everybody. But Ukraine will win. Absolutely positive.”