Ukrainians in Orlando say they’ll keep protesting until the war ends
With the war in Ukraine in its fourth week, Ukrainians in Orlando vowed to keep protesting Russia’s invasion and pressure lawmakers to help bring an end to the war.
St. Mary Protectress Ukrainian Catholic church in Apopka has led large demonstrations every Sunday at Lake Eola, where Ukrainians gather, hold flags, chant “Glory to Ukraine” and sing their national anthem around the crowded park.
“We will go on as long as it takes,” said Vasyl Boichook, St. Mary Protectress Ukrainian Catholic church president. “I think this is going to last months and we will be out here supporting our country every week.”
Boichook sat down last week with Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, over Zoom to ask for more aid to Ukraine. Boichook said he wants to put pressure on legislators to send more help and establish a no-fly zone over the country, something the Biden administration has resisted.
Soto in an interview said he supports a less direct approach to supporting Ukraine’s airforce: providing U.S. planes to Poland, which could give its own Cold War-era MiG aircraft to Ukraine.
“I do not support a no-fly zone over Ukraine because that would cause us to have to have American planes shoot down Russian planes over the sky, and that would be an act of war, causing a World War III between two nuclear powers,” he said.
Soto noted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision this month to grant temporary protective status to Ukrainians as an example of other ways in which the government is supporting the Ukrainian cause.
“Informing our local Ukrainian communities about the humanitarian aid, training and arms we have sent is absolutely critical,” Soto said. “There are refugees that are coming to live, at least temporarily, with their families so we are really pleased to announce the TPS for Ukrainians.”
Boichook, however, argues more aggressive steps are needed. “They’re helping, but in very small steps, and people are dying every day,” Boichook said of Soto and other U.S. lawmakers. “I really wish NATO would move in and stop the war.”
Echoing the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Boichook said World War III has already started because Russian President Vladamir Putin is not someone who will stop with Ukraine, especially because he sees that the West isn’t directly getting involved.
Vitaliy Davydyuk, 37, who was at the Lake Eola protest last week and moved to the U.S. from Ukraine in 2013, said the main reason for these weekly protests is to ensure no one forgets what’s happening on the other side of the world.
“Our mission now is to keep informing people and maybe, if more normal citizens put pressure on the administration, they will close the sky,” Davydyuk said. “I have family in Ukraine and it’s terrible what is happening. They are suffering so much.”
Davydyuk said he believes the protests are working because the U.S. and other European nations banned several Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) after worldwide protests.
SWIFT is a messaging system that allows international transactions. The U.S., European Union, United Kingdom and Canada disconnected many Russian banks from SWIFT on Feb. 26.
President Joe Biden also signed a $13.6 billion spending bill into law Tuesday to provide military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
More action from the House came Thursday with the passage of H.R. 7108, which would suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus.
Soto, who voted for the bill, said the U.S. needs an “all-the-above” economic sanction policy to bring Russia’s economy to a halt.
“We will continue to use every economic resource at our disposal to grind their economy to a halt to make it increasingly more difficult for them to wage an unlawful war against Ukraine,” Soto said.
The Ukrainian church in Apopka will also host daily prayers for Ukraine beginning Monday at 7 p.m., Rev. Roman Kuzminskyi said. The church is also collecting donations of medical supplies, nonperishable food and tactical gear that it will ship to Ukraine.
“So far we have collected over 45 tons of aid and are so grateful to the Ukrainian community and the others who are helping us pack and donate things,” Kuzminskyi said.
In an effort to keep Ukraine at the forefront of everyone’s mind, Boichook said he and some fellow Ukrainians traveled to Tallahassee last week to speak with lawmakers and placed small Ukrainian flags on the desk of each member of the Florida Legislature.
“Keeping in Central Floridians’ minds the importance of this issue is very key to us helping fight and defend democracy in Europe and Ukraine,” Soto said. “I plan to join their protest one day this spring in Central Florida.”
Boichook said he wants those with the power to influence policy to understand that the fate of Ukraine isn’t all that’s at stake.
“The West has to stop being scared of Russia,” Davydyuk said. “One day Russia could try to take Alaska and what are we going to do then?”