Stomp. Boom. Crr. The Kyiv train station is flooded with people trying to make the move to Lviv. The missiles made a dent in some buildings. At the train station, a haunting picture instills cold reminders of World War II as families right then and there are split for the war effort. Then, there are women and men in Ukraine who are staying behind to fight for their country. Possibly with perseverance, there’s a chance for them to win. The fight still continues as supporters in New York City take a stand against the tyranny that is Russia’s invasion.
Hundreds of Ukrainian New Yorkers stretched to the heart of the city to protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They hold signs that would tell Putin to stop the war now. There are 150,000 Ukrainians who live in New York City alone, residing in the East Village of Manhattan and Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. There were also other supporters who joined the fight and had a different cultural background. One man said, “Even though I’m not from Ukraine, I support them.”
The Ukrainian flag is yellow and blue, the common colors that were seen in the Ukrainian protest a few days ago. The blue refers to the blue skies of the country and the yellow represents the wheat fields. Some people sang the Ukrainian national anthem together. Even Saturday Night Live paid their respects and sent their hopes to Ukraine by inviting the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York to sing an emotional prayer. The song was called, “Prayer for Ukraine.” This song was an anthem for Ukraine’s fight for independence back in the 1880s.
Families in New York City were concerned about the war because their relatives and loved ones were there with no ways to contact them. Young Ukrainian Americans canceled going to school because they were very worried about their relatives. Arthur Zgurov, a doctor from Odessa, Ukraine, stressed, “Stop its spread to Europe, to the entire world. We have to stop this because, otherwise, there will be no peace anywhere. We’re united, we’re together and we will win.”
All around the world, people are joining the fight against Ukraine in the streets. It is a matter of time when Russia conquers the eastern lands of Ukraine. The weapons have yet to scare the Ukrainians away as their allies continue to fight at home and their family members volunteer to battle in the front lines.
