3 years after Russia’s invasion, hundreds gather to honor Ukraine – and decryps lies about war

Near North Side – the mood in the Holy Cathedral name Monday evening was a sombre and reflective – and sometimes, fearful and angry.

Shortly after 6:00 pm, hundreds of Ukrainians, Ukrainian Americans and other residents in the Chicago area have wrapped the peaks of the Catholic Church in the northern part to mark an opportunity that they hoped would never reach: the three -year anniversary of the invasion. Ukraine in Russia.

On February 24, 2022, Russian troops crossed the border with Ukraine and started a new phase of a war dating from 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

In the last three years, over 12,000 Ukrainian civilians were killed and nearly 30,000 injured in the war, according to A United Nations Report Published in December. Cities and cities throughout the country were destroyed by Russia, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers killed or injured on both sides.

On Monday, at the Holy Name, the clergy in the Ukrainian Catholic churches of Chicago were joined by Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox and Buddhist leaders in song and prayer to remember the victims of the war -and to continue shining conflict in course.

“I ask and pray that everyone still remembers that people suffer. The children are killed, ”said Rev. Mykola Bryadnyk, from the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Joseph, on the far from the north -west, before waking. “Please, please do not leave us alone.”

But, while the event was religious, the policy was present in almost every speech – and in the minds of many.

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has moved to negotiate the end of the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin, sometimes without allowing Ukrainian leaders to be present.

Trump has repeatedly lied to or distorted facts about Ukraine, including Falsely stating that the country began the war with Russia As I despise the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator without elections”.

The Trump administration now makes an agreement with Ukraine that could see the country quit a portion of his mineral wealth. And this week, the US voted against a UN resolution condemning Russia over the war.

On Monday, these titles led the conversation to the holy name as loud as calls to peace.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, thanked those who participated in the vigilance to honor those who “died in the sacrifice” in Ukraine.

But, in a not so subtle reprimand of Trump, he continued to condemn the widespread misinformation, although he did not mention the president directly by name.

“We must be here this evening to remember and honor both the sufferings and the listeners of Ukraine, because, unfortunately, there are strong voices trying to change the narrative and rewrite history. The world has to stay with Ukraine and tell the truth, ”Cupich said. “Peace can only be built on the truth. And what is the truth? Ukraine is not aggressor in this war. The invasion of Russia was unprovocated and violated international law. ”

In his observations, Cupich also spoke about a journey he made in Ukraine a few years ago, after the war began and, in particular, about his visit to Bucharest – a suburb of Kiev, where a Civil massacre by Russian soldiers took place in 2022.

“I went to Bucharest and saw the results of the massacre of innocent victims by the Russian troops,” Cupich said. “To deny anything and make Ukraine the aggressor is false and must be rejected.”

Lisa and Yuriy Zajac led from the western suburbs to participate in the Vigil for Monday, where they met their son Andriy, a boyfriend at Loyola University.

Yuriy and Lisa were born in the United States, but both of them were from Ukraine and still have a family living there. Zajacs said they considered it their duty for Ukrainian Americans to participate in the prayer service and to express solidarity with relatives and the extended community.

“It seems particularly cautious to me that, even in uncertain attempts and moments, that we present and show ourselves to our communities and for the people for whom we are still rooted there,” said Andriy Zajac. “At least we can, we can hope to do something, even if it is a tiny part.”

The Zajac family said they have closely watched the news about a possible negotiation between the United States and Russia – and are horrified by the comments that Trump has made about the war and the future of Ukraine.

“Try to intimidate Ukraine to sign an agreement for precious metals and so on, trying to upset Ukraine to sign Putin’s territory, without any consequence for Putin. Basically, to give a territory that is not his to give, ”said Yuriy Zajac. “And negotiation without Ukraine present. How do you talk about Ukraine without Ukraine being there? “

This feeling was shared by Stephen onko, who was sitting quietly before serving with an Ukrainian flag tied around the shoulders.

Ontko is not Ukrainian, but said he was forced to participate in Monday’s vigilance due to the “carnival level” that Russia has done in recent years, as well as the current political situation.

“This is also part of it, in addition to the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people, there are a lot of misinformation and propaganda that, in principle, attack the truth and reality of the situation, as well as the people themselves,” he said.

Marta Farion, a member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Division of the Ukrainian Congress Committee, participated in Vigil for Monday after returning to Chicago since participating in a march for Ukraine at Washington, DC

Farion asked Trump to visit Ukraine himself to see the damage and the continuous fall of the war – and said that there must be international consequences for the Russia’s invasion.

“Peace is not just a problem of territory and business offers. There are human beings living there, and peace must take into account the suffering of people, ”she said. “Little must be tried in a court of justice for his war crimes. And those perpetrators of the atrocities must be brought in court. ”

Also, at work was Alex Hodovanets, a junior at the University of Illinois Chicago, who came from Ukraine to study in the United States in 2021 as a high school student, just to be blocked when the war broke out.

At the beginning of 2023, Block Club has made Hodovanets While trying to raise funds to continue to participate in the UIC, after his parents and sister fled their house destroyed in Bucharest to live outside Ukraine.

Two years later, Hodovanets said that things stabilized and his life in Chicago is going well. He received a schooling aid from a local charity, said a major of biochemistry and even helped to start a Ukrainian club in campus. His family lives safely in Portugal.

However, draped into a Ukrainian flag and a shirt that fits on Monday outside the cathedral, the 20-year-old said that Trump’s recent comments and the uncertainty of what will follow for Ukraine left him deeply concerned about his native country. .

“It’s awful,” he said.

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