PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An anti-war rally at Philadelphia City Hall Friday afternoon attracted hundreds of people in support of Ukraine against the Vladimir Putin-led Russian invasion of that country.
“We call upon the United States, we call upon the other freedom-loving nations of this world to intervene!” Ukrainian pastor David Letushko yelled in addressing the protesters.
“Most of us are Ukrainian refugees. We came here in the 90s, in the 2000s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Our families, our parents, and grandparents know what tyranny does in a country.”
Many who attended at City Hall have family members stuck there amid the chaos.
Ukrainian-born Sofia said she’s in constant contact with her family and is consumed by worry.
"There’s no way to escape. There’s nowhere to run," Sofia said.
She added her father is not permitted to leave the country for at least the next 90 days.
"Men are summoned to join the army, and my mom won't leave my dad behind, so they are staying there," she said.
“Mom, my dad, all my friends, they just don’t know if they’ll survive another night.”
Nazar Pshebishevskyi said his sister and her young family are stuck in the country too, but were able to get out of the capital city where they lived.
"They went to my mom’s home south of Kyiv. We have like a small bomb shelter in the backyard," Pshebishevskyi explained.
His brother and brother-in-law back home were getting ready to enlist in the Ukrainian army.
“I have the same thoughts, but I have two kids, and my wife doesn’t even want to listen about this," he said.
Ukrainians were not the only ones who attended.
Rabbi Rach Weiss said everyone who cares about freedom should be paying attention right now.
"This isn’t just about the Ukraine. It’s about the whole Baltic, and about the whole world.”
Tadeusz Antoniak, chairman of the Smolensk Disaster Commemoration Committee, denounced what he described as Putin's aggressive politics.
"He is the same, like Stalin and Hitler in 1939," Antoniak said.
Iryna Mazur, honorary consul of Ukraine in Philadelphia, asked everyone at the rally to reach out to their representatives for help.
Of the Russian-American population, she asked them to help loved ones overcome that nation's misinformation issues.
“Contact your families in Russia. Tell them the truth. They are fed terrible propaganda by Putin.”
The people at the rally said no matter what the world does, Ukrainians will fight for their homeland.
Bohdan Bohrodetskyy said everyone should care about the situation in Ukraine.
“Because," said Bohrodetskyy, "innocent people die.”
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