Russia relentlessly attacking Ukraine: global communities rally in protest

Over the past week, Russia has been indiscriminately bombing Ukrainian cities – residential buildings, universities, hotels. In less than two days, the occupiers have killed over fifty people. On the morning of September 3, the invaders struck Poltava, killing 55 people. On September 4, Russians killed 7 people in Lviv. They also attacked Kryvyi Rih and Sumy. Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernihiv, and Kyiv regions are under constant fire.

Ukrainian communities worldwide are rallying to pressure the West to allow Ukraine to defend itself and strike targets within Russia. One of the first communities to protest were Ukrainians in France. At a demonstration in Paris, they urged Europe and the USA to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike deeper into Russia, wrote Volodymyr Kogutyak, UWC Vice President for Western Europe.

“We also ask for help in protecting Ukraine’s skies and its civilian population from Russian terrorism,” Kogutyak wrote.

On September 4, a rally against Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities took place in London. Attendees called on the government to lift the ban on using British long-range missiles against military targets in Russia.

“Ukraine will only be protected when Russian fighters launching missiles start burning on airfields,” emphasized the organizers. Protests by Support Ukraine / London Euromaidan organization are also taking place today and are scheduled for tomorrow.

The community in Switzerland, “Ukrainer in Bern,” also took action. Calls to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian attacks were heard in Bern. Participants brought photos of murdered children to remind everyone that the occupiers are deliberately killing Ukrainians.

Ukrainians in New York held urgent protests outside the Russian consulate in response to the Russian attack on Lviv. “Russian terror knows no bounds. In just 24 hours, after killing 53 and injuring 298 people in Poltava, Russia struck again, targeting Lviv, Sumy, and Kryvyi Rih, claiming more innocent lives and devastating cities, architecture, and infrastructure,” wrote the organizers, the “Svitanok in New York” organization. 

“Let Ukraine strike back,” urges the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC). “The Russian airfields from which these barbaric attacks are launched are protected by a naive policy of Ukraine’s western partners that prohibits Ukraine from striking military targets in Russia with western weapons.

While Ukrainian cities burn, Russia is secure in the knowledge that its ability to attack Ukraine is protected by the very leaders who claim to stand with Ukraine. This impunity must end. We call on Ukraine’s partners to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of western weapons and allow Ukraine to hit military targets inside Russia,” said Aleksandra Chyczij, President of the UCC.

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) urges US citizens to get in contact with the White House and President Biden to request that restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons be lifted, which will allow for strikes within Russian territory.

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) urgently appealed to the United States and all of Ukraine’s allies, urging them to lift all restrictions that prevent Ukraine from targeting military sites deep within Russian territory and for the provision of necessary long-range missiles.