CHICAGO – Hundreds of pro-Ukrainian protesters assembled at the landmark Water Tower to voice their support for a just peace in what is Europe’s biggest invasion perpetrated by Russia since World War II.
Throngs gathered on March 2 with placards carrying messages that denounced Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin and how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was berated by his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, following a visit to the White House on Feb. 28 to conclude a mineral extraction deal in exchange for solid security guarantees.
Staged by the Illinois division of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the protest featured democrat Senator Dick Durban and House Representative Mike Quigley (D), among the speakers.
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) noticed many non-Ukrainians among the protesters who stood up to what they called “bullying” behavior on the part of the new U.S. presidential administration toward Zelenskyy and expressed a moral stance of what they perceive is an aggressor state preying on a smaller victim in the ongoing genocidal war.
“Thanks to everyone hear who is speaking on behalf of your nation,” said Dr. Mariya Dmytriv-Kapeniak, president of the UCCA Illinois Division, as she addressed the non-Ukrainians in the crowd. “I would like to remind those in Washington that they’re accountable to people, people who put them there.”
A 20-meter Ukrainian flag is unfurled at the Water Tower landmark in Chicago on March 2 during a Ukrainian protest in support of a just peace in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.
Citing recent public opinion polls, she said the “majority of Americans support Ukraine and don’t trust Putin.”
She called on Trump “to please, Mr. President, listen to your people.”
Quigley, who’s been to Ukraine four times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of February 2022 and has met with Zelenskyy, quipped that he “will never wear a suit again” when he next visits the White House, in reference to the embattled Ukrainian president’s attire to wear military fatigues on foreign visits.
Trump had questioned Zelenskyy why he won’t wear “official” attire, saying people wear suits when visiting the White House while demanding he be more thankful for U.S. support, though a fact check by CNN said that Zelenskyy had publicly thanked Washington and the American people 33 times during his tenure prior to the visit.
“The Ukrainian people have risked their lives to save their country from what was supposed to be a three day invasion,” said Durbin. “To think that this president [Trump] will embrace Putin is an outrage.”
Defending Zelenskyy, Durbin added that “Zelenskyy has shown his gratitude many times.”
Ending his speech, Quigley praised the courage of Ukrainians for “fighting against an army that is at least four times larger…and I give the Ukrainians respect and am for its NATO membership” aspirations.
Immediately after the rally at the Water Tower that was one of the few structures that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the protesters marched toward Daley Plaza where the Pablo Picasso stands and also more pro-Ukrainian messages were voiced.
“You are fighting for democracy,” Quigley stated.
Credit: Mark Raczkiewycz
