'We (are) still fighting': Ukrainians rally in Detroit to mark 2 years since Russia invasion

Near-constant honking could be heard along Jefferson Avenue in Detroit on Sunday as motorists responded to people holding signs asking them to show their support for Ukraine.  

Hundreds of Ukrainians and supporters of Ukraine rallied downtown the day after the two-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine to show they are still fighting for freedom, said rally organizer Sasha Tkachenko.

"We are still having a very hard time in our country. Russia is still sending tons of missiles our way," Tkachenko said. "Every Ukrainian in Michigan and in the world, we need support and to remind everyone that we (are) still alive and we (are) still fighting."

Russia invaded Ukraine Feb. 24, 2022, capturing nearly a quarter of the country, according to the Associated Press. Russian barrages have repeatedly blasted civilian targets, reducing apartment buildings to rubble.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in two years. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians also have been killed, according to AP.

The cost of reconstruction is likely to run into hundreds of billions of dollars. In 2023, the first independent statistical analysis of Russia’s war dead concluded that nearly 50,000 Russian men had died in the war.

Theodore Kuchar, 29, of Redford Township said it's vital to raise awareness so people do not forgot the war remains ongoing.

"They are fighting not just for themselves, but for world democracy," Kuchar said. "Initially there was a lot of attention for the war, but with time a lot of Americans got fatigued by the war."

Many people at the rally, like Christina Bodnarchuk of Wixom, called Ukraine a barrier between Russia's fight coming to the rest of the world.

Bodnarchuk's grandparents live in Ukraine and she said she wants to be able to visit them without fearing for her life and without worrying about her grandparents' safety.

Tkachenko went to the frontlines of Ukraine several months ago to deliver aid packages with medical supplies. He said he saw the horrors of war: destroyed bridges, cities in ruins, kids playing on playgrounds seven miles from the fighting. Nearly every night, they had to shelter as missile alarms rang around them, he said.

"I think that attention to the situation in Ukraine is getting down and we just would like to bring it back," he said. "This is also motivating us, and this is also helping us, thinking that we still fighting, we still alive. Our country still exists."

Ukraine's Western allies have been sending weapons and financial aid to the country, but the slow speed of delivery has made the fight difficult, Zelenskyy said, according to the AP.

U.S. aid to Ukraine worth $60 billion is stalled over political differences, the AP said.

U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar and 10th district congressional candidate Carl Marlinga spoke at the rally about the importance of the U.S. support for Ukraine. Thanedar vowed his support and said he would vote for a strong aid package, saying the U.S. has a moral obligation to do so.

Marlinga said he was calling upon Republicans in Congress to stand up and say they would not continue blocking Ukrainian aid.

On Friday, the U.S. government imposed about 600 new sanctions on Russia, the largest number since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago.

President Joe Biden said the sanctions come in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “brutal war of conquest” and to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s death, adding that “we in the United States are going to continue to ensure that Putin pays a price for his aggression abroad and repression at home.”

kberg@detroitnews.com

Associated Press contributed.