Anti-invasion protest draws hundreds to Boston Public Garden

BOSTON — Chanting “No war” and “Hands off Ukraine,” hundreds of protesters gathered in the Public Garden Sunday -- to condemn Russia’s invasion of its neighbor this week.

“Everyone in Ukraine was scared of exactly this happening eight years ago,” said Iryna Soloviova, who came to the U.S. four years ago to study at Northeastern University. “They’re bombing my grandparent’s city right now.”

Her grandparents are taking shelter in the cellar.

“They’re 75-year-olds,” she said. “They don’t know how to drive. No one can take them out of the city right now and we are very worried here.”

Also worried about family: Julia Ivy, Ph.D. She’s a professor at Northeastern University. Ivy’s parents, both in their late 80s, live in Ukraine. “I call them every day. And I ask, Mom, can you go to the bomb shelter,” Ivy said. “Can you hide somehow?”

Ivy said her parents can’t move too fast and so are sheltering in the hallway of their apartment -- this invasion feeling to them, she said, like the first occupation they endured when, as children, Nazis overran Ukraine during the Second World War -- turning it, especially for Jews, into a vast killing ground.

“They feel so much betrayal by Russia,” Ivy said. “Betrayal of friendship. Betrayal of family.”

Dmitriy Sokolovskiy became a U.S. citizen more than 25 years ago, after immigrating from Ukraine. He’s concerned Russians aren’t getting the full story about what’s happening in his former country.

“There are no Nazis in Ukraine,” he said. “There are Jewish fighters all over that are fighting for Ukraine right now. The (Russian) families who think their loved ones are on exercises? They’re not. They’re being killed by the actions of their so-called president.”

Andriy Govtun is also a U.S. citizen who moved here from Ukraine. His mother is in the capital, Kiev. So far, her neighborhood hasn’t been shelled. He’d like to get her out before it becomes a target.

In his backpack, Govtun carries two small flags. Each represents something pertinent to the invasion.

(The Ukrainian) flag came from the Euro soccer Championship back in Kiev,” he said. “There were lots of Russian tourists who came to Kiev to see soccer matches. We both suck at soccer but we are both huge fans of it, And Kiev was welcoming Russian tourists.”

The other flag he carries is an American one.

“It says Citizenship and Immigration Service,” Govtun said. “I got it at my naturalization ceremony. Guys, you are our last hope.”

Govtun choked up about then and asked to do another take.

“I am a patriot of this country,” he said.

Then, holding up the Ukrainian flag, Govtun said, “We are allies. We are under attack. Please do something.”

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