In a small park in Beverly Hills, several hundred people gathered Saturday to speak out after the clash of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. At the White House meeting, a deal to extend U.S. support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia fell apart.
Local Ukrainians said they feared for their families — and the fate of their nation.
Rally organizer Mariana Boyka said her family in Ukraine started calling her in a panic after they saw the news.
“Some of my cousins were crying. People in Ukraine are scared” and feel abandoned by the United States, said Boyka, who serves as vice president of the Stand With Ukraine Foundation.
At the rally, Oksana Dydiuk held a sign reading “HELP SAVE INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATIC UKRAINE” in blue and yellow letters. She said she believes hope for long-term peace in Ukraine is at stake.
Protesters remind passers-by of Ukraine’s ongoing war against Russia’s aggression and ask for continued US support. Photo courtesy of Kerstin Zilm.
Dydiuk came to the United States from Ukraine 12 years ago. The tax accountant always took for granted that both countries would be allies against Russian interference. She hopes this still is true, she said, but others will have to take more responsibility.
“Europe needs to wake up, if they haven't already,” Dydiuk said, “because it seems like Europe is on its own to protect peace, democratic order, and the freedoms we all want.”
Protesters criticized President Trump for humiliating President Zelenskyy and asked Europe to step up their support of Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Kerstin Zilm.
Passing drivers honked their horns in support as demonstrators waved flags. Lesia Voronova watched from the side. She said she feels helpless in Los Angeles, and would rather be with her parents in Ukraine who live close to the border with Russia.
“They are getting more and more air attacks and more and more drones,” she said. “It's going to be less and less safe for them and I don't want them to be alone.”
With the administration under President Trump changing course on Ukraine, Votonova feels now might be the time to return, even though it could be more dangerous than ever.
“I am afraid. It's very scary,” she said. “But we can't just do things in life that are not scary. Life is scary.”
As a singer belts out the Ukrainian National Anthem, some people at the rally get emotional. Photo courtesy of Kerstin Zilm.
Rally organizer Mariana Boyko, draped in a Ukrainian flag, stayed optimistic. Pointing at the crowd in the park, she said she is still hopeful that relationships between the United States and Ukraine can be repaired.
“We have a lot of Americans who showed up” at Saturday’s rally, she said. “I don't feel like we are alone.”