Seattle-area Ukrainians anxious as tensions mount

As Russian troops surround her homeland, Liliya Kovalenko has little doubt what’s coming next.

“They’re not there only for practicing, they are there for invasion and they are ready.”

Kovalenko leads the Ukrainian Association of Washington State, and agrees with President Biden’s assessment on Friday that Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine.

The escalating tension also weighs heavily on Olena Bidovanets.

She’s a medical doctor in Ukraine who came to Seattle in September in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program.

“All my life, all my home is there in Ukraine,” Bidovanets said.

She organized a recent gathering at Green Lake, called the Marathon No One Wants to Run, modeled on an event held in a Ukrainian village named New York.

“We decided to have this marathon to attract attention to this threat,” she said.

University of Washington professor Evgeni Sokurenko has lived in Seattle since 1999, and said friends and family in Ukraine are concerned.

“But you know what, they’re not scared, they’re not scared. Ukraine really changed as (a) country in the last 30 years,” Sokurenko said. “They know they will overcome all the problems that others want to create for them.”

The Ukrainian Association of Washington State is holding a solidarity event Saturday at 3 p.m. at Seattle Center, near MoPop.

President Biden warns of severe economic sanctions against Russia if Putin invades.

Any Russian retaliation could be felt widely in the United States.

“If the Russians retaliate by curbing oil exports, global energy prices will skyrocket,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

DeHaan said with Russia producing 10% of the world’s oil, there’s a wide range of possibilities from a supply shortage, including a spike in gas prices.

“We could see prices in Seattle rise another 50 cents, maybe a dollar a gallon is not out of the question, if everything goes south. That would put Seattle on the cusp of five dollars a gallon, but that’s more of a worst-case unlikely outcome,” he said.

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