SEATTLE — A protest was held outside the Seattle Center on Saturday, as demonstrators rallied against Russia’s ongoing aggression toward Ukraine.
The demonstration was organized by the Ukrainian Association of Washington State. Liliya Kovalenko, the organization’s president, talked to KIRO 7′s Graham Johnson the day before the protest, sharing her concerns regarding a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“They’re not there only for practicing,” Kovalenko said on Friday. “They are there for invasion and they are ready.”
Kovalenko and about 100 others gathered by the Space Needle on Saturday. Protestors held signs, listened to speeches, and gathered in an effort to show support for both Ukraine and Seattle’s Ukrainian community.
“In a way, sadly, this isn’t something new. It’s just the scale is completely unprecedented,” Laada Bilaniuk, the daughter of two Ukrainian immigrants, said while attending Saturday’s protest. “There are people there who have ideals in common with American ideals (who) are trying to fight for (the same) rights.”
Several Russian citizens also protested in support of Ukraine, including Maria Paramonova.
“I think everybody’s trying to understand what’s happening,” she said on Saturday.
Paramonova said she’s a Russian refugee and has been living in the United States for about a decade. She was hoping her presence would show local Ukrainians that many Russians do not agree with the country’s aggressive actions.
Mitch Gual, a Russian citizen protesting against Vladimir Putin and Russia’s aggression, said, “Having so many troops at the border, anything can go wrong. Anything can go awry. (Putin) is not controlling the situation as he thinks he is. No sane Russian would support war with any neighboring country, least of all Ukraine.”
Gual also shared similar sentiments with Paramonova and said, “(I’m here) for others to see that there are others just like me.”
Tensions continued to rise on Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the hopes of finding a resolution.
Speaking at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, Zelenskyy urged members of the U.N Security Council for more security guarantees and actions against Russia. He said “the security architecture of our world is brittle, obsolete” and added that global, united security is “slow and failing us time and time again.”
“They are neither catching up with new threats nor being impacted in overcoming them — just like cough syrup instead of a good COVID vaccine,” Zelenskyy said.
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