Downtown Detroit’s Hart Plaza was swept with blue and yellow Sunday as demonstrators gathered to recognize Ukraine’s Flag Day and Independence Day holidays and support the country in its fight against Russia’s years-long invasion.
Max Popko of Novi addressed the crowd of roughly 100 gathered downtown. He said he is a Ukrainian American who moved to the United States 11 years ago. His mission Sunday was to show Americans that it is in their best interests to support Ukraine, arguing Russia is an enemy to both nations.
“So, my friends, what we’re doing here is more than celebrating the Independence Day of Ukraine,” he said. “We’re showing Americans that Ukraine is not just a place on a map. Ukraine is a country full of people with huge hearts who support their independence and the independence of America.”
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine reverberated in Metro Detroit, where volunteers packed and sent medic and trauma kits to soldiers and where refugees fleeing the war have made new homes. As of 2022, there were roughly 38,000 people of Ukrainian descent in Michigan, according to Census data.
Russia is escalating its air war on Ukraine as fighting on the battlefield grinds toward the 4-1/2 year mark. At least six people were killed and around 90 wounded Friday, Aug. 21, when Russian drones attacked a shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown, local authorities said. At least six children were wounded. On Thursday, Aug. 20, 16 people were killed in a Russian ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Zelenskiy called the attack “absolutely cynical and despicable.”
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Rally for Ukrainian Independence Day draws crowd in downtown Detroit
Reporting by Carol Thompson, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Carol Thompson, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
