Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Civic Center Plaza today to voice their outrage at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Many wore blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine’s flag.
On Facebook, organizers demanded that the United States enact “hellish” sanctions on Russia, that “military, financial, and humanitarian” aid to Ukraine be increased, and that Russia is isolated on the world stage.
Speakers denounced Russia’s aggression and promised solidarity with Ukraine from a rented pickup truck that served as a makeshift stage. On occasion, cars honking in solidarity drowned out their carefully prepared statements.
“The future of global security is being decided in Ukraine right now,” said Dmytro Kushneruk, the San Francisco-based consul general of Ukraine. Kushneruk urged Californian and world leaders to send “whatever aid is necessary.”
State Senator Scott Wiener also spoke, comparing the Russian invasion with Hitler’s aggression in the 1930s. Wiener is Jewish, and his family traces its roots to Eastern Europe.
“I am here in complete solidarity with Ukraine and with Ukrainians in the Bay Area community,” said Wiener. “You are not alone. We are going to stand up to this bully, this fascist dictator.”
“The entire world has to push back,” he added.
People traveled from all across the Bay to join the demonstrations. Olena Petrova now lives in San Jose after leaving Kyiv about 20 years ago, but she still has family in Ukraine.
“This should not be happening,” said Petrova. “It is just so wrong. It has to be stopped.”
Petrova said that her family in Ukraine was unable to purchase gas and that power to their home was cut. She worried it might be difficult to communicate with them in the near future.
Iryna Kwasny, whose parents were from Ukraine, grew up in New York but now lives in Noe Valley. Kwazny believes that the global community should cut Russia off from SWIFT, the international money transfer system. She said that this crisis has been a long time coming.
“The war in eastern Ukraine has been going on for eight years. More than 14,000 soldiers have been killed,” she said. “If this war continues in Ukraine, Europe is going to be overwhelmed by Ukrainian refugees.”
Masha Polyakov grew up in Kyiv and moved to San Francisco when she was 10. She said that most of her family no longer lives in Ukraine, but lots of her friends have ties there.
“I’m an American citizen whose heart is with Ukraine,” said Polyakov. “It feels like there is little we can do from here, but this is one thing we can do.”
Non-Ukrainians and those without direct ties to Ukraine also came to the demonstration in solidarity. Jen, who did not want to give her last name, was part of a group drawing parallels between the invasion of Ukraine and events in Hong Kong in 2019.
“There is not much we can do here,” she said, “but we need to do what we can to help.”
Chris Keese and Aurash Gomroki are first-year law students at UC Hastings. They said they were shocked by recent events and came to show their support for one of their fellow students, who is from Ukraine.
They created a sign from Gomroki’s bed frame, with the message: “Putin is a dickhead.”
As the demonstrations came to a close, a separate event began at Manny’s, in the Mission. Community organizer Manny Yekutiel spoke with Rachel Rizzo, adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security and expert on European security, about likely next steps in the region.
Rizzo said that it was “hard to overstate” the significance of this all-out invasion, but predicted that the conflict would not escalate to a nuclear war.
She said that the US could assist the country by helping refugees and imposing aggressive sanctions against Russia.
Text and photos by Will Jarrett.
This is Putin’s war. He must be opposed.