About 50 advocates rallied at the Oklahoma state Capitol Saturday to mourn and reflect as the day marked the one year anniversary of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
A large Ukrainian flag draped over the Capitol stairs provided a background for the rally, 365 Days of Defending Freedom. The crowd gathered for two hours discussing the war and hearing speeches from Ukrainian and Georgian speakers.
At the bases of the Capitol’s “Tribute to Ranger Riders” and “As Long as the Waters Flow” statues sat dozens of photographs documenting the war’s timeline from beginning to present.
On Feb. 21 of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into the separatist eastern regions of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk. On Feb. 24, Putin began a full-scale invasion through the regions, beginning the Russia-Ukraine war and prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to issue martial law.
Over the past year, the war has amassed a reported Ukrainian civilian death toll of over 8,000, and over 100,000 troops on each side, as reported by The New York Times.
Among the deaths reported were from the Bucha massacre last March, where at least 458 Ukrainian casualties were reported, according to the NYT.
Following a prayer from a Ukrainian Orthodox pastor, Olena Nesin said her brother was caught in Bucha during the massacre, and managed to escape the city with nothing but his cat in a crowded truck.
Last February, she organized a similar rally at the Capitol, and helped organize Saturday’s as well. At the first event, she created Sooner Hope for Norman, a group designed to fundraise for the Ukrainian war effort overseas.
For Nesin, the rally was a necessary example of continued awareness toward the war, she said.
“The war in Ukraine is still going on, it's still unfolding. … We need to remind people so they support Ukrainian investments in global security,” Nesin said.
Nesin added that it’s imperative for Americans to support Ukraine’s war effort.
“We have to support Ukraine as a nation that always fights for freedom,” she said, “This is the true fight for freedom.”
Iryna Soloshonok immigrated from Kyiv to the U.S. 20 years ago and mentioned the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia, saying it was the legitimate start of an eight year war, having gone unnoticed until the attack on Ukraine happened.
“People get used to war, and they don't pay attention to what is going on,” Soloshonok said. “There’s a lot of destruction. There’s a lot of human tragedy, and we need to bring it up over and over and remind people this is very unjust.”
Despite the war’s casualties, she said she believes Ukraine will win.
“Ukraine never will be taken over by Russia because they will never break the Ukrainian spirit,” Soloshonok said.
Mamuka Gomarteli at the rally commemorating the one year anniversary of Russia's attack on Ukraine at the Oklahoma state Capitol Feb. 25.
Mamuka Gomarteli immigrated to the U.S. from Georgia in 1995 and earned his doctorate in mathematics from OU in 2002. Gomarteli said the war did not begin recently, citing the August 2008 invasion of Georgia by Russian forces. The invasion lasted for five days and ended with Russia occupying the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskinali – a fifth of Georgia’s territory.
“Georgia is 30 times smaller than Russia, but our democratically-elected President (Mikheil) Saakashvili chose to resist,” he said. “If you do not resist, you will be taken over one way or another. If we did not resist, we would have been occupied by (Russia).”
Gomarteli said the war is a concern for everyone. If Russia wins, he said, Putin could attempt to invade other countries.
“We must understand they are fighting not just for Ukraine, but for the rest of the free world,” Gomarteli said. “Distance doesn't matter these days. The fact that we are separated from Europe by the Atlantic Ocean means nothing these days. (Putin’s) famous phrase has been: ‘Russia has no boundaries.’ So, what does that mean? If we show weakness to Russia, Russia will be emboldened, and they will do more and more harm to good people around the world.”
Bobby Chambers, one of the rally’s organizers and member of Ukraine4US, said the war will only end once Russia runs out of the resources and willpower necessary to sustain it.
“The will of the people of the world is the will to want to be free,” Chambers said. “(Ukraine4US) will continue to supply Ukraine with all the supplies that they need to make sure that they win the day and that they fight for our freedom as well.”
Chambers added he intends to bring the 365 Days of Defending Freedom rally to OU’s Norman campus, as well as schools across the state in the future.
“We want to let them know freedom matters,” he said.
This story was edited by Alexia Aston, Karoline Leonard and Jazz Wolfe.
