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'Save Ukraine': Crowd of Ukrainian Americans, supporters rally in Schaumburg

Yuriy Soroka's loved ones have no plans to leave Ukraine.

He was born in the western part of the country, a region that has so far escaped Russian attack. His closest family — his brother, mother and grandmother — have vowed to remain in their homeland.

“They are going to stay and hold their ground,” he said.

Living in Des Plaines, Soroka can only do so much from afar. But he shares his family's defiance.

Soroka joined other Ukrainian natives in a crowd of about 100 people who assembled around the busy intersection of Golf and Meacham roads in Schaumburg Saturday to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin and to call on U.S. and NATO leaders to do more to stop Russia's assault.

Many in the crowd displayed their love of their native country, waving blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags. The Ukrainian anthem blared over a loudspeaker at one corner of the intersection near a strip mall. Some women wore traditional floral crowns. Others carried signs with their pleas: “NATO Save Ukraine” and “Stop Putin's violence.”

“All these people here have either relatives or children even that are still in Ukraine and that are affected,” said Ros Saciuk, a Palatine resident who helped organize the demonstration. “A lot of our attendees today also lived in the cities that were bombed that went to the schools that were bombed. So this is extremely personal for all of us.”

A first-generation American, Saciuk has cousins living in Ukraine. He said he got word just Saturday morning that his relatives, the women and children, have escaped to Poland, while the men are staying behind to fight. The U.N. refugee agency estimates 1.45 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since the invasion.

“It's bittersweet because we don't know whether we'll see the men in our family as well as our friends,” Saciuk said. “They're fighting, and it's life and death and we need bullets. We need arms, and we need any type of aid that we can give them.”

Some protest signs echoed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in urging U.S. and European allies to “close the sky” and establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine. NATO officials have rejected that request.

The only way to implement a no-fly zone is “to send NATO planes, fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace, and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday.

“And our assessment is that we understand the desperation. But we also believe that if we did that, we'll end up with something that could end in a full-fledged war in Europe, involving many more countries, and causing much more human suffering.”

Soroka and others also appealed for more military aid for outnumbered Ukrainian forces.

“Ukraine is fighting for its independence, for the freedom of Europe,” Soroka said.

Over the last 10 days, filled with both resolve and dread, Soroka has been sending text messages to his friends, hoping they're still alive.

“I have friends in Kyiv. I have friends in Kharkiv,” Soroka said of cities under bombardment. “They're being shelled every night, every day.”

The internet and other forms of communications are still working.

“We're keeping in touch every day. Sleepless nights. We are worried to our deepest of our hearts,” Soroka said.

He expressed gratitude for Americans who have showed moral and financial support for Ukrainians. He came to the United States in 2002 and now has two daughters, 12 and 9.

Soroka brought them to Saturday's rally. He tries to explain the war by telling his children “their ancestral land is under attack and their people are fighting for freedom.”

“It's hard for kids that were born here, and they don't quite understand,” Soroka said.

But his hope is palpable. He plans to attend another rally in Chicago Sunday.

“They're not going to give up,” Soroka said of everyday, “peaceful, freedom-loving” Ukrainians who have taken up arms and put up a fierce resistance against Russian troops. “They're going to fight until the last bullet.”

  A motorcyclist pumps his fist in support as others honk their horns to cheer on a "Stand for Ukraine" rally at the intersection of Golf and Meacham roads Saturday in Schaumburg. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
  People gather at the intersection of Golf and Meacham roads in Schaumburg Saturday in a show of solidarity for Ukraine. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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