North Texans stood in solidarity with Ukraine this weekend as Russian troops continue to shell encircled cities and the number of Ukrainians forced from their country grew to 1.4 million.
At Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, Konstantin Grokhovskiy stood with dozens calling for an end to the war Saturday. Grokhovskiy, who now lives in McKinney, moved to the United States nearly 26 years ago. He was born in Kyiv, Ukraine and still has family there.
“It’s hard to say [they’re] OK if they are going to the bomb shelter every 30 minutes. So, it’s very hard,” he said. “Every minute when we talk, it’s like tears and cries. Every moment when I talk to them, I say, 'I love you' because I really don’t know if the next call will happen or not.”
The rally was organized by the Ukrainian American Society of Texas. Also in attendance were members of the Taiwanese American Association’s DFW chapter, such as Kellvan Cheng. Taipei's representative in Washington, Bi-khim Hsiao, said in an interview last month with NBC News they were watching the unfolding events with “much concern and anxiety” given Taiwan's own long-running conflict with Beijing.
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Cheng said their group felt it was important to show their support and empathy.
“We feel that Taiwan is under the same situation as Ukraine, threatened by a greater power,” he said. “Ukraine has its own identity, its own culture. It’s a country in on itself, so is Taiwan.”
Several North Texans have also spearheaded donation drives to help Ukrainians, including Valerie Chaykovska. She, along with other friends, collected truckloads worth of food and supplies Saturday. Anastasia Smith, who also has friends and relatives in Ukraine, assisted in the efforts.
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“A lot of hospitals are out of medications right now,” Smith said. “For us, it’s something we can do for our country. We can do for our people.”
Maryna Wood, who grew up in Ukraine, stopped by with her family to drop off supplies on Saturday. Wood said her mother and other family members are still in Ukraine.
“I lived through difficult financial situations. This is just absolute horror,” Wood said. “The city where they’re in is occupied by Russians now. People are trying to be supportive of each other, sharing neighbors some food, they don’t have enough food in stores.”
Grokhovskiy is hoping people can step up where they can to help.
“My grandparents, they lived in the occupation during the Second World War. All stories that I heard from them about the terrible things, I don’t want to see this happening again to all of Ukraine,” he said. “I pray that the whole world will stand up for Ukraine, and the whole world will provide support and solidarity. Especially North Texas. They have very great hearts.”
Chaykovska said their group is in need of assistance transporting items out of Texas and to New Jersey, where they will be shipped to Ukraine. Anyone interested in assisting is urged to contact her directly at valerie@allthingsdallas.com.
