PARMA, Ohio – This weekend, hundreds of people supported Ukraine by wearing blue and yellow and waving signs at the Saint Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral.
Taras Mahlay, president of the Cleveland Maidan Association, was helping to lead the Rally of Freedom.
Mahlay says he grew up in northeast Ohio but has strong ties to Ukraine.
“This war has been devastating to Ukraine,” he told reporters. “Without the support of America and Europe, it would have been much more difficult…””Many more people would have died.”
Now, three years after Russia invaded Ukraine and killed thousands, Mahlay says the community is channeling its grief into a larger effort for a better future.
The association is working with the United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio and Ohio government leaders to mobilize Ohioans during this critical time.
Mahlay stated that today’s demonstration is about putting aside differences and promoting international peace.
“We need to show them that the free world is going to stand up to this evil,” he proclaimed.
The United States spent more than $175 billion on aid and military assistance for Ukraine, which is now in jeopardy after US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of disrespecting the oval office and taking the country’s support for granted.
Nonetheless, many Americans believe these actions contradict the country’s long history of foreign diplomacy.
“We stand for democracy and respect borders,” Cindy Demsey stated.
Demsey and fellow northeast Ohio resident Lana Moresky expressed their hope that their messages of solidarity reach the people of Ukraine.
Moresky explained that their support is part of a broader attitude among many Americans.
“And the people who come here today represent thousands and thousands of other people who weren’t able to here,” according to her.
As uncertainty looms in the country and around the world, Mahlay pledged to continue speaking out and fighting for freedom.
“We need to stop the war, but it has to be a just peace,” says Mahlay. “That everyone will be neighborly after this. We can’t just stop the war and draw some borders.”
