Emilio Morenatti / Associated Press
Thousands of demonstrators march along the street in Odessa, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in a show of unity. Waving national flags and placards with slogans such as, ‘No Putin, No Cry’, people said they had come out to demonstrate against a potential Russian invasion, and said that they were prepared to defend their city if needed. “Nobody is going to run away. We are going to protect our land and our culture,” said Las Vegas resident Svitlana Boley, who has family in Odessa.
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022 | 2 a.m.
When a Ukrainian soldier from the town of Skotarevo is killed in Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with pro-Russia separatists, residents of the town line the street and get on their knees to pay their respects as the coffin travels on the way to the cemetery.
One of Anna Tiutiunnik’s relatives usually posts images of the procession on Facebook.
Russian troops have been fighting in the region since the separatist conflict erupted in 2014. Nearly 14,000 Ukrainians have been killed, and Tiutiunnik, a Las Vegas resident, fears that number will increase after Russia’s lawmakers on Tuesday gave President Vladimir Putin permission to use military force outside the country.
“It’s a no-win situation for my relatives, and they know that,” said Tiutiunnik, who has lived for decades in the United States and stays in close contact with family in the Ukraine.
About six months ago, Tiutiunnik stopped her consistent Facebook messages to family. She only sends prayers through the social media’s messenger app. Her reasoning?
“I have been leaving them alone, because I don’t want them in hot water. I’m afraid of the repercussions,” she said. “When their village is taken over, I don’t want them on record saying they are against Putin.”
Svitlana Boley has been living in Las Vegas for five years. Her heart, though, is still very much in the Ukraine. She worries about her parents, brother and nephews.
They live in Odessa, a seaport in the southwest part of the country that is the gateway to the Black Sea, and one of the cities “Putin wants access to,” she said.
“It’s hard for me to describe my emotions,” Boley said. “(I fear) my parents are going to text me that they are under attack, or my nephews can’t sleep knowing that Russians are attacking civilians.”
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the U.S. was ordering heavy financial sanctions against Russia, declaring that Moscow had flagrantly violated international law in what he called the “beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Earlier the administration issued an executive order to prohibit U.S. investment and trade in the separatist regions, among other sanctions.
Biden said more sanctions would be on the way if Putin proceeds further. This initial round includes cutting off two large Russian financial institutions from the U.S. financial system.
Both Las Vegans say the sanctions Biden is placing on Russia are long overdue, noting Russia’s move to take over Ukraine has been in the works since the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. That resulted in the Ukrainian government being overthrown and the ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.
“This is the history of Ukraine for over 300 years,” Tiutiunnik said. “Russia, Lithuania, Poland, these countries have constantly invaded Ukraine because it has the best resources.”
The third-largest nuclear stockpile in the world was in Ukraine in the mid-1990s when the Soviet Union broke up. Under the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine however, gave up its nuclear arsenal. In return, the memorandum included security assurances, including by the United States and Great Britain, against threats or use of force against the former Soviet satellite.
“But not enough is happening,” Tiutiunnik said.
Biden on Tuesday said additional U.S. troops would be moved to the Baltic states on NATO’s eastern flank bordering Russia in what he said was a “defensive” move. “We have no intention of fighting Russia,” he said.
For now, outside of economic sanctions, it appears Ukraine is on its own against Russia.
“Nobody is going to run away,” Boley said. “We are going to protect our land and our culture.”
Boley says her neighbors and friends are attending courses on the basics of the military, such as firing a weapon and first aid. But, she stresses, it shouldn’t come to that.
“We don’t want to fight. We want peace in the world,” she said. “We want our land.”
She said her family wouldn’t seek refuge, because they don’t have international passports. And, because Ukraine is home.
“All we can do is pray, and pray,” she said.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
