WILLMAR — Oleksandr Vovchenko is safe, as a teacher in Willmar, but the native of Ukraine worries about his adult daughter, who was living in Kyiv when the Russian army invaded the country in February.
Her family sends her money, Vovchenko said, and she is purchasing needed supplies for Ukrainian troops. He said he has a nephew and a cousin fighting for Ukraine.
Vovchenko and others spoke to about 100 people attending a rally for Ukraine Sunday afternoon in downtown Willmar.
Many in the crowd wore blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine’s flag. A table near the speaker’s podium had a basket filled with sunflowers, the country’s national flower.
Those attending were asked to help Ukrainians who are facing hardships because of the invasion, both through financial donations and through prayer.
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Olena Skonard moved to this country last year, when she married her husband, David Skonard, of Willmar. She is from the Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine.
She worked as a translator at Camp Maximum, a Bible camp in Ukraine developed several years ago in a partnership between Baptist churches in Minnesota and Ukraine.
The Rev. David Lanning, pastor of worship and mission at Refuge Church of Willmar, asked Skonard to tell people about Ukraine’s history.
The country’s history goes back to 882, Skonard said. “At that time Moscow, the capital of Russia, didn’t even exist,” she said.
She became emotional as she talked about her homeland and its history.
Ukraine is an independent country with its own long history, flag and national anthem, she said. While it was at one time part of the Soviet Union, it has been recognized as an independent country since Aug. 24, 1991.
“Whatever your cause is, to invade a different country with peaceful people; how can you justify it?” Skonard asked.
“I’m getting emotional, because it is my land,” she said. “We are a separate country, we are independent, and no one has a right to invade us.”
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Neither Ukrainian speaker wanted to refer to Russian President Vladimir Putin by name. Skonard used “Mr. Dictator,” and Vovchenko went with “Putler.”
Several speakers from the Willmar area, including Lanning, spoke about their trips to Ukraine and what the country and its people mean to them.
Jeff Winter, of Willmar, said he has admired some of the tactics of the defiant Ukrainians, including changing street signs to “tell the Russians where to go.”
Winter said he hopes to go back someday to help rebuild the country.
Lanning spoke about a sister congregation in Ukraine, and the ties to Ukraine when four biological sisters from Ukraine were each adopted by a different family from the Willmar church. Several of those families were represented in the crowd Sunday.
Lanning said some suggestions for people who would like to donate to the Ukrainians are ImpactUkraine.com and ShepherdsFoundation.org .
