Amid news of ‘a nightmare’ war, hundreds rally for Ukraine at the Idaho Statehouse
Several hundred people gathered at the steps of the Idaho Statehouse on Saturday in support of Ukraine as the nation weathers an invasion by Russia.
People waved Ukrainian flags, painted their faces in blue and yellow and listed to Ukrainian music on the steps of the Capitol.
The event was organized in response to the Russian military’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which was launched early Thursday morning local time.
Russian forces have invaded the Eastern European nation, which borders Russia, from the north, east and south, according to news reports. On Saturday, fierce combat between Ukrainian forces and civilian volunteers against Russian soldiers occurred in the country’s capital, Kyiv, and other cities, according to the New York Times.
A majority of the more than 150,000 Russian soldiers banded on the Ukrainian border have now entered the country, the newspaper said.
“I haven’t slept,” Julia Marten, who organized Saturday’s protest in Boise, told the Idaho Statesman. Marten moved to the U.S. from Ukraine 20 years ago and lives in Nampa. She said she still has family in Ukraine, and that her father has been making Molotov cocktails in recent days to help with the country’s defensive efforts.
A cousin, who is a pediatrician, was recently called to the front lines to provide medical care, she said.
“My grandparents, who are 96 years old, who went through Stalin, Hitler ... communism, socialism, and now they’re 96 years old and they wish they would not have to witness this war,” Marten said. “It’s just a nightmare, it’s just a nightmare.”
Marten said she “couldn’t sit still, because I felt helpless,” so she reached out to contacts, including local church groups, like the Christian Faith Center, in Caldwell, to organize a rally. She said 35 people registered for an event she posted on Facebook, and she hoped that many would come.
After 4 p.m. Saturday, at least 300 people had come to the Statehouse steps.
“This is a terrible tragedy, what’s happening in Ukraine, and I want to do whatever I can to help,” Rep. John Gannon, a Boise Democrat in the Idaho Legislature, told the Statesman at the rally. He said that while he doesn’t think the U.S. should send troops to Ukraine, it should support the country’s government.
“It’s not our job to police the world, but it is our job to support good people in the world any way we can,” he said.
So far, the U.S. has sanctioned Russia economically and sent military aid to Ukraine.
Irina Gross, who moved to the U.S. from Ukraine in 2006, said she was confident in the defense forces’ ability to repel the invading army.
“The people who are defending, their adrenaline kicks in pretty high,” she said, adding that the country’s citizens are supporting one another. Gross’s grandmother, who lives in southern Ukraine, near the Black Sea, has begun helping to cook food for soldiers.
“People are scared, but they (won’t) let fear control their heart,” she said.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 7:50 PM.
