Hundreds of protesters gathered in the Loop on Sunday to demand that Russia be held responsible for what they said were war crimes being committed against the people of Ukraine.
The group of more than 200 held a rally at the historic Water Tower on Michigan Avenue, where they staged an art piece that symbolized their message. The blindfolded protesters wore white. They stood next to an oversized scale and a scroll listing Russia’s crimes.
Nadiia Glavin, who portrayed Themis, the Greek goddess of justice, in the piece, said the Ukrainian people have been through too much to cede any territory to Russia. She said there will be no peace until the “criminals” are prosecuted in a special tribunal.
“We hear right now the narratives that maybe we should just give up at this point, give up fighting and just leave the territories that Russia occupied and then peace will be acquired,” Glavin said. “But we just can’t let it go, we already sacrificed so much.”
Protesters — mostly women and girls from Chicago’s Ukrainian community — then lined up along Michigan Avenue, stretching across several blocks, from the historic Water Tower to Millennium Park.
They carried signs reading “no peace without justice” and “recognize Russian actions as genocide.”
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 25 of last year. The move was quickly condemned across the world, and Russia has been accused of committing war crimes for shelling civilian areas and hospitals and torturing captives.
Saturday marked 500 days since the invasion.
The fighting has fallen largely into a stalemate, but Ukraine’s government and its Western supporters hope a broad counteroffensive launched last month will change the battle lines and return Russian-occupied areas to Ukrainian control.
Fears of a nuclear disaster have increased, particularly this week after Ukraine and Russia accused each other of planning to attack one of the world’s largest atomic power plants in southeastern Ukraine.
Long-range missiles fired by Russia to deplete Ukraine’s air defenses have killed dozens of civilians, including many who were killed and wounded while dining in a pizza restaurant in the east and 10 who died Thursday when their apartment building in the western city of Lviv was struck as they slept.
An attempted mutiny by a Russian mercenary chief brought a taste of the war’s chaos to Moscow and exposed cracks in Russia’s military leadership, further raising the stakes.
Millions have fled Ukraine, and some refugees have found a new home in Chicago, which is home to more than 53,000 people of Ukrainian ancestry.
The White House announced Friday that it would send cluster munitions to Ukraine. The weapons contain artillery shells that can fly long distances before releasing small grenades in midair and are used against armored vehicles and troops. More than 100 countries have banned the weapons.
Glavin, 29, said most of her family and friends are still in Ukraine, including friends from college who are her age. She said she has lost loved ones in the conflict.
“I can’t even express the emotions. Our best people are fighting willingly, volunteering to risk everything they had,” Glavin said. “Their families are left without fathers, and so we can’t give up. We demand justice for Russian crimes because we are so afraid more than anything that there will be no tribunal.”
Kate Kozlovska, who also has family in Ukraine, said she doesn’t want the world to forget her people’s plight as the war drags on with no end in sight.
“We’re trying to show the world what is going on in Ukraine and what Russians are doing to our people, to our homes, to our towns,” said Kozlovska. “All the people in Ukraine are trying to get this victory as soon as possible.”
Glavin said she’s thankful for all the support the world and the city has shown to the Ukrainian community since Russia launched its war against the country. She hopes the U.S. and its allies keep supplying Ukraine with the materials needed to keep up the fight.
“We don’t want people to forget about this war,” Glavin said.
Contributing: AP
