‘I have to do something’ woman protesting Russian invasion of Ukraine says at Loop rally

Hundreds marched Saturday in downtown Chicago in a continuing show of support for the Ukrainian people.

Among them was 24-year-old Nina Svirinovka.

“Everybody’s just scared for their life,” Svirinovka said. “So that’s why I’m here today; I have to do something.”

Rallies have been held in the city since Thursday when Russian soldiers invaded the Eastern European nation. Chicago is home to one of the United States’ largest Ukrainian populations, with about 54,000 people of Ukrainian heritage living in the Chicago area, according to the Census Bureau.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times, Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Svirinovka and her family moved to Chicago from Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2014. But her older sister, Olga, stayed and has been driving, trying to escape the invasion, for days now, Svirinovka said.

“We cannot cry all the time,” Lilia Galian, Svirinovka’s mother, said of her reason for coming to the rally.

Demonstrators marched throughout the Loop and stopped in front of popular landmarks, including the Art Institute and the “Cloud Gate” statue, while chanting “USA support Ukraine,” “Hands off Ukraine,” and “Putin stop the war.”

The Ukrainian national anthem was also sung.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times, Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

A caravan of semitrailers, some adorned with blue and yellow Ukrainian flags, stretched for blocks earlier in the day and honked their horns in a show of support.

Olesia Ilkiv, who moved to Chicago from Ukraine about four years ago, said she helped circulate a digital flyer for the protest and walked at the front of the march.

“I feel empty,” Ilkiv said of the situation in her home country. “Imagine if someone attacks your home, where do you go?”

Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters holds signs and Ukrainian flags at Federal Plaza in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Sonya Abramova, whose mother is Russian and whose father is Ukrainian, holds flowers and a flag of Ukraine as she stands with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters march to near Millennium Park in the Loopprotest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Nina Svirinovska and her mother Lilia Galian pose for a photo at Federal Plaza in the Loop during a protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters march to Federal Plaza in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans march at Federal Plaza in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters jump while chanting at Federal Plaza in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Galyna Pelekhata, whose family is still at home in Kyiv, holds a flower as she stands with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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A child looks under a Ukrainian flag while hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters gather at Federal Plaza in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters gather at Federal Plaza in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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A protester holds a sign while standing with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters at Federal Plaza in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters march in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Halyna Vytrykush, whose family is in Ukraine, sings with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters outside the Art Institute of Chicago in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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A man carrying a baby marches with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters along South Michigan Avenue in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Yevheniya Ivachenko, who says her family is seeking shelter in a basement in Ukraine, holds a sign as she stands with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. “Together we can fight. … I believe there is hope for Ukraine,” she said. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Zoryana Smozhanyk, whose brother is preparing to fight for Ukraine, marches with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters outside the Art Institute of Chicago in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. “If I could go [to Ukraine and fight], I’d go myself,” Smozhanyk said. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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A woman raises her fist as hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters gather along South Michigan Avenue in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters gather outside the Art Institute of Chicago to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in the Loop, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters march at Millennium Park in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans and their supporters march at Millennium Park in the Loop to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2022. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

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Russian troops were closing in on Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev Saturday, with outbreaks of fighting on the city’s outskirts. Fighting also raged in two territories in eastern Ukraine that are controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Ukraine’s health minister reported 198 people, including three children, had been killed and more than 1,000 others had been wounded during Europe’s largest land war since World War II.

Contributing: AP