Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
Two years after outbreak of war, Ukrainians in Boston fight to preserve culture
Ukrainians in Boston support war efforts from abroad by celebrating culture and history.
As she sings a soft, melodic Ukrainian lullaby, Valeriia Vovk stares defiantly into the camera. Though she is singing sometimes centuries-old melodies, the 2022 Berklee College of Music graduate’s videos on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have garnered millions of views from people across the world.
“Today I dedicate the song ‘Plyve Kacha [the duckling swims]’ to [Ukrainian] soldiers and their mothers,” Vovk wrote in the description of a TikTok video posted to her page Feb. 13, where she sang a Ukrainian folk song that warns of the dangers of war. “And I hope that soon it will finally lose its relevance and become simply a historical pearl of Ukrainian creativity.”
Advertisement:
Vovk’s hope is one shared by other members of the Ukrainian community in Boston as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stretches into its third year. Though not physically in their homeland, Ukrainians — including some who fled from the full-scale outbreak of war in the last several years and others who immigrated decades ago — say keeping the culture of their eastern European country alive is just as important as defending their land.
“It’s been such a difficult situation in Ukraine right now and it’s so psychologically heavy, and it’s been heavy for two years,” said Vovk, who moved to the U.S. for college and still has family in Odesa. Vovk started her social media pages years ago, but has posted her singing more frequently in recent months in an effort to keep people talking about Ukraine.
Advertisement:
“[I want] to give people a reminder that this is what we’re fighting for and this is why we have to stay strong,” she said.
While a full-scale war in Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022, the struggle for independence in the region has been ongoing for decades, even after the region known as “the breadbasket of Europe” declared sovereignty in 1991. February marks 10 years since Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
“Two years ago wasn’t even the beginning of the war, the war started 10 years ago,” Vovk said.
Though the country garnered international support and recognition after unexpectedly fighting back against much-larger Russian forces in 2022, keeping the public’s attention on the conflict has become harder as the war rages on, Ukrainians living locally said.
“It’s a constant struggle for [media] attention because of the many conflicts happening [in the world],” Vovk said.
“Saving” Ukrainian culture
Ukrainian culture has been a target of Russian military operations throughout the invasion, with Russian President Vladimir Putin justifying the invasion by saying that Ukrainians and Russians are “one people” and that Ukraine lacks an independent heritage.
“The main goal of Putin’s invasion two years ago was to ‘de-Nazify Ukraine,’” said Andriy Boyko, who moved to the U.S. from Ukraine with his family in 2018. “For them, de-Nazify means eliminating Ukraine as a nation completely.”
Advertisement:
Experts say Russia has targeted numerous cultural sites — including museums, schools, libraries, and places of worship — in an effort to negate the country’s sense of independence.
“There is a widespread narrative of demonization and denigration of Ukrainian culture and identity promoted by Russian officials, along with calls for ideological repression and strict censorship in the political, cultural, and educational spheres,” several special rapporteurs wrote in a February 2023 press release by the United Nations.
Boyko is a co-founder of the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England (UCCN). The non-profit, began in 2022, is dedicated to promoting Ukrainian culture and puts on events throughout the year that range from cultural events to political rallies and demonstrations.
“We decided we needed to run a new organization devoted to saving Ukrainian culture and promoting it here and helping to share [our] traditions with Americans and other people,” said Boyko.
Local efforts of Ukrainians who have left their homeland — some of whom are among the approximately 400,000 refugees who have fled to North America since the beginning of the war — continue to touch those across the world and still in Ukraine.
“I scroll through the comments sometimes, and I see comments from Ukrainian people, saying stuff like, ‘We had sirens just now, there was a missile attack. And I was listening to your song and it distracted me from what was happening,’” Vovk said, adding she gets comments and messages in a variety of different languages from people interested in learning more about the culture.
Advertisement:
“[My singing] is bringing attention to my country and also showing [people] a Ukraine they don’t see in the news right now and don’t see as often,” she said.
Local Ukrainians call for more military aid
On Saturday, UCCN organized a rally on Boston Common for the second year anniversary of the war that attracted hundreds of people, many of whom wielded Ukrainian flags and held signs with slogans like “I miss my home.” Attendees heard speeches from leaders of Ukrainian churches, sang ethnic songs, and participated in a candlelight vigil to commemorate casualties of the war — which include 30,000 civilians, according to a recent United Nations report.
“We have had big emotions for more than two years, and we’d like to bring our message to all the American people who support our fight against evil. Ukraine is ready to fight, but needs more ammunition, more support,” said Lyubov Andrukhiv, an attendee of the rally who moved to the U.S. from Ukraine more than 30 years ago.
A major part of the community’s efforts is to keep passing traditions and cultural knowledge to the younger generation, which may not be able to grow up in Ukraine. Andrukhiv says to keep the culture alive, his family speaks Ukrainian at home and his grandchildren — who were born in the U.S. — go to cultural events and a Ukrainian church to be a part of the community.
Exactly one week before the anniversary, the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka fell to Russian forces due to being “outgunned,” The New York Times reported. After disagreement in Congress about a bill that would provide monetary aid to U.S. allies — including Ukraine — at the end of January, the Senate passed a package Feb. 13 that supplies $60 billion to Ukraine.
Advertisement:
Boyko emphasized that part of UCCN’s efforts to keep attention on Ukraine is to keep international support — including for the military — strong.
“Ukrainians are fighting for democracy and freedom for Europe and the world,” he said. “I believe that the price of inaction right now is higher than the price of action.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com