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As Ukraine marks third anniversary of invasion, local advocates fear outcome of war
President Donald Trump’s comments about the war in Ukraine and future peace talks have reverberated throughout Boston’s Ukrainian community.
Three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Greater Boston’s Ukrainian community is waiting with bated breath amid talk of negotiations to end the war, albeit with some wariness following recent comments from President Donald Trump.
Boston Common was a sea of blue and gold Sunday as hundreds rallied in support of Ukraine, marching from the Boston Public Library with flags held high to mark Monday’s anniversary of the 2022 invasion. The event came days after Trump falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war and branded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was elected in 2019, a “dictator without elections.” Ukraine’s 2024 election was legally postponed due to the ongoing state of martial law.
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Trump’s comments have reverberated throughout Greater Boston’s Ukrainian community, raising red flags after U.S. and Russian leaders met earlier this month to discuss peace talks — without inviting Ukraine.
Ukraine:
“Ukraine was attacked; let’s make no mistake about that,” said Jane Yavarow, parish president at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Jamaica Plain. “They were attacked without provocation. Ukraine only wants what the United States has: They want independence, they want freedom, they want democracy. And that’s what the invaders don’t want.”
Yavarow also expressed concern that the U.S. joined Russia Monday in voting against a United Nations resolution laying blame on Russia and demanding an immediate withdrawal of its troops.
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“People have a short memory,” she said. “We have to remember what the Cold War was all about, and how can this country be catering to a dictator who’s the product of the Soviet regime?”
For many locals with ties to Ukraine, the impacts of the ongoing war are top of mind and have been since the armed conflict erupted in 2014.
“We all knew people who moved because of all of these events happening all this time, who lost their homes 10-plus years ago,” said Andriy Boyko, co-founder and projects coordinator at the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England, one of the organizations behind Sunday’s rally. “Who were killed, who were deported, who lost their businesses, who have no connection with their relatives, and so on. And worse things than all of that. People continue dying; our country is continuing to be destroyed.”
Boyko also questioned the precedent the U.S. would set by aligning itself with Russia and essentially giving the nation a “green light” to continue as it has.
“I will say to Americans, do not be naive,” he said. “The ocean does not protect … us. History taught us about that.”
‘If Ukraine stops, Ukraine ends’
Looking ahead, Yavarow said Ukraine must have a seat at the table for any future negotiations.
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“We all want peace; nobody wants war,” Yavarow said. “But we need to be part of the negotiations, and we need everybody to know that we shouldn’t be ceding to the enemy that which they took from us, that which they took from Ukraine.”
Trump announced this week that Zelenskyy will pay a visit to the White House Friday to sign a minerals deal that will strengthen economic ties between the U.S. and Ukraine. According to NPR, however, Zelenskyy has called for security guarantees and said Wednesday, “it’s important that U.S. support is not stopped. Strength is needed on the path to peace.”
That path is obvious, the way Boyko sees it.
“Peace is easy — Russia leaves Ukraine. It was one of the slogans which we said during the march from the library to the Boston Common,” he said. “If Putin stops, Russia stops, the war ends. If Ukraine stops, Ukraine ends. As a nation, as a country, as territory, as values.”
Asked if he believes Ukraine will get a fair deal in future peace negotiations, given the Trump administration’s actions and rhetoric, Boyko noted definitions of “fair” differ. Under a fair deal for Ukrainians, he said his family members still living in the country would be able to lead a normal life, “not hiding every night from drones, from rockets.”
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“What is fair? Fair? Russia leaves Ukraine alone,” Boyko said. “And [the] Western world provides guarantee to Ukraine [it will] not be attacked again.”
To deter future attack and ensure consequences for broken peace agreements, there need to be guarantees that Ukraine’s allies will fight back unconditionally and the aggressor will be punished, he clarified in a follow-up email.
Looking ahead
Eugene Goncharov from the American Coalition for Ukraine, which helped organize the Boston rally, argued Russia has a decades-long track record of broken promises.
“Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians,” Goncharov said in an email interview. “Every Ukrainian has lost somebody in this war. But there has to be a fair peace with security guarantees, otherwise it will not last.”
He said Ukrainians ultimately want to join NATO — a request Trump and his administration have repeatedly brushed off.
“This isn’t just about making the world a better, fairer place,” Goncharov said, noting both the experience and size of Ukraine’s army.
“It is the most powerful land army in Europe, and would strengthen any alliance,” he asserted. “With Ukraine on NATO’s side, the U.S. can pivot its forces and resources from Europe to Asia, knowing that the combined armies of Europe and Ukraine will ensure that Russia will not succeed in a new invasion of Europe.”
Goncharov thanked the U.S. for its military support throughout the war, adding that Ukrainians are “fighting for their freedom and loved ones and will continue to defend their right to be safe and independent from Russia.”
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The stakes are high, Yavarow agreed.
“Really, it’s a fight not just Ukraine versus Russia, but I’d say independent democratic countries versus authoritarian regimes,” she said.
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