Ukrainian-born Michiganders differed on whether people from their native homeland should return home, take up arms, and defend Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.
“The future of the Ukrainian people depends on every Ukrainian,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy within hours of the Feb. 24 attack from Russia. He urged all those who can defend the country to come to its Interior Ministry’s assembly facilities.
However, Andrii Derlytsia, a 20-year-old Wayne State University undergraduate exchange student from the Ukraine, believes economic sanctions leveled by the U.S. and other nations is a better way to fight Russia.
The U.S. Treasury has blocked transactions with Russia’s central bank, in addition to sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin personally and Russian “elites” believed to be providing financial support to the government.
“I see that Russia is suffering very greatly,” Derlytsia said.
Derlytsia was among 100 people who attended a rally to support Ukraine held at Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit on Thursday. There are nearly 40,000 Ukrainian-Americans in Michigan, according to U.S. Census data. Many of them reside in Macomb and Oakland counties located in suburban Detroit.
But Ivan Avrutsky, who was born in Ukraine, resided in Rochester Hills for more than 20 years and attended the rally, agrees with Zelenskyy.
“This is a war. It’s genocide carried out by Russia,” said Avrutsky. “It is aimed at the annihilation of Ukraine as a state and trying to kill all people who would dare to say that they are Ukrainian. And this will not stop Ukraine. It will continue.
“[Russian President Vladimir Putin] wants to restore the Soviet Union. This war needs to be stopped and Ukraine needs weapons, and they are fighting with whatever they have,” said Avrutsky. “Governments of this country and other countries should help with military equipment to defend Ukraine against Russian ballistic missile, cruise missile, aircraft, tanks, battleships.”
U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.) holds a press conference in Washington, D.C. Monday, alongside the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, interfaith leaders, and members of the Ukrainian American Crisis Response Committee of Michigan. | U.S. Rep. Andy Levin photo
Olena Danylyuk, a former WSU faculty member, current graduate student and a member of the Ukrainian-American Crisis Response Committee of Michigan, said that the best way American supporters can help Ukraine is to send financial resources to organizations dedicated to assist people from her homeland. The West Bloomfield resident who emigrated from Ukraine in 2004 understands why so many in the U.S. want to support her home country. During the Detroit rally, she said the two countries have a major thing in common.
“Ukraine created a democracy and hope for so many people. They want to live life. They want to enjoy life. They want to be free,” said Danylyuk who also attended the rally.
In a related development, U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.) expressed support for the democratic nation Monday during a press conference in Washington, D.C. with other members of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, interfaith leaders, and members of the Ukrainian-American Crisis Response Committee of Michigan. It was held at the national Holodomor Memorial, a federal monument that honors the millions of Ukrainians who died in the famine of 1932-33 that occurred during the days of the Soviet Union.
“We proclaim that Ukraine is a vibrant democracy seeking only to maintain its territorial integrity and the self-determination at the very core of the idea of democracy itself. Even though we are in the darkest of moments, we proclaim that we see Putin’s war of aggression as an effort to destroy Ukrainian identity. And, no matter what it takes, we will not let him succeed,” said Levin. “We are steadfast in our commitment not to abandon our Ukrainian friends in their time of need.”
Levin did not respond to the Advance’s request for comment on Zelenskyy’s call to arms statement.
authored by Ken Coleman
First published at https%3A%2F%2Fmichiganadvance.com%2F2022%2F03%2F04%2Fsome-michiganders-from-ukraine-conflicted-over-zelenskyys-call-to-return-fight-russia%2F
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