Ukrainian festivals and Navalny's birthday: three anti-war actions were held in New York

On June 3, Brooklyn turned blue and yellow, two Ukrainian festivals were held here at once, and on June 4, Russians came to Times Square as a sign of support for Ukraine, and also to celebrate the birthday of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Ukrainian festivals in Brooklyn

On June 3, the “Together to Victory” festival was held in Brooklyn, organized on the occasion of the end of the school year by the School of Ukrainian Studies “New Wave” and NGO “New Ukrainian Wave” with the support of the Guardian Angel Church and its Pastor Sergiy Emanuel, as well as the Ukrainian Festival of St. Vmch. Panteleimon under the patronage of Rector Vasily Shak, the Consulate General of Ukraine in New York wrote about this on its website. Facebook page.

The “highlight” of the festival “Together to Victory” was the establishment of a new record by the three-time world champion, European and Swedish champion in karate by Ukrainian athlete Anton Levkun - lifting a kettlebell with his little finger on a twine between two moving cars. The record has been duly registered in the National Register of Records.

On the subject: Ukrainian anthem and dancing in the heart of Times Square: the legendary restaurant 'Russian Samovar' organized an anti-war concert

Ukrainian performers also took part in the event. The money collected during the festive fair was donated to the needs of Ukrainian defenders.

The Consulate General thanked the organizers and everyone who joined in the preparation of the wonderful programs of these events.

Times Square protest

On June 4, the birthday of prominent Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, another protest took place in Times Square. Hundreds of people came to Times Square in solidarity with the political prisoners of Russia and unity with the people of Ukraine, writes "Voice of America".

The protesters brought posters with them and also chanted: “No to war”, “Russia without Putin”, “Freedom for Russia”, “Freedom for Navalny”.

This event was also attended by Russian musician, activist, member of the Nogu Svelo group Maxim Pokrovsky.

“We are now in a free country. Those who come to New York by water, the first thing they see is the Statue of Liberty. For me personally, freedom is, first of all, a conscious necessity, a responsibility. Today, I, our team, my family, feel the responsibility to be together,” said Pokrovsky.

“This regime should be overthrown in the near future, this aggression, which no one needs, should be stopped, the genocide of the Ukrainian people and their own people should be stopped,” says Tatiana Khantayeva, a former resident of Ulan-Ude (Buryatia). “The representatives of my people were terribly vilified. Heart ache. He hurts for his homeland, for his compatriots, for all the evil that is happening in the world today.”

“We try to go to protests, we try to donate money to Ukraine, to volunteers. We talk with our parents a lot, a lot, but it’s hard,” said Alina Bruyan, a former resident of Rostov-on-Don.

“We are trying to convince our parents. I do it all the time. Sometimes I even manage to shift the propaganda a bit, but usually the TV brings everything back. It is very difficult,” said Vladislav Baranov.

“When the war started, I went to anti-war rallies. For this I was imprisoned for 15 days,” said Boris Kurkin. “We supported Navalny there, we support him here.”

“I want to say a big thank you to Alexei Navalny, that he took up this business, that he wants the freedom of our poor Russia. Of course, we love our homeland, but we had to leave it and miss it,” said Galina Yachmeneva.

“I want our country to be free. In the USA, no one bothers me to go out and declare it, that's why I'm here, ”added Alexander Yachmenev.