Rally at Times Square

A large part of the Razom Emergency Response is advocacy to increase the world’s support to Ukraine, and rallies play a key role. Today thousands of Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine gathered into one of the largest rallies in recent Ukrainian-New York history. The message was clear – Close the sky! No Fly Zone for Ukraine! Stand with Ukraine! Times Square turned into blue and yellow ocean and stretched for over 5 blocks, the Ukrainian anthem was heard loud and proud, our faces were the faces of hope for Ukraine and its bright future.

Photos by Polina Buchak and Vitaliy Raskalov

Many organizations joined forces to invite their supporters to this highly important rally… in the last 11 days we all have clearly realized that our biggest strength is in unity. Razom for Ukraine was joined by Ukrainian Jersey City and many others – because together, razom, our voices are louder and are heard in the top cabinets. We demand to protect Ukrainian airspace and introduce the No-Fly zone, as Ukrainians in Ukraine say – “Protect us from above, and we will deal with the rest”.

“The reasons why we go out to the streets is to continue feeling that sense that ‘I’m not alone’, that we are in this together. For others, it’s our attempt to make sure that people are reminded that this is current, that this is today, that this is our life right now. And in the end of the day this issue, while some might think: ‘Oh, this is just Ukraine fighting its neighbor’. It’s not. It’s far more than that. Us uniting at the rallies, and talking to the public, talking to the media about it – it’s reminding them that this is a world issue. We are your shield and have been for the past eight years” – said Razom volunteer Polina.

Watch the video made by Jess Francis of a day in the life of Polina as she attended the rally.