Sunday 20 March 2022

Vigil held for Ukraine in Redwood City

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KRON) -- On the Peninsula, a show of support for the people of Ukraine.

A "Pray for Ukraine and Stop the War" vigil took place in Redwood City.

"Today we stand with ukraine and we stand with the 10,000 ukrainian americans who live in the bay area in solidarity," said San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa.

Ukraine supporters gathered outside San Mateo County offices in Redwood City Sunday.

Oksana Lapii traveled from Morgan Hill with her parents who arrived from Ukraine just days ago.

The family is still worried for relatives who stayed behind.

"Though my grandparents they refuse to leave my town. My town is situated next to the border of Russia so it's been shelled on a daily basis. It's pretty much destroyed as of now," Lapii said.

"We are going to make sure we use the resources to take all refugees and do it in a manner of dignity and love," Canepa said.

The "Pray for Ukraine and Stop the War" vigil was organized by Canepa, faith leaders from San Mateo County churches, and San Francisco's Ukrainian consul general.

"Nobody should be afraid of Putin starting a third world war because that's what his purpose is to make everyone afraid," said Ukrainian Consul General in San Francisco Dmytro Kushneryk. "If you show that you're afraid, then Putin has reached his goal, so we don't have to allow him to do it."

The consul general is calling for a "No Fly Zone" over Ukraine.

"We're very much grateful for what the united states government is doing providing us weapons but we need more weapons. We have the soldiers, we have a lot of volunteers for an army but we need weapons that will shoot Russian planes from all like low range anti-aircraft defense styles," Kushneryk said.

Sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine, were handed out to attendees.

The vigil ended with singing and praying.

"We're scared that the world can forget and the war is going on, and it's getting only worse so we need to come together. We need to remind the people of the world that Russia is still killing people and it doesn't stop," Lapii said.

Organizers of the event are urging people to reach out to U.S. elected officials and the Biden administration to push for more help for Ukraine.



from KRON4 https://ift.tt/MwYrve8


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