Further escalation on the Ukrainian-Russian border has stoked fears among Ukrainian and Russian residents who live in Lynn and Salem.
The Item contacted the members of the Ukrainian and Russian communities in Lynn and Salem to get to know more about their sentiments regarding the situation.
A long-feared full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia would represent the largest military action in Europe since World War II, according to a report by the New York Times.
“I am devastated and angry, because my country is in the state of war, constantly threatened by the invading neighbor,” said Salem resident Galyna Shalapak. “It’s like being beaten by a bully.”
“It is a catastrophe that something like that might be happening in the middle of Europe,” said Lynn resident Mark Sanockyi.
Sanockyi and his wife are originally from Lviv. It is the western part of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian national sentiments have always been high there. Sanockyi came to the U.S. six years ago, and his parents participated in both Ukrainian Maidan revolutions in 2004 and in 2013-14.
“It is devastating what is going on,” Sanockyi says. “Every day before going to sleep we monitor the news closely, because we are scared that something violent might happen while we are sleeping here because of the time difference.”
Many of Sanockyi’s friends in Ukraine joined the state guerilla forces, although his siblings who still reside in his home country are trying to persuade him that they are not afraid.
Most of the local Ukrainians share these fears for their families and relatives back home.
“It is bothering me because I have a family that lives in Ukraine, in Dnipro,” Salem resident Svitlana Rozgon said.
“It is five hours from the Russian border to Dnipro by tank,” she adds.
“I am from Crimea, and my parents are still there,” said Lynn resident Anton Sventsitski. “Of course, it adds up to the list of my anxieties — now also that apart from COVID-19 pandemic.”
Some of the local Russians and former Soviet Republic’s nationals residing in Lynn share these fears about the situation involving Ukraine.
“All of this is just the Russian imperial attitude to the neighboring countries,” Maharam Isaev, originally from Baku, Azerbaijan, said. “Haven’t they also occupied Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh under the auspices of the peacekeeping forces?”
“I wish all the best for the Ukrainian people. Let them stay united and let them, if worse comes to worse, rebuff the aggressor,” Isaev said.
“Tangible sanctions should have been imposed after Putin attacked Georgia in 2008,” Georgy Sobolevsky, originally from Moscow, added. “What’s going on the Ukrainian border now is outrageous, and it is a clear provocation from the Russian side. It is all Russian propaganda.”
“They brainwashed the people,” Isaev said in agreement. “The Russian propaganda is not only aimed against Ukraine; it pervades the whole world like cancer.”
However, some of the Russian residents in Lynn shared similar sentiments of the Russian state media.
“I think that the U.S. intentionally breeds ungrounded hysteria,” said Jacob Matusevich. “We have already seen in our newspapers the definitive dates when Russia should have attacked Ukraine, but none of that happened.”
Thus, the international conflict is going local and creates further split in the already not-entirely homogeneous Russian-speaking community.
“I have lost more than half of my Russian friends after the Crimea annexation in 2014,” Sventsitski said.
“It mainly depends on personal attitude; as long as a Russian doesn’t support Putin, we are fine,” said Sanockyi.
It is hard to estimate the exact number of Ukrainians living in Lynn.
“We don’t have a Ukrainian community in Lynn,” said Sanockyi. “But the majority of my Russian-speaking friends here are not Russian nationals — they are either from Ukraine or from Belarus.”
The Ukrainian community in Lynn is mainly concentrated around Neptune Park, Neptune Boulevard and Ocean Street. Most of the local Russian-speaking population is retired and many of them attend Zabota (the Russian equivalent for the word “care”) Day Care, an assisted-living facility on Exchange Street.
The estimates of the Ukrainian community of Greater Boston also vary greatly — from tens to 20 thousands of people.
“It is hard to give a precise estimate, because some people who are originally from Ukraine do not have a Ukrainian identity, and vice versa some ethnically Russians identify as Ukrainians,” said Katya Malakhova, the founder of one of the two major Ukrainian community groups on Facebook and the fundraiser at Sunflower of Peace Foundation.
“My family moved to Ukraine from the Urals, but I identify as a Ukrainian, although I am ethnically Russian,” said Marina Bayda.
Last Sunday, a Ukrainian rally was held in Fenway in Boston, and the general support for Ukraine is on the rise.
“We fundraised almost $10,000 in 48 hours for the backpacks with medical supplies,” Malakhova said, expressing her gratitude for the support. “The attitude of the local Americans to Ukraine changed sharply compared to 2014, and they donate a lot.”
Most of those interviewed for this story noted a special welcoming attitude toward them from their non-Ukrainian friends in their local communities. But the Ukrainians hope to see some justice on the international level in the future.
“I think we will need to have something like the Nuremberg trials,” said Rozgon. “Think of how many people Putin and his people have already killed.”
“Right now, Ukrainians possess more than 5 million rifled firearms,” said Sanockyi. “If something happens, it is going to be bloody.”
Now, with Putin signing a new decree recognizing the independence of the separatists-claimed parts of Ukraine, this outcome does not seem too implausible.
“Europe needs to impose meaningful sanctions on Russia now,” Shlapak concluded.
