NEW YORK – Several hundred protesters gathered in front of the United Nations building in New York City on Monday, September 28, in a pointed rebuke to the world body’s welcome of President Vladimir Putin. While Ukrainians were being escorted from inside the main hall for holding aloft a Ukrainian flag, a united mix of nationalities and human rights advocates chanted “No more vetoes for Putin,” “Crimea is Ukraine,” and “Justice for MH17” from across the street.
The themes presented by the protest leaders at this particular gathering were: to remind the world that Mr. Putin’s war now encompasses eight distinct conflict zones, to ensure that Mr. Putin’s willful violation of the U.N. Charter by invading Ukraine is not an afterthought at this gathering of the U.N. General Assembly; and to point to the growing list of political prisoners captured and sentenced to many of Russia’s most infamous prisons. This final theme was especially important on Monday, designated as an International Day of Recognition of Nadiya Savchenko’s imprisonment.
When news first broke that the Russian president would address the United Nations for the first time in 10 years, a wide array of diaspora groups started planning a show of anti-Putin solidarity, uniting those he has threatened and harmed the most. Over the course of several weeks, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America hosted the organizers at its Manhattan offices. Initially comprising community activists local to the area, most had earlier begun to meet under the banner of the American European Solidarity Council (AESC), founded by leaders of the United Ukrainian American Organizations of New York, the International Circassian Council, Solidarni 2010 and others. The AESC has spent the better part of a year sharing information and organizing rallies and petitions with the input of representatives from the Belarusan Congress Committee of America, the Lithuanian American Community (New York district), the American Latvian Association and the Crimean Tatar community.
With already established community ties and a record of organizing events, the AESC was ready to coordinate a multi-ethnic series of demonstration when the opportunity arose. Partnering with the UCCA to mobilize Ukrainians beyond New York City, calls came in from additional communities, with interest expressed by activists from Washington and Canada.
The protest planning meetings grew to include representatives of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, as well as the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations, Razom, the Estonian Association, Music Lovers United Against Putin’s Aggression, Russians Against the War and RUSA LGBT, a Russian-speaking American LGBT rights group. These last two organizations have protested alongside Ukrainian demonstrators for over a year, with RUSA LGBT having a record of protesting Mr. Putin’s actions more actively in New York City than any other group in the year immediately preceding Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
The end result of all this coordination, both in person and through social media, was a tenfold increase above the anticipated number of protestors – nearly 1,500 – assembled over the course of two days, September 27-28.