Russia broadens attack on Ukraine, St. Constantine to host rally in Minneapolis

As Russia moved its military forces farther into Ukraine by land, sea and air Feb. 24, a rally in support of Ukraine was planned at St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church in Minneapolis.

More than 40% of the parish’s 345 members were born in Ukraine and 25% have parents who emigrated from that country, according to parish leaders.

A group called the Minnesota Ukrainian American Advocacy Committee was sponsoring the 5 p.m. “emergency rally,” said Father Ivan Shkumbatyuk, pastor of the Ukrainian-rite church.

On Feb. 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces into separatist regions of the east, an act President Joe Biden called the beginning of an invasion. The U.S. and its allies announced economic sanctions, and they planned to intensify those sanctions after Russia broadened its attack Feb. 24.

Father Shkumbatyuk told The Catholic Spirit Feb. 22 that he viewed Russia’s move into eastern Ukraine to assist Ukrainian separatists as a “full invasion into someone else’s territory.”

Just two days later, Russia bombed military installations throughout Ukraine. Explosions could reportedly be heard from Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and Biden pledged to hold Russia accountable.

“President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” Biden said in a statement. “Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring.”

Many St. Constantine parishioners have family and friends in Texas-sized Ukraine, including Halyna Shymanska, 50, who said Feb. 10 that several of her relatives live in the western part of the country.

Shymanska said the weeks of tension with more than 100,000 Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s eastern border had her and her husband, Oleksandr, closely watching the situation.

Parishioners at St. Constantine had been praying for peace and for Russian aggression to stop, including a Feb. 16 rosary for Ukrainian Unity Day. At the end of each Mass, the congregation has been singing a spiritual Ukrainian anthem as a special focus in the run-up to war.

“It’s like a prayer for Ukraine, so that it’s always remembered,” said parishioner Ivanna Klym, 46, before the Feb. 21 invasion by Russia. “We need to pray.”