NORFOLK, Va. — Support for Ukraine is still strong in Hampton Roads.
People displayed the country’s blue and yellow flag all over Town Point Park on Sunday in Norfolk. The Tidewater Ukrainian Cultural Association gathered a large group for a rally.
Members said they stood in the same spot at the park one year ago, when the war started.
“Freedom is priceless and is worth fighting for, for as long as it takes,” said Tidewater Ukrainian Cultural Association President Anna Makhorkina.
They rolled out a banner with images of war-torn Ukraine and reflected on the past year.
“If Russia would stop striking, the war would stop,” said Ukrainian Air Force Colonel Hennadiy Kovalenko. “But if Ukraine stopped fighting, Ukraine would be finished as simple as that.”
13News Now met Oleksandra Yakovlyeva last February after she fled from Ukraine with her two children. She came to Virginia with just one bag of clothes.
“Left right away our city because we were very afraid to be captured,” Yarkovlyeva said.
A family in Suffolk took her in. Today she said her family has bounced back, but the fight in Ukraine never leaves their mind.
“Each day wonderful Ukrainians, they are dying, in order for all the other world to be in peace,” Yarkovlyeva said.
During the rally, Tidewater Ukrainian Cultural Association President Anna Makhorkina called for continued military aid from the U.S. and other countries and more sanctions on Russia.
“To decrease Russia’s capacity to make war and commit atrocities, to degrade its military,” Makhorkina said.
Makhorkina and Yakovlyeva said support from the U.S. and allied countries have made a difference in this fight.
“Each thought, prayer, dollar, each event, it means everything, and it will change the world,” Yarkovlyeva said. “It makes a difference.”
Norfolk mayor Kenny Alexander joined the rally and said the city stands with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the U.S. announced another $2 billion to support Ukraine in the war.