Ukrainian supporters hold up signs, banners and a 100-foot long Ukrainian Flag at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the Santa Monica Pier, in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

Rallygoers surround the entrance of the Santa Monica City Hall waving Ukrainian flags, as others line the streets waving their signs. Indistinct chatter can be heard from various groups of people draped in Ukrainian flags, while the sounds of cars honking in solidarity fills the background. The DJ cuts the music, and with a tap of a microphone silence befalls the previously energetic crowd.

Ukrainian supporters hold Ukrainian flags up at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

“As the world fell into complacency, Russia started their aggressive war against Ukraine. A cowardly invasion: missile strikes, families torn apart, an entire nation forced to fight for its existence,” said Iryna Vasylkova, co-founder and vice president of the Stand With Ukraine (SWU) Foundation.

Robert Zirgulis, 72, stands with a Ukrainian flag and a sign that states “Putin war criminal,” as he displays pictures he took of the opening days of the invasion into Ukraine at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the Santa Monica Pier, in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

Eight years after the annexation of Crimea, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine. “I was in Ukraine; they were bombing schools, orphanages, and hospitals. Shrapnel wiped out hundreds of people. You can see a lot in 10 days. It was intense,” said Robert Zirgulis, a volunteer with Blue and Yellow, a non-government organization dedicated to providing aid to Ukraine.

The SWU Foundation hosted a march from the Santa Monica City Hall to the Santa Monica Pier in solidarity with Ukraine on the three-year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine invasion. The event, titled "Ukraine's Resilience: A Life in Defense of Freedom," brought together supporters with solidarity intentions, including Americans of Ukrainian descent and allies from Los Angeles.

On Dec. 5, 1994, the United States, Ukraine, Russia, and the United Kingdom entered the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurance. This diplomatic assurance guaranteed Ukraine’s sovereignty and promised U.S and U.K protection from Russian aggression; in return, Ukraine agreed to nuclear disarmament. Since the signing of the Budapest Memorandum, according to the U.S. State Department, Russia now occupies “Crimea, parts of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Luhansk, Mykolayiv, and Zaporizhzhya Oblasts.”

In an attempt to curb Russian aggression, the Biden administration teamed with allies to implement sanctions while simultaneously sending their own financial and military aid. According to the U.S. State Department, the United States has provided “$65.9 billion in military assistance since Russia launched its premeditated, unprovoked and brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and approximately $69.2 billion in military assistance since Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014,” but the war was still ongoing by the end of Biden’s presidency.

The current president, Donald J. Trump, has publicly criticized Biden’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war. In an interview on the Brian Kilmeade show, he referred to the former president as “a very dumb man.” Trump vowed to end the war on day one of his presidency.

The war did not end on day one of his presidency, but peace talks have commenced, notably, without Ukrainian representatives. Trump has taken a new approach and shifted toward a more diplomatic relationship, directly communicating with the Russian president.

Some rallygoers voiced their dissent, like Norton Sandler, a member of the Socialist Workers Party. “What Washington is doing is outrageous,” said Sandler, later adding that “U.S troops and nukes should be out of Europe.” Others voiced their concern about negotiating directly with Putin. “You can’t have peace with a murderer. Putin can pull out (of Ukraine) if he wants peace,” said Zirgulis.

Woman holds sign at Remembrance Rally hosted by Stand with Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Tom Rosholt | The Corsair)

Initial peace negotiations between the U.S and Russia concluded with the agreements that Ukraine would stay out of NATO, Russia would not cede any occupied land, and the U.S would control 50% of Ukraine’s mineral mines in now Russian-occupied land. The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, rejected the initial proposal, prompting President Trump to post on Truth Social, “Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” later adding at a press conference that Zelenskyy ”should have never started (the war).”

“What Trump is doing is repeating Russian propaganda. He sounds like a Russian agent,” said Anya Narysheva, a Ukraine-born Santa Monica local. “I feel betrayed. At the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine traded their nukes for U.S. security, and the current administration is not standing by that.”

A group of Ukraine supporters marches peacefully with a 100-foot long Ukrainian flag from Santa Monica City Hall to the Santa Monica Pier on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

SWU, a Los Angeles-based organization, was a leading resource for information, propaganda and humanitarian activities even before the full-scale invasion. Their mission is to organize many events to raise awareness and provide assistance in various aspects of Ukrainian immigration.

California state senator Ben Allen speaks at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Tom Rosholt | The Corsair)

The foundation's initiatives have been recognized by various government agencies and officials, including the Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco and the Mayor of Los Angeles. They emphasize the importance of global support in Ukraine's struggle for freedom and peace.

At the rally, after initial introductions, a prayer was led by Rev. Myroslav Mykytyuk of St. Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The crowd went silent as Mykytyuk led a prayer honoring those still on the front lines and those who have become martyrs. He was followed by California State Senator Benjamin Allen, who took the stage to reaffirm his commitment to the Ukrainian cause.

“100,000 Ukrainian-Americans who live throughout (California) are living in fear, but not just fear, deep disappointment that the United States of America, this beacon of freedom, this country that has stood by freedom fighters throughout history, that won the Cold War, is considering changing its position, is realigning itself toward the KGB dictator in Russia,” said Allen. “A president from the party of Ronald Reagan is standing with Vladimir Putin, cutting Ukraine out of the negotiations. It is shameful. It is absolutely shameful… We have to stand up against this.”

State Assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur sent a representative to speak and show support as well.

In a nationwide phenomenon, former president Ronald Reagan is idolized in Ukraine for his role in the Cold War. In 2024, Ukrainian Parliamentarian Maryan Zablotskyy stated Reagan is “widely credited in Ukraine for being the one who actually made the Soviet Union to collapse because of his policies.” Zablotskyy is plotting to enact a permanent bust of Reagan in Kyiv.

Other speakers voiced admirations and prized quotations of Reagan. “President Ronald Reagan happens to be my favorite president,” said Melory Tsipouria, honorary consulate of Georgia in San Diego. “He famously said that freedom is only one generation away from extinction. Do we want to be that generation who let it slip away?”

A group of Ukraine supporters makes their voices heard while peacefully gathering on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025 in front of Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)

Conrad Mazeika, president of the Baltic American Freedom League, doubled down on the embrace of Reagan. Quoting from his 1964 speech ‘A Time for Choosing,’ Mazeika reiterated, “‘you and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to the last step into a thousand years of darkness.’

“The choice is for us again. If we abandon Ukraine, we do not just abandon a nation. We abandon our principles.”

Outside the line of megaphone fire, Zirgulis unfolded a display of his own photography documenting the summer of 2022 in Ukraine, in the unsettled aftermath of the invasion. Many of the photographs were, upon immediate observation, scenes of nonviolence.

Zirgulis commented on this by providing additional, bloodier contexts for individual photos. One photograph depicted a despairing building; mounds of uncollected corpses were submerged in dust just out of view, the photographer explained. Another showed a young girl sitting at a table and coloring; in one attack of shrapnel, her mother was killed and her fingers were severed. Zirgulis, who attended the nearby Santa Monica High School in the 1960s, confronted onlookers with the weapon itself in an additional display carrying bits of shrapnel.

The rally saw speeches from elected representatives, community leaders and non-profit organizations alike. Members of different consulates from various countries came to show support, including Lithuania, Finland, Georgia, Latvia, Poland, Georgia, Spain, Ireland, Czech Republic, and more. Some came to show solidarity, and others sought to tell the history of their nation’s fight for freedom, which served as reminders of a not-so-distant past.

A Ukrainian supporter holds up a sign that states, “Return Ukrainian POWs home,” at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

“For the battle being fought in Ukraine, it’s not just about Ukraine. It’s about all of us. It is about whether we will stand for the values that have defined the free world: liberty, justice, and the right of sovereign nations to determine their own destiny,” said Mazeika. “Whether you yield to the forces of tyranny and barbarism, we stand at the crossroads of peace. Just as the darkest days of the 20th century, when three nations had to choose… peace or confront tyranny, we face that same choice today. And let it be clear, appeasement does not bring peace.”

Illia Chornenkyi, lieutenant of the 15th Operational Brigade, Kara-Dag, of the Ukrainian National Guard, spoke to the crowd in Ukrainian. Vasylkova provided an English translation.

“I am very impressed to see you all and thank you for remembering Ukraine. Because today, like never before, Ukraine and the Ukrainian nation requires your help,” he said. “I am also very grateful to the Protez Foundation, owing to which I am able to stand in front of you.”

Illia Chornenkyi, a Ukrainian veteran, speaks at the Remembrance Rally hosted by Stand with Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Tom Rosholt | The Corsair)

The Protez Foundation, a nonprofit that provides Ukrainians with prosthetics and related medical care, supplied the lieutenant’s prosthetic leg. “Imagine, in Ukraine we have about 59,000 soldiers that are in need of prosthetics… and that’s only an official number. We think that number is pretty high,” said Ruslan Sychov, digital and IT advisor for Protez, in a speech. “We encourage you to support our army. But please do not forget about veterans.”

Singer Vsiudysvoia performs the song "Freedom" at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

Ukrainian acts such as INKA, Sevile, and Maria Marisen came to perform throughout the rally. As each individual delivered their performance, “Slava Ukraini,” meaning “Glory to Ukraine,” and “Heroyam Slava,” translated as “Glory to the heroes,” could be heard throughout the crowd.

Musicians and politicians alike prefaced their performances with an admission of “wholehearted devotion to Ukraine.”

Ukrainian singer Vsiudysvoia opened the festivities with the Star-Spangled Banner; immediately after, singer INKA led the crowd in a rapturous recital of Ukraine’s national anthem. Moreover, the rally was soundtracked by a series of singers, a traveling accordion, and techno pop on a speaker during lulls.

“We fight with music,” Vasylkova told the Corsair. “We’re strong.”

Co-national appreciation was enforced by a banner reading “Freedom for Ukraine = Freedom for USA.” The crowd doubled up on patriotics, but demonstrated their preference in their vocalized affirmation of the Ukrainian anthem.

“Ukraine fights, and Ukraine will win. This is encoded in our national anthem,” said Vasylkova.

In addition, a minute of silence was held in memory of those who died during the conflict.

Two Ukrainian people hold each other in front of a Ukrainian flag at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

Shaded with IKEA-branded blue and gold parasols, protesters brandished signs criticizing Trump and Putin, but were discouraged from repeating the same messages aloud.

Ukrainian supporters hold up signs that read “Putin is a terrorist” and “Ukraine is not for sale,” as well as a 100-foot long Ukrainian flag, at the Remembrance Rally hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the Santa Monica Pier, in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

One man, Eric Rizo, peppered a speech with calls of “Fuck Trump!” and “Fuck Putin!”, while swinging an American flag. A foundation organizer approached, placed his hands on Rizo’s shoulders and whispered in his ear. The calling stopped.

Rizo told the Corsair the organizer said to “stop yelling ‘Fuck Trump,’ because I could offend somebody,” and that he clarified, “just today.” Rizo complied, explaining he wanted “to help (the organizer) out.

Rizo further stated his outcries were trying to assure the rest of the rally that he didn’t vote for Trump. “I’m a big ally,” he said. “I’m just trying to make my voice heard.”

Meanwhile, signs broadcasting the same “Fuck Trump” message were touted without restriction by SWU affiliates at the edge of the podium.

Attire ranged from casual activewear to orthodox vyshyvanka. Event attendees were demonstrating both their political demands - increasing Congressional funding of the war in Ukraine - and their nationalistic sensibilities.

George Wyhinny, from the Ukrainian Culture Center, speaks at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

“I want to express how proud I am to be Ukrainian, how proud I am of my compatriots,” said Vasylkova. “We are not the biggest (army), but we are mentally strongest.”

“One of the most recent outrageous fabrications is the claim that President Zelenskyy is a dictator,” said George Wyhinny, former vice president of the Ukrainian Culture Center.

When Zelenskyy’s name arose, speakers and event organizers all staunchly defended Ukraine’s suspension of presidential and Parliamentary elections, an active measure since the country entered martial law in 2022. Statistics show that Ukrainian citizens are largely unfazed by the pause on democracy. According to a 2025 poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Zelenskyy’s approval rating is 57%.

While this figure is a decline from the initial 80% at the start of Zelenskyy’s term, it reflects an increase in popular opinion of 5% since last December.

“Ukrainian law, like the laws of many nations at war, suspends elections,” said Wyhinny. “How are citizens to cast their ballot when cities have been obliterated, when their homes have been reduced to rubble, when to step outside of their homes could mean death?”

The largest sign addressing the street read “If Every Country Had a ‘Dictator Zelensky’ We Would All Live In 100% Peace.”

In a pop-up installation titled “Angels of Memory,” the children in attendance lined up to decal potted trees with paper angels in “a tribute to the Heavenly Hundred,” the civilians killed in the 2014 Euromaidan protest movement.

A Ukrainian supporter holds up a sign of the Ukrainian flag with a heart cut out at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

Finally, the marchers unveiled the monolith, a 100-foot-long Ukrainian flag that, once hoisted, formed a tempting parachute for the children. Rallygoers rushed to the flag so they could hold pieces of the fabric. As they begin to mobilize, the chants begin to ring, including “Slava Ukraini,” “Ukraine is free, will always be,” and “Russia kills, Ukraine defends, U.S.A., stand with your friends.”

Ukrainian supporters hold up a 100-foot long Ukrainian Flag at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the Santa Monica Pier, in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

Once the underside of the flag was cleared, the procession chartered through Tongva Park and set upon the crowd hordes at the Santa Monica Pier.

As they marched through the park, onlookers clapped, took pictures, and yelled in solidarity. There appeared to be a general habit among bystanders that day to cheer instead of protest, but not all bystanders were supportive. Three men appeared to be spitting on the flag from an overhead bridge as the marchers passed, and once the act was over, the counter-protesters scurried from public view.

Even with the giant flag obstructing pedestrian walkways, the rallygoers imposed on amusement park wraiths meekly. Descending upon the boardwalk, the marchers, who chanted softly and obeyed the crosswalk signals, were squeezed into a planked passageway on the water. The stuffiness drowned their audio, overtaken by the mechanized symphony of carnival squeaks and springs.

A Ukrainian supporter holds up a sign that states, “Kakhovka is Ukraine” at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. Kakhovka is a city in Ukraine, home to Ukraine’s largest reservoir, where on June 6, 2023, Russia is suspected of destroying the reservoir’s damn, killing 52 people, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and depleting drinking water for 700,000 people. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

It wasn’t much of an imposition. The flag politely sailed across the boardwalk, crammed between the sea and amusement, past vendors dripping ice cream and fishermen with buckets of sweaty catchall. The storm of the crowd was aurally crushed by the grind of roller coasters and metropolitan yelps. Here, most onlookers showed no signs of attention.

A few exceptions posed solidary contrast. One tip-hungry busker caught wind of the protesters and continued singing with some improv modifications to the lyrics: “You can’t take Ukraine away…. just leave Ukraine alone.”

At close range, another demonstration in miniature by the China Democratic Party, suited in yellow vests and hats, featured literature for distribution and a tableau of protesters in digitus impudicus. “We support you,” called a few SWU protesters, without loosening their grip on the flag.

After circling the Pier, the marchers came upon a swath of open space. With excess room, the procession coiled and merged into a nature-bound Fibonacci spiral. At a standstill, the march climaxed as the soft-bodied chants of “Slava Ukraini” revved into a holler.

A Ukrainian supporter holds a Ukrainian flag up at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

A swift and conclusive victory was expected by the Kremlin in 2022, but three years later, the Ukrainian spirit hasn’t wavered. As the 100-foot flag was carried through the park, the sound of children laughing and playing could be heard; it was the sound of the ability to be a child.

A Ukrainian supporter holds up a sign that states, “Ruzzia: 3 Years Closer to Deffat” at the Remembrance Rally, hosted by Stand with Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Santa Monica City Hall in Santa Monica, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. The rally was held to highlight the ongoing occupation of Ukraine. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

“If we fight we will win. Ukraine fights, and Ukraine will win. This is in our national anthem, in all our folklore. Ukraine is a peaceful nation that has never invaded anyone. We are the brave, we are the bread basket to the world. We are the cultural heartbeat of Europe, with our amazing music, cultural heritage, and art. We just want to preserve our national and cultural identity, to be represented with dignity among our beautiful, brotherly nations. You know, like in this mosaic of free willed people. Ukraine is free, and it will always be,” said Vasylkova. “This is a genocidal war. We are fighting for our mere existence. (Putin) will not bring peace. He brings shame. It’s a lifetime fight for freedom. Several genocidal waves. Ukraine fights against barbarism.”

Three years into a “three-day war”