AFP, Washington :
Just hours after President Barack Obama unveiled visa bans and laid the ground for sanctions against Russia, the Ukrainian diaspora made their own stand outside the White House.
In a protest that was as emphatic in its condemnation of President Vladimir Putin’s actions as it was as supportive of the US measures in response, American-Ukrainians appeared united-and worried.
“They are invaders in our country,” said Iryna Plyaka, 30, from Cleveland, Ohio, who came to the US capital on a bus with her 66-year-old father, Taras.
“They are peddling lies while using snipers to kill Ukrainians in the street,” she said.
Like many of the 1,100 or so people gathered near the home of the US president, Iryna draped a Ukrainian flag across her shoulders.
She held a banner that read, simply: “Putin, hands off Ukraine.”
Other activists bore starker messages.
Evgeni Kazmirhuk, 37, from Stamford, Connecticut, carried a black and white portrait of Putin, embellished with a splash of red paint as if the Russian leader had been shot in the head.
“The picture says it all,” said Kazmirhuk.
Other demonstrators held banners that said “Lenin, Stalin, Putin,” “No more Russian empire” and “Crimea is Ukraine,” while the crowd sang the US and Ukrainian national anthems and a few miles away Congress considered its response.
But, despite the solidarity and the colorful backdrop of yellow and blue flags that the protesters took to Washington, there was also unease at the price to be paid for Ukraine’s political future-whether it faces West, East or eventually manages to emerge strengthened on all fronts.
“We are hoping that Russia can finally understand that Ukraine is a free country and it is not legitimate for them to come in and try and dictate,” said Ryan Zawojski, a member of The American-Ukrainian Youth Association.
The 18-year-old student was among an estimated 200 people who traveled from the US state of New Jersey. Others came from Chicago and other US cities to show their support for Ukraine’s interim government.
“They have replaced a corrupt government and a corrupt leader,” said Jonathan Hejnal, a 27-year-old student nurse and fourth generation Ukrainian-American from Cleveland.
With several friends nodding in agreement, he added: “We want to be a Western democracy and I think the United States has the ability to help-and I think sanctions is the most realistic way of doing that.”
