NEW YORK — Razom, a Ukrainian diaspora group started by mostly “new wave” immigrants who came to the U.S. after their country’s 1991 independence, during the beginning of December commemorated the start of the EuroMaidan Revolution protests that ousted former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych five years ago.
The December event in New York City was intended to evoke the exciting and apprehensive atmosphere of the 2013 protests. The commemoration was held in a darkened, candle-lit room at the Ukrainian Institute – a prestigious cultural center in a magnificent building overlooking Manhattan’s Central Park.
A pile of tires adorned the entrance to the room – a reminder of the thousands that were burned to generate clouds of black smoke in an attempt to make it harder for snipers from Yanukovych’s security forces to find targets among the protesters. They killed more than 100 and wounded many more.
Inside the room speakers were invited to recall their memories of the heady days during that winter of 2013-2014 that led to the overthrow of Yanukovych’s regime but also triggered the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the illegal annexation of Crimea and started a war in the country’s eastern Donbas region that has cost more than 10,300 lives and continues today.
How it started
One of the speakers was Razom’s leader, Mariya Soroka, who described how those dramatic events sparked the idea for the formation of the group.
She had arrived in America eight years before and had settled in comfortably to her new life when she saw the news about what was happening in Ukraine.
Soroka had not seen her father, separated from her mother, for eight years. She said he told her: “You have to come here and see what is happening with your own eyes. This is a historic moment.”
The journey to Ukraine changed everything.
She only had five days of vacation and, defying her mother’s dire warnings about the potential dangers at the Independence Square, flew to Kyiv. Her father took her straight from the airport to the tent he was sharing with other protesters in the center of the capital.
“We spent every single hour together. I learned that, despite my mother’s fears, the (EuroMaidan Revolution) was in fact the safest place in Ukraine at that time: the spirit, the music, the songs, the people made it seem like a perfect society,” she said. “I wanted to live in a tent, drink tea and eat kanapkas [sandwiches] every day.”
Soroka said those five days passed in a whirlwind. “When I came back to New York I realized how important family is, and how important purpose is and because of that trip my life definitely changed.
“I realized that no matter what I’m doing career-wise, I would always want to work to make Ukraine a true, prosperous, democratic European country. In New York, I began seeking out everyone who was on the same page as me, who wanted to help Ukraine and that’s how Razom started.”
Razom’s initiative
Razom, which means together and united, tapped into the many younger Ukrainians who had emigrated since 1991, and even earlier, to the U.S. It turned out that although many had become U.S. citizens they had not forgotten their homeland and they joined enthusiastically by contributing funds and staging, often innovative, demonstrations to publicize what was happening in Ukraine.
They organized demonstrations outside the Russian consulate or other official buildings in New York, as well as the Russian Embassy in Washington. They used iconic American backdrops like national monuments or famous buildings, dressed up in Ukrainian embroidered shirts and sang traditional songs for passersby.
They hired an open-topped tourist bus in New York and clothed it in posters and flags to turn their demonstration into a mobile one attracting attention as it visited Manhattan’s best known tourist spots.
Razom also used social media tools to mobilize hundreds of supporters in the U.S. They collected thousands of dollars to help sustain the protests of the EuroMaidan Revolution.
Later they collected money to supply food, clothing, medical items and other necessities to the swiftly-organized but poorly-equipped volunteer fighters who stopped Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s full invasion in eastern Donbas.
The group has developed a reputation for organizing innovative, swiftly-executed actions to raise awareness in America about events in Ukraine. For example, it organized protests following last month’s Russian attack on Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Strait.
Razom has also continued longer-term efforts to support Ukraine’s democracy including by raising money to help seriously injured Ukrainian soldiers, some of whom have been brought over to the U.S. for surgery.
Some of Razom’s other assistance schemes for Ukraine include the “Co-Pilot” project, which has arranged for American doctors and surgeons to train and assist Ukrainian colleagues in Ukraine. They have assisted in some 75 major neurosurgical operations and consulted hundreds of patients free of charge.
The group, sometimes working with others, helps people displaced by the war, orphans, and families of Ukrainian military who died or were wounded in action. They collect toys for the kids and other humanitarian aid to needy families.
Razom has also helped to fund young Ukrainian mathematicians take part in math competitions called olympiads in other countries. Soroka said some of Razom’s members, who emigrated to the U.S. now work in Google and other high-tech American companies which reward them well for their math-based skills. She said they feel the math olympiads were an important step in their success and want to ensure other young people get the same chance.
