Saturday marked two years since the Russia-Ukraine war began, and people gathered in Balboa Park on Sunday to commemorate the anniversary.
“This weekend is particularly important because it’s the two-year anniversary of the full-scale invasion, and it’s a date that is now unfortunately burned into everyone’s memory and conscience,” Konstantin Dubovenko, a volunteer at the pro-Ukrainian event, said.
People sang, carried flags and spoke about how the war is impacting people in Ukraine and around the world.
The anniversary comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for support to help defend against Russia.
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Zelenskyy said during an interview with NBC News that the war will continue if allies don't help.
“If the world will not stop him (Russian President Vladimir Putin), he will do it till 2030,” Zelenskyy said
The U.S. Senate passed a $95 billion national security package that included aid for Ukraine.
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The future of aid to Ukraine is uncertain as it faces hurdles in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The mandate of national security supplemental legislation was to secure America’s own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world. It is what the American people demand and deserve. Now, in the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work on its own will on these important matters,” Speaker Mike Johnson said in an X post.
People at the rally in Balboa Park said they want an aid package passed soon.
“They’re really playing games with the lives of people. They’re using what’s happening in Ukraine and what’s happening with Israel and Palestine as coins to bargain with each other,” Inna Kanevsky, another volunteer at the pro-Ukrainian event, said.
“What I truly hope is that the democratic world wins. I hope that freedom for all people wins,” Dubovenko said.
