‘Ukraine’s very survival is at stake’: How Ukrainian-Americans could influence the U.S. midterms
Global News
As far as U.S. support for Ukraine goes, there's a lot riding on the results of the midterm elections -- perhaps even the war itself.
Peter Fedynsky typically votes Republican, but in the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 8th, he’ll be casting his ballot for the Democrats.
And, he says, many members of his Ukrainian-American community are doing the same.
“They never voted for Democrats but they see that they must in this case, because Ukraine’s very survival is at stake,” Fedynsky said.
Fedynsky lives in the city of Parma, Ohio, nicknamed the ‘Perogi Pocket’ of America. The Cleveland suburb is home to the state’s largest Ukrainian community — around half of its 80,000 residents have Ukrainian heritage. In the heart of the city, called ‘Ukrainian Village,’ businesses fly Ukrainian flags, parishioners sing Ukrainian hymns and restaurants serve Ukrainian borscht.
While weighing a bag of deli meat at the local butcher shop, Lyuba Molotkovskiy’s smile dropped as she explained that her sister lives with a newborn near Kyiv. Their neighbourhood has been left badly damaged after it was hit by a Russian rocket.
“There’s no electricity there now. I don’t know how they’ll survive through the long wintertime,” Molotkovskiy said.
“It’s so dangerous. But what we can do?”