‘Let’s stop killing our people’: Spokane crowd asks for peace in Ukraine on 1-year war anniversary of war

Over 100 people, bundled in coats and hands stuffed in their pockets at Riverfront Park, sang and prayed Friday for peace in Ukraine on the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of the European country .

Pastor Alexandr Kaprian asked God to make the leaders involved in the conflict “sit down and solve this problem without killing thousands of people.”

“Let’s solve it,” said Kaprian, pastor at Pilgrim Slavic Baptist Church in downtown Spokane. “Let’s stop killing our people.”

Kaprian and others who addressed the crowd Friday at the base of the Great Northern Clocktower spoke in English, Russian and Ukrainian to spread their message.

A couple people held blue and yellow Ukraine flags. Another attendee held a sign that said, “STOP WAR” over a blue and yellow background.

One man walked up the steps of the clocktower and waved the country’s flag during the performance of a Ukrainian song. Some in the crowd joined in singing.

Kaprian also prayed for the volunteers helping those in Ukrainian war zones and assisting refugees in Spokane. He said he left the Soviet Union 33 years ago to escape persecution.

“There’s lots of work,” he said. “We need to continue this work. We are one family.”

The Ukraine Relief Coalition in Spokane organized the gathering. The coalition helps people struggling in Ukraine, as well as refugees in Spokane, which already had a large Slavic population before the war.

Tanya Wann, a member of the coalition, told the crowd the organization last year sent about 10,000 pounds of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, thanks to donations from the Spokane community.

The aid included medical supplies, nonperishable food, clothes, hygiene items, flashlights and blankets, she said.

“People are amazing here,” Wann said. “Everyone came together and was a part of this.”

She said volunteers risked their lives delivering supplies to Ukrainians in need. One volunteer unknowingly transported supplies through a minefield. He was uninjured.

Greg Naker, one of the founders of Spokane Helps Ukraine, told The Spokesman-Review the gathering was “amazingly successful,” especially given the frigid temperature. The high was below freezing Friday.

“I’m thinking of the people in Ukraine that have to live in this (weather) and their homes are destroyed,” Naker said.