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‘Betrayal’: Ukrainian-Americans in Seattle slam Trump, prepare to protest

Feb 24, 2025, 8:30 AM | Updated: 11:06 am

Aftermath of a Russian missile attack on Lviv, Ukraine, Sept. 4, 2024. (Photo: Oleksandr Pshenychny...

Aftermath of a Russian missile attack on Lviv, Ukraine, Sept. 4, 2024. (Photo: Oleksandr Pshenychnyy)

(Photo: Oleksandr Pshenychnyy)

Updated on Feb. 24 with new information and new photos.

Ukrainian-Americans in Seattle are saddened, shocked and planning to protest after an apparent reversal of U.S. foreign policy on Ukraine by the Trump administration.

Over the past week, tensions between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have worsened, as Zelenskyy said Ukraine was not invited to American ceasefire talks with Russia and Trump labeled the Ukrainian leader a 鈥渄ictator.鈥

Zelenskyy responded, saying Trump lives in a bubble of 鈥渄isinformation.鈥

It marks a sudden and stark contrast from the Biden administration鈥檚 support, Ukrainian-Americans told 成人X站 Newsradio.

鈥淚t feels like a total betrayal by our country,鈥 said Anna, a Ukrainian-American living in Seattle for more than 10 years and a volunteer with the Ukraine Defense Support nonprofit.

Anna fears retaliation for her criticism and has requested 成人X站 Newsradio not disclose her last name.

鈥淣ow, U.S. is giving up on Ukraine, betraying Ukraine,鈥 she said, adding that her friends still in the war-torn nation worry over unsteady American support. 鈥淭his is painful at least, but also I have to stay strong to provide hope to people in Ukraine.鈥

She said she messages her friends there regularly. They sent her photos when her hometown was shelled.

鈥淢y dad is in Ukraine, my aunt and uncles are in Ukraine,鈥 she said. 鈥淓very time the [air raid] siren alert is happening in Ukraine, I know about that. My friends will tell me about that.鈥

Trump falsely claimed this week that Ukraine was to blame for starting the nearly-three-year-old war with Russia. It is a narrative commonly spread by the Russian government.

鈥淚t was shocking,鈥 said Oleg Pynda, executive director of the Ukrainian Community Center of Washington, which assists refugees in immigration. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe what I heard.鈥

The UCCW serves about 3,000 Ukrainian refugees per year from its office in Skyway, Pynda said. He estimates 23,000 Ukrainians have resettled in Washington State since the beginning of the war.

鈥淢any of those people, they have lost their homes 鈥 everything,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o now, this administration not providing assistance to Ukraine and putting in jeopardy the legal stay of those Ukrainians who are here temporarily 鈥 what is going to happen then? Are they going to lose their immigration status? Where should they go? Deport them to what country?鈥

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, initially calling it a 鈥渟pecial military operation.鈥 Eight years earlier, the Russian government annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

Aftermath of a Russian missile attack on Lviv, Ukraine, Sept. 4, 2024. (Photo: Oleksandr Pshenychnyy)

(Photo: Oleksandr Pshenychnyy)

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Ukrainian-Americans in Seattle Plan Protest Over U.S. Policy Shift

Pynda said he is just as worried now as he was then, but that from thousands of miles away and 35 months of war later, he still approves of Zelenskyy鈥檚 leadership.

鈥淗e does everything possible to do to support his country,鈥 he said. 鈥淗earing statements like he is a dictator, like he started the war 鈥 this is absurd.鈥

Conflicting reports surfaced Thursday in Ukrainian newspapers that U.S. weapons deliveries had been halted. One Ukrainian lawmaker told an interviewer companies involved in the sales were waiting on 鈥減olitical decisions,鈥 the Kyiv Post reported. Another lawmaker posted to Facebook denying that any deliveries had been stopped.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said he could not confirm the rumors.

鈥淚鈥檓 relying on headlines,鈥 he told 成人X站 Newsradio before criticizing Trump鈥檚 remarks as 鈥渆mbarrassing.鈥

鈥淚 travel around the world, I meet with presidents and foreign ministers and defense ministers,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t makes us look like clowns. It鈥檚 a real problem for the credibility of the United States on the national stage just in general. Specifically, it鈥檚 devastating to the fight to stop Putin 鈥 not just in Ukraine but in threatening Europe beyond Ukraine.鈥

Smith said he is concerned Trump may follow through with previous suggestions he would pull the United States out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO.

鈥淚t creates layers of confusion,鈥 Smith said.

Some of Trump鈥檚 supporters have cheered his recent tone toward Ukraine, pointing toward campaign promises to end the war. His critics, including some members of the Republican party, said his negotiations have surrendered too many demands to Russia but produced too few concessions.

Ukrainian-Americans like Pynda and Anna, meanwhile, grow more nervous for their family and friends still in Ukraine. They are both planning to join a Ukrainian support rally Sunday, marching from Pike Place Market to the Space Needle, in hopes to turn discontent into awareness.

鈥淪howing that we are going to fight and do what鈥檚 in our power to help them,鈥 Anna said.

Smith told 成人X站 Newsradio he agrees with their feelings of betrayal. He also plans to join the march.

Monday marks the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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Sam Campbell is a reporter, anchor and editor at 成人X站 Newsradio. You can read more of his stories聽here. Follow Sam on聽, or聽email him here.听听

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‘Betrayal’: Ukrainian-Americans in Seattle slam Trump, prepare to protest