Boston’s Ukrainian community holds ‘Day of Unity and Support’

JAMAICA PLAIN — Sregii Pogoretskyi and his wife moved to the Boston area six months ago from Ukraine. While he considers them lucky to have gotten out, his worry this week, as the threat of a Russian invasion continues, is those left behind.

“I have a sibling and my parents,” he said. “My wife’s parents. So yeah, a lot of people there.”

Pogoretskyi was one of several dozen Ukrainians in Boston who gathered for a day of unity Sunday.

It started with a Memorial service at the Christ the King Church in Jamaica Plain, to remember those who died during political unrest eight years ago. And it ended with a motorcade to Boston’s World War Two memorial -- a reminder, for Ukrainians, of the tremendous losses that invasion can bring.

Among those killed during World War Two: at least 1.5 million Ukrainian Jews -- most of them shot to death and buried in mass graves.

Pogoretskyi said his relatives in Ukraine are nervous, in part, because they have no idea what’s going to happen.

“They cannot understand whom to believe,” he said. “It’s like an information war.”

As the motorcade was getting ready to leave the church, participants decorated their vehicles with the blue and yellow flag of the homeland. That made Ivanka Roberts feel proud.

“It’s uplifting,” she said. “I know it’s uplifting for all of us. We exist in pretty much every United States city and the world. So now we gather to show our support for Ukraine.”

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