Ukrainians stage rally against Russian propaganda in New York
Ukrainian activists in New York came out to a rally protesting the international influence of Russian propaganda.
That’s according to BBC News Ukraine, Ukrinform reports..
"Ukrainian activists are rallying against Russian propaganda in the center of New York," reads the posting on Instagram.
The rally-performance as organized by the Svitanok.nyc nonprofit.
"Silence kills and creates space for manipulation, ignorance and spread of poisonous Russian propaganda. This propaganda is among us, it is already here in America. The Russians use culture as weapons," the organization said. And they add that Ukrainians do not have to remain silent.
Therefore, Ukrainian activists went to a rally to show Americans a true face of the Russian Federation.
The participants of the action kept posters with the inscriptions saying Russia is a terrorist state who kills civilians, and photos with evidence of Russian aggression.
"Today we came to say that Russia is a terrorist state. Especially given that their missiles hit Odesa, killing our people. Therefore, their culture directly kills people," said Svitanok.nyc President Oleksandr Taran.
The participants sang, danced, and treated passers-by to samovar tea.
"It hurts. It hurts to apply a tricolor of hell on my face. To put on a hen of death on my head and to get in a costume of cannibal of the 21st century. I am betraying myself, but I am also saving my people so I go on," the organizer, Hanka Smyrnova, said.
The organizers of the action also noted the support from locals and assistance from police in holding the rally.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the second anniversary of the Russian strike that killed hundreds of civilians sheltering in the Mariupol Drama Theater stressed that every Russian murdered must be held accountable for the crimes committed.