More than 100 people rallied on the corner of State and Anapamu streets Saturday to draw attention to the two-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
“People lost their homes, they lost their loved ones, they lost their children, people were kidnapped, raped, jailed,” said Tatyana Taruta, a Ukranian-American. “Things that are hard to imagine happened to Ukrainian people, peaceful people, for no reason, with no aggression from our side, only because Russia doesn’t like democracy and freedom and only because one day someone in the Kremlin woke up and decided sovereign states should be part of Russia.”
The event was disrupted just as it began by Omar Figueredo, co-chair of the Central Coast Antiwar Coalition. Figueredo is an activist who has called for a cease-fire in Gaza and has spoken at several local events. As soon as Das Williams, First District Santa Barbara County Supervisor, kicked off the rally, Figueredo yelled “cease fire now, peace in Ukraine.”
Williams was thrown off a bit, and at one point looked at Figueredo and said, “Do you believe in free speech, sir?”
After collecting himself, Williams resumed his comments.
“We are here on a day of obvious sadness as the war continues,” Williams said.
He added later, “we need to keep on asking our federal representatives to support aid to Ukraine. Peace cannot be achieved without Ukraine having the ability to defend itself.”
Taruta cited dozens of statistics to drive home the impact of the war.
She said 528 kids were killed and 19,000 kidnapped and taken to Russia since the war began.
“This is a war against tyranny and freedom,” she said.
Although the activists tried to ignore Figueredo, they were not able to deny his presence at the event. Many in the crowd shouted back at him, and Figueredo refused to leave. At one point, District Attorney John Savrnoch put down the microphone and called the crowd into a tight circle.
“I am a student of reason,” Savrnoch said. “I have spent my career in the criminal justice system. The one thing you learn is the people who shout the loudest have the least to say. The more attention you give to people shouting louder, the more they like it. It’s not going to stop our message.”
Savrnoch called Vladimir Putin “an evil dictator” who invaded the independent nation of Ukraine.
“An entire city was wiped off the face of the planet just to satisfy the egomaniacal whims of the psychopathic dictator of an oppressive state,” Savrnoch said.
He said he is dismayed on a daily basis “by the injustice of Putin’s unjustifiable war against Ukraine.”
Also in attendance was Santa Barbara City Councilman Oscar Gutierrez, who addressed Figueredo indirectly.
“The majority of the people in Santa Barbara want peace,” Gutierrez said. “We are here to support that and make sure that you all have the freedom to demonstrate and support your causes without fear of retribution like other countries have. That’s the irony about what some people are doing now is that they wouldn’t be able to get away with this in other countries.”
Figueredo, contacted by Noozhawk after the event, said, “Today I was calling for a cease-fire and negotiations in Ukraine, but I’m always also calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.”
Tatyana Marchenko, originally from Mykolaiv, also spoke at the event.
“Two years ago the terrible war was started and the war is still going on,” Marchenko said. “Unfortunately, people are still dying. Children are still suffering.”
She said she is proud of all the Americans who have stood up to support and donate money for Ukrainian causes, including children. She thanked the organization World Dance For Humanity for raising money for Ukraine.
“We were really alone at the beginning of the war, but then we met wonderful society here, wonderful American society, hundreds of people with a great heart,” Marchenko said.
