Thanks to CHS reader Ryan for the pictures from Tuesday night
UPDATE: An organizer says the RANDOM group representing pro-democracy Russians in Seattle was also part of the protest
A march and protest targeting the Russian Community Center on Capitol Hill Tuesday night was a reminder that war in Ukraine has now been raging for over a year and that the impacts from the conflict can be felt as far away as 19th Ave E.
“Our rally serves as a powerful reminder of the immense sacrifices made during World War II and the ongoing conflicts, such as the one in Ukraine,” the event posting promoted by the Ukrainian Association of Washington State read. “We gather to honor the memories of those who bravely fought against the horrors of Nazism, which inflicted tremendous pain and suffering upon the world. Today, Ukraine finds itself battling against Russia, a nation driven by imperialistic ambitions reminiscent of Hitler’s Nazism and Stalinism, but now manifested in a modern form—rusсism.”
UPDATE 5/15/2023: A representative for the Russian Action Network– RANDOM, an organization of pro-democracy Russians in Seattle, tells CHS the group was also part of the protest. Agata Ianturina says the group had been targeting the Victory Day party on May 9th but also screenings of “Soviet films related to WWII” that were being shown at the center.
Pictures from Tuesday night in front of the 19th Ave E center show a crowd carrying blue and yellow Ukrainian flags as well as a Russian flag and signs gathered and engaging with sometimes spirited argument with center director Vladimir Kirsanov and organizers of a Victory Day event at the facility.
May 9th is the Russian Victory Day holiday marking the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
War in Ukraine has raged since the February 2022 invasion by Russia. The conflict has dragged on and can be felt in Seattle from its economic impact and efforts to help refugees and Ukrainian communities in the Puget Sound. Last March, a light art installation illuminated the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park in a show of support for the Ukrainian people. Meanwhile, chilly USA-Russia relations have led to diplomatic skirmishes like the ongoing shuttering of Seattle’s Russian Consular Residence on E Madison.
Tuesday’s demonstration was one of the most clear signs that the war’s impact here will continue to be felt.
The Russian Community Center’s presence on 19th Ave E just south of E Aloha began in 1960 and the onetime Roycroft Theater cinema remains the organization’s home for events and meetings involving the area’s Russian communities and other local events like swing dancing and music.
CHS’s inquiries about this week’s protest and efforts to reach out to the nonprofit that runs the community center in recent months have gone unanswered.
Here is the full statement from the “United to stop Russia” event:
Our rally serves as a powerful reminder of the immense sacrifices made during World War II and the ongoing conflicts, such as the one in Ukraine. We gather to honor the memories of those who bravely fought against the horrors of Nazism, which inflicted tremendous pain and suffering upon the world. Today, Ukraine finds itself battling against Russia, a nation driven by imperialistic ambitions reminiscent of Hitler’s Nazism and Stalinism, but now manifested in a modern form—rusсism.
In reflecting on history, we recognize that the triumph of the Allied forces, including the United States, Great Britain, France, Poland, Ukraine and others, played a pivotal role in defeating the forces of aggression. Similarly, we believe that today, Ukraine needs the unwavering support of the United States and the entire civilized world to prevail and put an end to Russia’s encroachment.
Let us unite in solidarity and offer our support to Ukraine as they face these challenges. Together, we can create a resounding message that imperialism and aggression will not prevail in our modern world. By standing alongside Ukraine, we send a clear signal that the values of freedom, justice, and peace will triumph over oppressive forces!
HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.
Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.
why are Russian Americans who have lived in the US for years culpable for the actions of the Putin government? this is completely unnecessary.
Because not only do they support and applaud said government, they actually are funded by the embassy
The Russian government’s actions in Ukraine are atrocious, unethical, and likely criminal. However, it doesn’t make sense to target a community center. Please separate a corrupt government’s actions from its people’s culture.
Moreover, when doing a comparative analysis of proximity to power and conduits of power, it just doesn’t pencil out as anything beyond affirmation for those who support Ukraine repelling the Russian invasion.
One of the things that sucks about this discourse and its framework is so many can not differentiate a method, means and mode between demonstrations, protests and riots when pursued by disparate groups who do so. We could do a lot of comparative and differential analysis but basically 90% of folks who waltz in want to deploy a principle of action and deconstruct any action from the principle on down. And yeah, it basically always winds up being some pitch for shutting up about it or pouring everything into a vote for a representative who bungles it one way or another, no matter the pressure applied and leverage held.
Do they think the community center is the Russian embassy?
I have seen several pro-Russian graffiti tags and posters around Capitol Hill. Some of them are subtle (“Peace in Ukraine”, with the fine print giving it away) and some of them are…less subtle (Crudely spraypainted hammer and sickle with FUCK NATO written under it).
Russia has long relied on “useful idiots” in the US to spread their propaganda (where do you think the “CIA invented AIDS” conspiracy theory came from?)
There seem to be a fair number of American leftists who have spent so many years protesting US misbehavior overseas that it has become a reflex, and now they can’t quite get their heads around this unusual situation where the US government is for once *not* playing the part of the evil empire.
Where is the Russian community in Seattle? Why are they not protesting this war? They could use their community center as a center to help Ukrainian refugees. They could use their voices to support U.S. backing of Ukraine. Instead, they are silent. This is not Putin’s war, this is Russia’s war.
This russian center is pro-putin, with members applauding and supporting the war and putting happy pictures when some Ukrainian city is bombed.