Members of San Diego’s Belarusian community made their feelings towards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine loud and clear during a demonstration in Balboa Park on Saturday.
“We love Ukrainians and we want everybody to show that Lukashenko and the Belarusian people are not the same.” said Dmitry Skorobogaty, who helped organize the march.
Around 40 people attended the event, which also coincided with the 105th anniversary of Belarus’ independence.
Saturday’s protest may have been arranged by local Belarusians, but their Ukrainian friends got behind it, too.
Konstantin Dubovenko — who is originally from Kiev — was one of them.
“The sooner the people unite around democracy, around freedom, around Ukrainian victory, I think the better the long-term outcome is going to be,” Dubvenko said.
Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin was condemned by NATO for his decision to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine.
The Belarusian regime has close ties with the Kremlin and supports the invasion.
Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko's re-election in 2020 sparked international outrage. He's been in power for almost 30 years, making him Europe’s longest serving leader.
But despite the actions of his government, the actions of ordinary Belarusians and Ukrainians give Skorobogaty hope.
“We came together, shoulder to shoulder, carrying our big flag together. It’s very nice to be united against evil,” he said.
