‘Fighting for our life’. Tri-City Ukrainians struggle with sudden shift in support
Olga Strand didn’t want flowers, chocolates or a fancy present for her 15th wedding anniversary.
Instead, the Tri-Cities mother wanted money to send drones to soldiers fighting to defend her home country.
“It’s hard to explain to people what Ukrainians feel, but I appreciate when people are listening and understand that us Ukrainians are fighting for our life,” Strand said.
Last month marked three years since Russia launched its full-scale military incursion into Ukraine, a somber anniversary for the beleaguered Slavic nation.
In that time hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians have died or have been injured, and millions have been displaced. It’s also evolved from a flash in the pan to a slow, grinding conflict based heavily on drone warfare.
Thousands of Tri-City Ukrainians meanwhile have watched helplessly as their communities and home country are torn apart by bullets, bombing and artillery. Sleepless nights and tears continue to be the daily norm for them, as text messages come and go from relatives back in their homeland.
But progress was made this week as senior U.S. and Ukraine officials agreed to resume intelligence sharing and aid, and agreed to a 30-day ceasefire if Russia accepted the plan. They also agreed to pick back up on a mineral resources agreement that was left on the table weeks ago in the Oval Office.
While hope stands strong for a ceasefire, locals say a chilling effect has set in for support for the country.
“If you come out as a supporter for Ukraine, you’re immediately viewed as anti-American or pro-corruption,” said Vladimir Savchuk, lead pastor of HungryGen Church in Pasco, in a text message to the Herald.
Supporters of Ukraine don’t always agree with what the government says or does, he said.
Savchuk — who’s originally from Lutsk, Ukraine, and has ties to Russia — has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Ukrainian relief efforts through his nonprofit, and he and his family have done boots-on-the-ground work in Europe helping refugees.
On YouTube, Savchuk provides sermons and preaches to his nearly 2 million subscribers.
As President Donald Trump began spreading false statements about Ukraine and its relation to the war in recent weeks, Savchuk took to his followers in a live stream to address claims and ask people to pray for peace.
Savchuk said Ukraine is defending itself from Russian oppression. He went on to compare Ukraine and Russia to two brothers fighting, specifically Cain and Abel, the first two sons of Adam and Eve.
“Families are being torn apart. Languages and histories are intertwined, and what we are seeing is literally a slaughtering of one brother against another. It’s painful, it is wrong and we condemn that,” he said in the video.
“Unjust wars, unjust bloodshed brings God’s judgment. And we can’t call something good (which) God calls evil,” Savchuk concluded.
‘It’s stressful, it’s just shocking’
Modern conflict between the two countries began in 2014, following Russia’s annexation and occupation of the Crimean Peninsula.
The neighboring Kherson region is where Strand, 40, was born and it’s where her family has called home. It was an early front line and was occupied for a time by Russian troops in 2022.
Strand left home for the U.S. before the war, when she was 25, but showed photos she’s been sent of desolate homes, schools and bridges.
Her Facebook feed is full of daily news and visuals, of her neighbors, friends, former classmates living life through disaster and destruction. People cannot find work, housing or food, she said.
Some days, the news from back home is unbearable. Life the last three years has been a roller coaster — and it feels like she can never donate enough to her community back home.
Strand says she struggles with survivors guilt, too.
“It’s stressful, it’s just shocking. Probably changing my personality, too,” she said. “I started having anxiety, having bad sleep. Everybody who cares about Ukraine is having these symptoms.”
Her mother, who hid in a basement from the daily shelling, was evacuated from Kherson two months into the war. She left behind many belongings, as well as her boyfriend, and Strand worries she may never return to her home.
Her mother touching down in SeaTac on April 25, 2022, was a brief moment of relief, but Strand still worries for her family back home, some of whom may have been taken by the Kremlin.
“If Ukraine will fall, it’s not going to stop the war. It’s going to create more deaths,” she said.
Thomas Preston, a doctorate C.O. Johnson distinguished professor of political science at Washington State University, said cutting off U.S. aid would “greatly accelerate” Ukraine’s downfall and be a “historic level of betrayal of a U.S. ally.”
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin plays the long game, and this is something Americans don’t understand. Putin knows the longer this goes on, the more it advantages Russia,” Preston said.
“I think we’re at a tipping point where if the U.S. withholds support at this critical juncture, it’s too late — and you can’t just wave a magic wand and fix it later,” he added later.
Putin has famously called the the collapse of the Soviet Union the greatest tragedy of the 21st century, Preston said, and he has intentions to expand Russia and bring former Soviet nations back into the fold.
These types of international conflicts rarely remain overseas, and can have both economic and national security repercussions on American life. Preston mentioned the 1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11 attacks.
“They eventually come knocking on your doors,” he said.
Trump’s temporary pausing of intelligence and aid has so far been “incredibly damaging,” Preston said, and could have disastrous consequences if the war continues to slog on.
Eastern WA lawmakers react to Trump-Zelenskyy spat
It’s difficult to estimate the true number of Ukrainians who call the Tri-Cities home, although church leaders have placed the number at about 5,000.
Eastern Washington has been a hotbed of Slavic immigration since the Soviet Union began fracturing in the late 1980s, with families moving first in response to religious persecution and later due to economic factors, reports the Spokesman Review.
Washington state lawmakers hope the Trump Administration can find a way towards a ceasefire after the Republican president and his allies berated Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a televised Oval Office meeting.
Zelenskyy has called the Feb. 28 spat “regrettable,” and said that an end to the war is likely “very, very far away.” Trump believes Zelenskyy isn’t serious about a peace deal, although U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week after fruitful discussions that the Ukrainian leader was “ready to stop shooting and start talking.”
“As a longstanding supporter of Ukraine’s right to defend their sovereignty, I was disappointed in the result of today’s meeting,” U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, wrote on Twitter/X.
“Ending the violence perpetrated by Putin and Russia on the sovereign nation should remain the goal, and I hope we can continue to work towards that together.”
Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, voiced support for the Slavic people after rumors circulated last week that the Trump Administration was considering revoking the temporary legal status of some 240,000 Ukrainians who had fled to the U.S. since 2022.
“Since the Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022, thousands of Ukrainians have fled their country and made Eastern Washington their home,” Baumgartner said in a statement.
“They’ve come to join our growing Ukrainian community. While I respect President Trump’s skill as a negotiator, and understand that his public stance may be a strategic move to push President Zelenskyy to sign the mineral rights agreement, we must not forget that Ukrainian refugees are fleeing a devastating war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, and are the very definition of what it means to be a refugee. Supporting Ukrainian refugees is in the best interest of the United States’ national security,” Baumgartner continued.
Washington Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell in separate statements rebuked Trump’s handling of the meeting and called on support for Ukraine and U.S. allies in Europe
“As I have said time and again, standing up for a strong and sovereign Ukraine in face of Putin’s aggression is not only the right thing to do, but it is squarely in America’s interest. As a U.S. Senator, I will continue to stand with Ukraine as they chart a path forward to protect their democracy and statehood,” Murray said.
Since 2022, Congress has earmarked more than $170 billion in military funding and war relief to assist Ukraine and other countries affected by the conflict, according to ABC News.
Those dollars have been dispersed in five legislative packages. Support was initially bipartisan, but more and more Republicans have spoken out in recent months that they feel the U.S. is doing too much to support Ukraine.
In addition to materiel that can’t be produced by European contractors, the U.S. has given the country long range artillery, ballistic missile systems, Stinger air-defense systems and anti-tank Javelins weapons, Preston said.
This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
