All tagged Ukraine

"Flood Apple Stores"

On the first day of iPhone 16 availability, I attended a demonstration outside the Michigan Avenue Apple Store. The demonstrators were calling out Apple for not sufficiently policing the mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that produce the cobalt used in lithium batteries. Here are my thoughts and images from the demonstration.

IMTS Protest

Members of Chicago's Ukrainian Community demonstrated outside McCormick Place at the International Manufacturing Technology Show on Monday, expressing their concern that some products manufactured by companies exhibiting at the show are finding their way to the Russian defense industry. Here are my thoughts about and images from the demonstration.

OKHMATDYT Bombing

Chicago’s Ukrainian Community gathered in the Wrigley Building Plaza just hours after Russia bombed Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital—about as close to a just-in-time demonstration as can you can get. It was an impressive showing. Here are my thoughts about and images from the rally and subsequent march that drew over 500 people on a muggy summer evening.

Opposing Putin

Members of Chicago’s Russian émigré community came together Saturday to celebrate Ilya Yashin’s 41st birthday. Yashin is a Russian dissident who spoke out against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. A close associate of the late Alexei Navalny, Yeshin is now serving a prison sentence in a Siberian prison. Here are my thoughts about and images from the demonstration—one of the many coordinated demonstrations around the world.

Calling Out Mondelēz

Members of Chicago’s Ukrainian Community held a rally outside the Wrigley Building on May 18, 2024, the location of Mondelēz International’s offices. The company is the maker of Oreo Cookies and Ritz Crackers, among other well-know snack foods. They continue to operate inside Russia, which is why the Ukrainians were demanding that Mondelēz put humanitarian concerns above profits. Here are my thoughts about and images from the rally and subsequent march.

Captivity Kills

A small, but potent group of Ukrainians took to the streets today, as they have done two other times during the last month or so. Loud chants of “Thank You USA” could be heard as those holding Ukrainian flags and signs celebrated the House approval of the $60 billion Ukrainian aid package. Here are my thoughts about and images from the demonstration.

In Memoriam

Friday, February 16, 2024 will go down in history as a dark day, particularly for the Russian People. Tonight, Chicago’s Russian Community to pay tribute to Alexei Navalny in what proved to be a solemn memorial for another one of Vladimir Putin’s victims. Here are my thoughts about and images from the evening.

Remembering Azovstal

This past Sunday, I attended an unusually small demonstration by members of Chicago’s Ukrainian Community. Some in attendance were recent émigrés. They were demanding that Russia release 500 prisoners who surrendered following the siege of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol, Ukraine. Here are my thoughts about and images from the demonstration.