Meet the Ukrainians who could win it for Kamala

Kalyna is part of Stop Trump Save Ukraine, a campaigning group which was created “spontaneously” a few months ago by members of the Ukrainian diaspora in Pennsylvania and Michigan. The former is a swing state and, crucially,  home to the second largest Ukrainian population in the country.

Joe Biden won it last time by around 80,000 votes and, as speakers kept reminding attendees at the rally, there are 120,000 Ukrainians in Pennsylvania. If they were to mobilise and decisively turn against the Republicans, they could change the result of the election for the state, the country and, perhaps, even their homeland. 

If they fail, however, a Trump win may well lead to their home country losing the war for good. Earlier this month, the Republican candidate blamed Volodymyr Zelenskiy for both starting the conflict and refusing to end it. Back in 2022, his VP pick JD Vance famously said that he “[didn’t] really care what happens to Ukraine, one way or the other.”

Were Trump to win again, it is a virtual certainty that American contributions to the Ukrainian war effort would be dramatically lowered, if not stopped entirely. A Republican White House would also be likely to push Ukraine into handing a portion of its territory over to Russia. Still, old habits die hard, and the Ukrainian diaspora hasn’t exactly been known for its liberal slant.

“Traditionally, the Ukrainian community has been very conservative, and that goes back to the opposition to communism in the Republican Party under Reagan” Ilya Knizhnik, one of the event’s organisers, told me. “But the current Republican Party has very much flipped that. At this point, they support Vladimir Putin, they support the autocratic communist regimes throughout the world, and they very much oppose the countries that want democracy.”

Or, as Pennsylvania state senator Sharif Street snappily put it to me afterwards, “it’s not in the tradition of the United States for us to have a president who’s functionally a useful idiot.”

This is why several of the speakers encouraged people to call their relatives, friends and loved ones, and try to get them to see the light. After all, the stakes couldn’t be higher. 

“I’m here because it’s a matter of life and death for us”, Ulana Mazurkevich told me. A striking figure dressed in bright yellow, she showed me the “tree of life” pattern on her dress, a traditional Ukrainian design and national symbol.

She wasn’t the only one who’d dressed for the occasion. A personal favourite was the man wearing a “Our Hearts Beet For Ukraine”, a nod to the country’s passion for borscht. Another attendee, meanwhile, seemed especially pleased with his MUGA t-shirt – Make Ukraine Great Again.

Another highlight on the day remained the mummers band, who led the crowd through the streets of the city. A proud Philadelphia tradition, the musicians had dressed in Ukrainian costumes for the day, and played some of the country’s traditional songs. The election is days away and the community has every reason to be biting their nails, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a bit of fun.

In fact, “that’s how we survive”, one of the speakers said at the rally, mentioning Ukraine’s culture, music and art. We’d just listened to YiYi, a traditional folk ensemble, and had been told that the mummers would shortly return to play more music. The contrast between the dour, dramatic speeches and musical interludes should have felt jarring but it didn’t. 

Volunteers were in for a long day – coaches were due to come pick them up and take them canvassing after the rally – and a long wait until they find out about the fate of their country. 

As Kalyna said, “We’re here today because every day Ukrainians continue to die. The least we can do here is support the candidate who backs Ukraine. No, we are not going back.”

120,000 people in Pennsylvania isn’t a whole lot, and Pennsylvania is only one state out of many but hey, what do you know? Bigger battles have been won by smaller troops. It’s always worth giving it a shot.