Former Presidents Invoice Clinton and George W. Bush visited a Ukrainian Church in Chicago collectively on Friday in a present of solidarity for the nation amid the Russian invasion.
The ex-presidents every laid bouquets of sunflowers – Ukraine’s nationwide flower – at Saints Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, situated in the course of the Windy Metropolis’s vibrant Ukrainian Village neighborhood.
“America stands united with the folks of Ukraine of their struggle for freedom and towards oppression,” each Clinton and Bush posted on their respective social media accounts.
The home of worship thanked the previous presidents for the go to in a Facebook post.
A video shared by Clinton and Bush famous that the US has maintained diplomatic relations with Ukraine since 1991, when it grew to become impartial from the Soviet Union.
“Presidents Clinton and Bush labored to help Ukraine’s democratic establishments,” the clip says. “Each former presidents have referred to as upon People to face with Ukraine.”
An unnamed church member says within the video that the flowers “say ‘in solidarity’ or in Ukrainian ‘солідарно.’”
“They signify the wrestle for freedom, which as we speak are the colours of blue and yellow,” the person says. “Blue for sky, yellow for wheat, as Ukraine is the breadbasket of Europe and now Ukraine is the citadel of combating for freedom.”
Chicago is the sister metropolis of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. The Illinois metropolis has greater than 50,000 residents claiming Ukrainian ancestry, according to an Axios report, the second most of any metropolis within the nation after New York Metropolis.
Practically 3.3 million folks have fled Ukraine, since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, whereas a further 6.5 million have left their houses for different elements of the nation, in response to the United Nations.
Get the latest updates in the Russia-Ukraine conflict with The Post’s live coverage.
The dying toll stays unclear, although hundreds of civilians, and troopers on each side, are believed to have been killed.
