CLEVELAND — The front lines of war are familiar to Nazarii Khalorskyi, who served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine twice.
“It was like a two stage or war. The first stage was the active stage, it was 2014, 2015,” he said. “... And then the big invasion start in 2022.”
Khalorskyi said he knows first-hand the toll that war can take, having lost countless friends and family members over the years.
“I have like a piece of paper when I want to write everyone, which I know, and don’t forget them,” Khalorskyi said. “But after 2022, every week someone died, not died. They [were] killed by Russians. And, the last time, I didn’t want to write anymore because it was too much.”
Now, he is one of thousands of Ukrainian Americans living in northeast Ohio, keeping a close eye on ceasefire developments abroad.
The developments follow Trump meeting with his counterparts from Russia and Ukraine who on Wednesday agreed to a limited ceasefire between the two countries. Still, leaders in both countries have accused the other of launching attacks since having peace talks with the U.S.
While details of the plan remain to be discussed in the coming days, Kharolskyvi said he isn’t convinced there is a permanent solution on the horizon.
“President Trump talking with President Zelenskyy, [and] after two hours they start bombing Ukraine again,” Kharolskyvi said.
He isn’t the only one expressing concerns about the partial ceasefire pledge.
“The Ukrainian community tells me that they are interested in the end of the war. Of course everyone is. And they just want to make sure that no conversations about Ukraine happen without Ukrainian input,” said Zachary Nelson, the program director at Global Cleveland.
Nelson said he works with newcomers from all over the world, and a growing number of them have been coming from Ukraine.
“The 15,000 Ukrainians who moved here in the past three years have arrived because of the war in Ukraine,” Nelson said. “They have mostly come under the federal program Uniting for Ukraine.”
Temporary protected status for Ukrainians is now in limbo, after Trump said earlier this month that he’s considering revoking it.
Khalorskyi said the Ukrainian community in northeast Ohio has stood strong together in the last few years. Now, he said, they’re pushing for a unified solution.
“We [are in a] ceasefire, in this position, which we have now,” Khalorskyi said. “But we need the guarantee of that it never happens again. [That] war doesn’t happen next year, or two years or in the future.”
In the end, he said they’re hoping for a permanent peace, justice and stability.
“The most important thing that everyone wants, that this war must be stopped,” he said “Because… I think maybe every family in Ukraine [has] lost somebody.”
