Greater Newburyport residents, officials condemn attacks on Ukraine

Feb. 25—AMESBURY — Local residents and officials are condemning Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a "special military operation" in Ukraine, sending troops and tanks from multiple directions, launching airstrikes on cities and seizing control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Amesbury resident Ski Iworski said his grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine in 1910.

Iworski is a U.S. Marine veteran who served in Vietnam and is a member of Ukrainian American Veterans Post 31 in Boston.

Iworski said the situation in Ukraine has him very concerned.

"I don't have any known relatives in the Ukraine right now. But I do have about 50 Ukrainian Facebook friends," Iworski said. "A lot of them are military people and one of them posted that her son was on the front lines the other day. She was asking for prayers for her son. She only has the one son. I am certainly really worried for those people. I fear for them."

Iworski added that the photos and video of devastation he is seeing from Ukraine is unprecedented.

"I have never seen anything like this," Iworski said. "They are just going to destroy the country. They are going to destroy the economy, they are going to destroy all of their military defensive capabilities. They will just make the country not able to support itself."

Iworski said if Russia were to threaten nuclear retaliation or aggression of any kind, the U.S. would need to get involved.

"The tanks are up to Chernobyl and there is concern that they might blow up the nuclear plant, which would send a nuclear cloud over Europe," Iworski said. "If it gets to that, things are just going to escalate and escalate. Being in the military, I don't want to see any Americans die again in another war. But this is just escalating and we have to stop it."

Iworski added, that in his mind, Putin is no different than Genghis Khan or Napoleon.

"All these people just want to go into other countries and kill everybody just for their own self-satisfaction," Iworski said. "That's what scares me. Putin is an X-factor to me. We don't know what his final goal is. I am really, really frightened as to where this could escalate to."

Salisbury resident John Housianitis, a former history teacher as well as a member of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Newburyport, said, "Clearly, this is an appalling aggression against a democratic nation. It has to be pushed back upon. This cannot stand."

Housianitis said Feb. 24, 2022, reminds him a lot of Sept. 1, 1939.

"That was when Germany invaded Poland and that ended up being the beginning of World War II," Housianitis said. "Unless the West and NATO properly respond and isolate through sanctions and whatever else can be done, I am very concerned. Putin's actions are typical of a despot and an autocrat. He never tells you what he wants and why he is doing it. Thankfully, NATO and the United States are locked in arms against this act of aggression."

Dr. Ahmer Ibrahim, chair of the Newburyport Human Rights Commission and a member of the Newburyport Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Alliance, explained that there is a feeling of shock and helplessness after seeing what's happening via the news.

Ibrahim, a local gastroenterologist, works with a Ukrainian anesthesiologist who he had the opportunity to speak with Thursday about what she has been hearing and how her family is doing.

For this anesthesiologist, it was comforting just to receive simple text messages from friends, checking in on her and her family.

Ibrahim noted that this is one example of how people can respond to these attacks.

"If you know anybody that has connections to the Ukraine, just reach out and check on them and give them moral support," he said.

"Those little things certainly do, in the short term, make a difference to individuals that are here," Ibrahim said.

As far as other community actions, Ibrahim said it's a bit early to know what needs people will have, "meaning, what is the degree of human suffering that is going to happen?"

He noted how Newburyport has stepped up to assist others in the past, including recently by helping to resettle Afghan refugees in the community.

Ibrahim's anesthesiologist friend planned to check in with her family in Ukraine to see what needs there may be as people are displaced and in need of different types of humanitarian aid.

"We really don't know what we can do right now because we don't know what they need there," he said.

The next question will also be whether it would be more helpful to gather donations here and ship them or to send money to international aid groups, which could get supplies to people more quickly, Ibrahim explained.

The Rev. Joan MacPherson, pastor of Main Street Congregational Church in Amesbury, said she was saddened to see that violence and domination still continue in the world.

"I'm broken-hearted," MacPherson said.

The Rev. Rebecca Bryan, minister of the First Religious Society, Unitarian Universalist Church in Newburyport and a member of the Newburyport DEI Alliance and the Seacoast Interfaith Clergy Association, said an anti-war stance resides deep within her faith.

"This war is an assault on democracy," Bryan said. "It is a crime against humanity and it is wrong. It is wrong. We need to be praying for peace in our hearts and acting for peace in our world."

In her weekly Facebook Live appearance Thursday evening, Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove noted that she typically focuses on local matters, "but there's a lot going on in the world right now."

While some families are enjoying school vacation week, "We have neighbors who have family members who are getting on planes for different reasons," Gove said. "So, I want to thank our service members and their families for their sacrifice."

Though she did not specifically refer to the attacks on Ukraine, the mayor suggested that people reach out to service members in the community to offer support.

"They are boarding planes and traveling right now for very different reasons and are very nervous and scared on a day like today," Gove said.