Sep 27

Sep 27 Oleshky

Chicago, Demonstrations, Donald J. Trump, Performance, Protest, Public Declarations, Ukraine

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, perfect for a demonstration. Plenty of sunshine, with the temperatures signaling that fall has arrived in Chicago.

Sixty-six (66) members of Chicago’s Ukrainian Community showed up outside the Wrigley Building, hoping to keep Russia’s illegal effort to annex Ukraine in the spotlight. The Ukrainians now face a classic problem. Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war crimes, after four-and-a-half year, the public has largely forgotten the plight of the Ukrainian people.

The demonstrators hoped to remind those shopping on Michigan Avenue that Ukraine is fighting for its survival. Sadly, most pedestrians took little notice of what was happening in front of the Wrigley Building and their eyes.

I don’t know who sounded the alarm today, but Ukrainian stalwart Zoryana Smozhanyk clearly was functioning as the commander, particularly as she gave an impassioned speech with bullhorn in hand. This was the first of four demonstrations on successive Sundays.

Chicago’s Ukrainians are probably the best in the business when it comes to visuals. Once again, they hit a home run today. When I arrived, I saw a group of bound “prisoners” standing inside a pen constructed with white wood posts and simulated barbed wire fencing. Many of the prisoners had what appeared to be electrical tape covering their mouths, with “Oleshky” written on it. Others outside the pen held signs reading “All Eyes on Oleshky.” The logical question: What’s happening in Oleshky? I knew whatever the answer, it wasn’t good.

Oleshky is a city east of Odessa that was home to 24,000 Ukrainians before Russia invaded the city at the start of the war. According to the Ukrainian government, only 6,000 citizens remain, including 200 children. The Russians are apparently “hunting” civilians using drones. The BBC reported that on September 20, 2026, a drone attacked and killed a couple who were carrying a bag of food that they had obtained in the relatively nearby town of Radensk, which is just 14 miles from Oleshky. Imagine having to walk 14 miles for a single bag of groceries.

To stave off a famine, the Ukrainian military has used drones to drop four tons of much needed food. The circumstances are so bad in Oleshky that the civilians have taken to eating weeds in order to survive the Russian-imposed famine. In theory, those food drops would buy the civilians another month of survival, but the Russians seized some of those supplies. Even Russia has acknowledged that the civilians face life-threatening shortages of food and medicine, claiming that Russian forces are addressing those shortages.

Today, several demonstrators held signs demanding that the Russians open a humanitarian corridor. The need for the corridor is obvious, given that Ukrainian officials have reported that the Russians laid landmines along what would otherwise be the exit route. One 70-year-old woman who made a six-hour trek to escape Oleshky reported that people have relied on potatoes and garlic as their source of nutrition before looking to weeds.

Residents have reported that despite the desolation, the Russians continue to shell the area surrounding Oleshky, resulting in death, and for the “lucky” ones, just the loss of limbs.

Sadly, Oleshky is just one in a long list of locations and incidents that have sparked demonstrations in Chicago since the start of the war. Hopefully, today’s will be the last demonstration naming a particular city or location, but that is unlikely. Donald J. Trump did not end the war in Ukraine on his first day in office, as he promised to do. In fact, Ukrainians can make a very good case that he has largely forgotten about the conflict, or more likely, chose to ignore the war in order to win favor with Putin.

Today’s demonstration last no more than 90 minutes. I look forward to seeing what Chicago’s Ukrainians have in store for next Sunday. Maybe the Ukrainian K-Pop All-Stars.

Photographer’s Note: I chose to photograph today’s demonstration with two Leica Monocrhom cameras—in other words in black and white. Given the bright afternoon sunlight, the photographs are high contrast images, which makes them both severe and fun.

Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]