Ukrainian natives Gregory Lyutko, left, and Walter Polowczak, relaxing at Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden in Santa Barbara, have organized local demonstrations in support of Ukraine.
Gregory Lyutko and Walter Polowczak were both born in Ukraine just a few years and a few hundred kilometers apart.
But now, the two men have found themselves settled in Santa Barbara with their longtime friendship propelling them on a mission: to raise awareness and aid for Ukrainians who have become refugees seemingly overnight as Russia continues to aggressively invade their country.
Mr. Lyutko and Mr. Polowczak have organized two demonstrations in Santa Barbara with another planned at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse Sunken Garden Sunday.
With family and friends still in Ukraine in the midst of the conflict, both men are particularly concerned about the refugees — and their future.
“At this rate, Ukraine is literally being annihilated,” Mr. Polowczak, 65, told the News-Press. “Irrespective of how this whole thing gets resolved, what are they going to go back to? There are no homes, no economy. In many cases, these are women with children because their husbands are fighting the war.”
Mr. Lyutko moved to Santa Barbara more than 30 years ago with his wife and two children from a part of Ukraine still under the control of the Soviet Union at the time to pursue freedom. Among countless other family members, he has five siblings currently in Ukraine who he speaks with every morning.
So far, Mr. Lyutko said, his family is OK but has sought protection in bomb shelters as they hide “from Russian aggression.”
“I feel the sorrow and suffering of the Ukrainian people. My sympathy to all Ukrainian people, including my relatives,” Mr. Lyutko, 60, told the News-Press.
And aside from his family, Mr. Polowczack communicates almost daily with a seminary that has turned into a refugee center.
Before Russia’s invasion, Mr. Polowczak was traveling extensively to Ukraine as he is involved with charity and missions work. He moved to the Chicago area in 1968 when he was 12 years old and continues to split his time between Santa Barbara and Chicago. In fact, Mr. Polowczak met his wife, who also immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine, in Chicago through the church.
Mr. Polowczak urged lawmakers for financial support of the Ukrainian people as well as divestment from Russian oil.
“We still continue to buy Russian oil. That needs to stop. The war is being financed with $1 billion a day of oil and gas being purchased by the world,” Mr. Polowczak said. “Obviously, that can’t continue.”
As the days pass, Mr. Polowczak grows increasingly concerned about the ramifications of the invasion and refugee crisis. The European Union has estimated up to 4 million Ukrainian people could attempt to flee their country.
During his first State of the Union address Tuesday evening, President Joe Biden committed to aiding the Ukrainians through economic, humanitarian and military assistance along with more than $1 billion in direct aid. President Biden said the U.S. will continue to help “ease their suffering.”
“The world has been realigned literally six days ago, and it can never go back. It’s not possible,” Mr. Polowczak said. “It’s not just my story or Ukraine’s now. The implications go way beyond Ukraine.”
email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
