Ukrainians in Minnesota fearful of future following Trump remarks over Russia’s war on Ukraine

Minneapolis resident Oleksandr Klymyuk has been at a loss for words since he heard President Donald Trump falsely accuse Ukraine of starting the war with Russia and refusing to say if Vladimir Putin was a dictator.

Trump’s remarks — which came days before Monday’s three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — have since reverberated through Minnesota’s Ukrainian community, said Klymyuk, owner of Urban Spirits liquor store in northeast Minneapolis.

“I really don’t understand his turn towards Putin. My head just can’t fit it, and neither can all of the Ukrainian community in Northeast,” said Klymyuk, who immigrated from Ukraine 21 years ago. “It’s just [a] shock to us and to friends and family back home.”

Monday marked three years since Russia launched its invasion into Ukraine, escalating a war that began in 2014. At least 12,654 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the 2022 invasion, according to the United Nations' Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have also been killed.

On Monday, the United States split with its European allies in the United Nations General Assembly by joining Russia to vote against a Ukrainian resolution condemning Moscow’s aggression and demanding a withdrawal of Russian troops.

The repositioning of the United States under Trump is a dramatic reversal of three years of American policy toward Ukraine and has spooked some Minnesota Ukrainians who are worried about losing America as an ally.

“Everybody’s deeply concerned,” said Stephen Vitvitsky, director of strategy for Twin Cities group Stand With Ukraine Minnesota. “People are fearful and recognize that [Trump’s comments are] unhelpful. The community by and large is resilient, but it doesn’t mean it’s a community that doesn’t feel fear, anxiety, concern for loved ones and friends.”

To mark the anniversary of the invasion, the Ukrainian American Community Center held a somber gathering on Saturday, in partnership with Stand With Ukraine Minnesota. The center’s auditorium in northeast Minneapolis was packed with Ukrainian community members and non-Ukrainians showing solidarity with the country and those who had lost their lives in the conflict.

The event featured Ukrainian music performances. Some Minnesota officials attended, including U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Last week, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator,” but he did not do the same when asked if he would call Putin the same thing.

Trump also told reporters that Ukraine “should have never started” the war, even though it was Russia that invaded in 2022.

Vitvitsky said he was stunned by the comments, and he said it has soured Ukrainians' opinions of the United States after once viewing the country as a strong ally.

“The falsehoods that President Trump has pushed into the public narrative are deeply troubling for all sorts of reasons,” he said. “I’m feeling shocked by the 180-degree turnaround in rhetoric from our own country, our own government, our leaders regarding Ukraine.”

Questions emailed to Trump’s media inquiry website were not returned Monday.

As Klymyuk served customers at his store’s counter on Monday, his wife and store co-owner, Nataliya Klymyuk, criticized Trump and said she did not trust him to broker a deal to end the war.

“Trump is punishing Ukraine for a war in which we never provoked,” Nataliya Klymyuk said.

Her husband added that he is unsure Ukraine would be able to win the war with Russia without American support.

Vitvitsky said he is unclear about Trump’s plan, but he said the comments over the last week “don’t inspire confidence.”

Asked about the notion that Ukraine could give up some territories invaded by Russia as part of a peace agreement, Vitvitsky said he is opposed and thinks it would be “tortuous” if some Ukrainians were forced to be governed by Russia.

“It would be inhumane to leave Ukraine under Russian occupation,” Vitvitsky said.

In weekly Zoom calls with friends and family in Ukraine, Vitvitsky said he still hears of numerous civilian and military casualties. Nataliya Klymyuk, who grew up in the Ukrainian town of Izmail, said it is difficult for her to hear about casualties still happening now three years since the war escalated.

“It’s very hard and sometimes it’s just hopelessness and a lot of grief from losing civilians every day who didn’t commit to go on a battlefield,” she said.

This story contains material from the Associated Press.