Detroit, MI
Ukrainian Americans in Detroit rally against Russia’s war, call for freedom
Oksana Zavadenko moved to the United States seven years before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But Russia was still the reason she moved.
Zavadenko stayed in Ukraine for a year after Russia invaded and annexed Crimea. It was her fourth year in the country after moving back from the U.S. in 2011 to be with her family.
She and her children supported the soldiers in their defense of the country, but eventually, she decided it was best to return to the U.S.
“Because of that war, there was no safe life for my kids and their future,” said Zavadenko.
Now a resident of Sterling Heights, Zavadenko watched in February 2022 as Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Her parents live in Ternopil, where Russia bombed two residential buildings in November.
“People say, ‘War is still going on?’ Yes, it is. And there is no safe part. It’s like Russian roulette – you don’t know who’s going to be next, and when,” Zavadenko said.
Zavadenko was one of a few hundred people who on Sunday afternoon came to Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit to protest Russia’s continued occupation of Ukraine. The demonstrators waved Ukrainian flags, gave speeches and listened to Ukrainian music.
The rally was held two days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country, which Russian President Vladimir Putin justified on a claim that a “neo-Nazi regime” in Ukraine needed to be combatted.
The war has displaced roughly 9 million people who have fled to western Ukraine or out of the country entirely. A study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies published in January estimated combined casualties from the war could reach 2 million by springtime.
“It was so difficult and so dangerous in our country,” said Yevheniia Romanenko, who lived in the city of Lviv until 2024 and now lives in Troy as a refugee. Romanenko said she didn’t have water in her apartment before she came to the U.S.
World leaders this past week met in Geneva for peace talks, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said were insufficient for the interests of his country. Zelenskyy posted on X that Russia was making negotiations longer than they needed to be.
A White House spokesperson said “meaningful progress” was made at the talks, although President Donald Trump has consistently pressured Ukrainian leaders to agree to a peace deal that could mean conceding to Russian demands for land in the eastern part of the country.
Zavadenko said this is unacceptable. She believes Russia won’t stop there, pointing to the invasion after they seized Crimea.
“It’s not about the land or the mines and resources in that area. It’s about the people. They will not have a chance for a democratic life,” she said.
The Trump administration has criticized past support for Ukraine, arguing it costs taxpayers disproportionate amounts of money.
Michigan has the ninth-largest Ukrainian-American population in the United States, according to recent Census Bureau numbers. And on Sunday, immigrants and descendants from the country spoke well of the U.S.’s support for the country’s war efforts.
“So often, you speak about freedom. We now want this freedom,” Myroslav Dymuch, a priest at St. John’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, told the crowd at the rally.
“We are fighting for this freedom, and the example of this freedom. Thank you, our brother and sister Americans, for supporting. Together, we are fighting, and we will win, and peace will be in Ukraine,” Dymuch said.
Michael Sawicky, an attorney born to Ukrainian parents, wore a U.S. flag draped on his shoulders to the rally. He said it’s important to support Ukraine as a U.S. citizen because they’re fighting for “the basic principles that our country was founded on.”
“If we really want to stand for principles of democracy, then I think it’s important for the United States to support like-minded countries,” said Sawicky.
The rally was held as the Trump administration continues its immigration crackdown throughout the country. The administration recently instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to detain lawful refugees if they haven’t retained permanent residency a year after their admission to the U.S.
Ksenia Cozak, whose parents came to the U.S. when they were children during World War II, said the ICE crackdown was responsible for a smaller crowd at the rally than in 2025. She estimated about double attendance last year.
Multiple rally attendees also declined to speak to The Detroit News out of fear of ICE.
“Most of these people are here because of official U.S. programs. They followed the rules, they submitted all the paperwork, and they are here legally. And so I want to make sure that those people are not afraid to stay in the U.S., that they’re not afraid to go about their lives. But unfortunately, the actions of ICE are such that I cannot tell them, ‘Don’t be afraid,’” said Cozak. “I would be afraid if I was in their position, even if I were here legally.”
But those who did come to the rally said Ukraine needs to continue the fight for its freedom.
“If we would stop the fight, we will not exist anymore,” said Zavadenko. “Russia has to be the one who is forced to stop the war, because they are the ones who started it, who are continuing it.”
“I want this war to be not just stopped. I want to win this war, and it never happen again,” said Romanenko.
mbryan@detroitnews.com
Reuters contributed to this report.
Pistons vs Magic Game 1 reaction, lessons learned and what must change
Omari Sankofa II, Shawn Windsor and special guest Bryce Simon react to Detroit Pistons’ Game 1 NBA playoff loss to Orlando Magic, April 19, 2026, at Little Caesars Arena.
How in the world did things get so bad so fast for the Detroit Pistons?
In just one outing in the 2026 NBA playoffs, they went from top-seeded darlings of the Eastern Conference to punching bags punked by an 8-seed short on rest but long on resilience and toughness.
“I would say they ‘outphysical-ed’ us today,” Pistons wing Ausar Thompson said after the Orlando Magic stole Game 1 of the first-round NBA playoff series, 112-101, at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, April 19. “One, because they got more rebounds than us. They forced more turnovers.”
Yes, this was always going to be a physical series. Though you would think the Pistons, owners of the NBA’s second-best defense and playing at home, would have a sizable advantage.
It also should have helped them that they were coming off six days’ rest, as opposed to the Magic coming off winning a play-in game just 47 hours earlier.
It didn’t help that Pistons star Cade Cunnigham was playing in just his fourth game since suffering a collapsed lung and missing 11 games. He scored a game-high 39 points, but he didn’t operate as smoothly as usual, with just four assists (far off his 9.9-assist season average) while committing three turnovers.
Another indictment of the Pistons’ worrisome play: Tobias Harris (19 points) was Cunningham’s only teammate who scored in double digits. Meanwhile, all five Magic staters did so, led by Paolo Banchero’s 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting.
And just like that, the Magic came out firing, scoring 35 points in the first quarter and never trailing.
“Yeah, just that we came out a little too tight, lax, whatever the word is, maybe both for some of us, but just didn’t come out with the right energy,” Cunningham said. “Gave them life further on. And then, you know, we had to deal with that for the rest of the game. We were better in stints, but can’t dig a hole like that.”
He’s right. The Pistons can’t dig a hole like that in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Because if they do, and they lose, the Magic would not only have homecourt advantage – they got that with Sunday’s victory – but could close out the series without another win in Detroit, with three of the next four games coming in Orlando.
That’s precisely what makes Game 2 a must-win game for the Pistons. It’s bad enough they lost the opener at LCA, where they were 31-9. But now they’ve let the Magic set a hard-edged tone in the kind of the game that could lead them to steal the series.
“I know that they feel great about this game,” Cunningham said. “This was a big win for them. They came in, they handled their business and stole one on the road. That’s what you want to do in the playoff series.
“So I’m sure that they feel great about that. Obviously, we’re sick about losing this one. It’s a long series, though. There’s no confidence dropped from us. We know that team. They know us. So it’ll be a long, fun series.”
Cunningham might be right, because the Pistons are arguably the better team. They have enough talent and more depth.
What the Pistons don’t have is the advantage of desperation. They had an excellent season from start to finish, closed with a 60-22 record, and wrapped up the East’s top seed on April 4.
The Magic, meanwhile, have been playing with fire (and not always the good kind) down the stretch, while their fifth-year coach, Jamahl Mosley, entered the postseason on the hottest of hot seats after his squad went 0-7 in road playoff games over the past two seasons.
To make things even worse, the Magic lost the regular-season finale to the Boston Celtics – well, their reserves, at least – to blow their chance at the 7-seed and homecourt in the play-in tournament. Then Orlando lost to the Philadelphia 76ers (on the road, of course) in the first play-in game before beating the Charlotte Hornets (in Orlando) to advance to a best-of-seven series – featuring four road games – vs. the Pistons.
Now, it looks like the Magic have found their form, as they routed the Hornets, 121-90, and stunned the Pistons. And just like that, Mosley went from hot seat to just plain hot.
Banchero wouldn’t go so far as to say the victory set up his team to steal the series, but he didn’t deny it was exactly the kind of start Orlando needed.
“It’s just a good win for us as a team getting it on the road against a great team and 1-seed,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we got to come back Wednesday, you know, reciprocate it, you know?
“They’re not going to lay down. They’re going to turn it up. So we’ve got to be ready for that. And it’s just one-game-at-a-time mentality, you know? That’s what it’s got to be. It’s the first of four.”
Yes, it’s just the first of four wins the Magic needs to advance. If the Pistons don’t find an answer quickly, the math – and hardly anyone else – won’t be on their side when they head to Central Florida this weekend.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
After getting absolutely annihilated in his previous start on Monday in Minnesota to the tune of 11 runs in just 1.2 innings, Garrett Crochet is set to retake the mound today and convince us all that everything will be fine as far as he and his health are concerned.
Unfortunately, he won’t just be battling the Tigers. Mother Nature is once again destined to play a roll in today’s match up, and here’s how the radar looks inside of an hour from first pitch:
The good news is the initial batch of heavier precipitation has moved out and east of Boston, but more unsettled weather still lurks to the west ahead of a slow moving front. That mess will push through eastern Massachusetts over the next several hours, filling in the current dry slot. While this incoming precipitation won’t be as heavy as what fell at times earlier today, it will come attached with colder and windier conditions, so a miserable weather game lies ahead (if they even try and play through it at all — The Yankees did not and waited around for three hours before starting their game against the Royals at 4:20pm). The other option will be to just wait until after sunset when it will be dryer, but still very cold and windy.
When they do get started, today’s lineup includes Roman Anthony leading off in leftfield, Andruw Monasterio at first base, and Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida, and Marcelo Mayer all starting on the bench with an opposing left-handed starter on the mound in Framber Valdez for Detroit.
OTM’s own pitching guru Jacob Roy will be around later to handle the postgame wrap and tell us if we should should be freaking out or breathing a sigh a relief when it comes to Crochet.
The Pistons have made recent moves to add more shooting, but still don’t have anyone quite as lethal as former Detroit guard Luke Kennard. On Saturday night, Kennard had a brilliant start to his postseason with 27 uber-efficient points for the Lakers in a win against the Rockets. His level of 3-point accuracy is something the Pistons have desperately been seeking all season long to bolster their offense.
Luke Kennard’s shooting makes him a dangerous playoff performer
Kennard was originally drafted to Detroit with the 17th pick of the 2017 Draft. The Pistons have plenty of draft regrets from that general era of team history, but picking Kennard has never been one of them. Despite any other weaknesses he may have, his strength as a shooter has always been enough to offset them.
In terms of pure 3-point percentage, Kennard is one of the best shooters in NBA history. He averages 44% behind the arc for his career, and shot a blistering 48% this season – the best mark in the league. Given his incredible track record, it’s not exactly a shocker to see him shoot 5-of-5 from three en route to 27 points in Game 1.
Not only is Kennard obviously an excellent standstill shooter, but he’s also a master of getting himself open with his movement. On Saturday night, he was able to play off LeBron James perfectly for a few easy looks. After that, he caught enough of a rhythm to create 3-point looks for himself, even in transition.
A player like Kennard is easily capable of turning an entire playoff game when he gets hot. In a close series, that one game where Kennard hits several threes can be all the difference his team needs to advance. If the Lakers do manage to win this series, even without Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves, Kennard’s shooting will be a major reason why.
The Pistons could use someone like Kennard
Kennard would be a perfect marginal addition for the Pistons that only makes them better without taking anything away from the team. To be fair, the Pistons do have two shooters who have been hot recently in Duncan Robinson and Kevin Huerter. But having more than one respected shooter on the court at a time is often necessary to maintain a solid offense in today’s NBA.
Given the Pistons’ current lack of shooting, any additional shooters are welcome. And Kennard is understandably one of the most feared shooters in the league, capable of bending defenses just by the threat of him taking a three. Rolling him out on the Pistons would surely open up more lanes for Detroit’s stars to attack the paint and score easier points.
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