Sacramento organization will rally to raise awareness about ongoing war in Ukraine
SACRAMENTO — A Sacramento organization is mobilizing to raise awareness about the ongoing war in Ukraine. Their message was made more pressing following the destruction of a dam in the southern region of that war-torn country.
The organization usually meets once a month, but because of the dam, they wanted to get their message out faster.
One day after the destruction of a hydroelectric dam and reservoir that borders Russia and Ukraine, and now, thousands of Ukrainians are evacuating — many of them boarding small boats and seeking higher ground.
While the extent of the damage is not known, the broken dam is unleashing floodwaters across the war zone and it's impacting the lives of innocent civilians and farmland. It's the reason why Daria Avtukh, the co-founder of the Sunflower Society in Sacramento, is organizing a rally to bring attention to the current situation unfolding in her country.
"We have to let the world know that this is not OK," she said. "We are not going to just accept it, and we're going to keep fighting for the territories and our people."
Armed with red paint and black markers, Daria and her family are creating posters and hoping to send a strong message.
"We would like people and officials to do what's in their power to make it stop so that criminals, war criminals face the consequences," she said.
Daria told CBS Sacramento that rallies for Ukraine are being held worldwide and they're using water to highlight their message.
"People bring fish tanks or some kind of glass items and fill them with water," she said. "This is clearly an ecocide in Ukraine, so we're trying to incorporate water in this rally in this message."
A rally is being held Wednesday night at the Circle of Lights at the riverfront, followed by a march to the Tower Bridge.