Hundreds gather in Ukraine’s Kyiv for war-shrouded Pride march
- The rally is the first Pride march in Kyiv since the Russian invasion, with several openly LGBTQ soldiers among the participants
Under the pouring rain and overshadowed by war, Dina Ivanova joined the few hundred who gathered in Kyiv on Sunday for the Ukrainian capital’s first Pride march since the Russian invasion, guarded by a heavy police presence.
Shortly after Ivanova and other participants dispersed after a brief rally that took place behind a police cordon, nationalist militants set off for a counter-demonstration through the streets of Kyiv where they shouted homophobic slurs.
The opposing rallies took place more than two years into the war, which is often portrayed as an existential fight to join European liberal values, though some of Ukraine remains deeply conservative.
“Even through the attacks, we need to come and show up. We are such a country, such a nation, we don’t give up. If our rights are taken, we fight for them,” said 27-year-old Ivanova.
She contrasted the situation in Ukraine with that of Russia, where the Kremlin has accelerated its repression of the LGBTQ community since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022.
“I’m very happy that I live in a country where I can even go to Pride,” Ivanova said.
“Those damned Russians can’t.”