ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Every week for more than three years, the Rev. Richard Jendras and his congregation at St. Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church have prayed for God to protect Ukraine from Russian aggressors.
As congregants from St. Mary’s and other local Ukrainian churches prepare to mark another year of war, they are voicing anger and disbelief about the Trump administration’s spurning Ukraine and embracing Russia.
“The rhetoric that's being not only fostered, but coming out of the White House right now, is more than disappointing. It's hurtful,” Jendras said after Sunday's Divine Liturgy service. “It’s just following in the path of the Russian policy of what they call dezinformatsiya — disinformation.
"I would never think that America would turn its back on Ukraine."
Shift in U.S. policy
In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has denounced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator,” falsely claimed that Ukraine started the war, and aligned himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The new U.S. administration’s actions have drawn broad condemnation from those in the Lehigh Valley with Ukrainian roots.
“Most of them are negative for Trump, I know, because they see he tried to call the Ukrainian president a dictator,” said Caras Bukalo, a Ukrainian immigrant and longtime member of St. Mary's. “I know [Zelenzkyy] is not a dictator.”
Recent negotiations between the U.S. and Russia to end the war amount to a “political game,” according to Bukalo. “What can I believe? It’s just to play games for Putin,” he said.
Prayer service, town hall meeting set
On Tuesday, members of several of the Lehigh Valley’s Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic churches will meet at St. Mary, 1031 Fullerton Ave., for a 6:30 p.m. special service to mark three years of war and once again pray for peace in Ukraine.
“Three years have gone by now and people's interest waned. We need to get the message out there because [the war] is still going on."Rev. Richard Jendras, pastor of St. Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Allentown
Afterward, the congregations will host a town hall meeting on the conflict — a chance to push back against the Trump administration’s recent actions toward Ukraine, and to remind people that the fighting in Ukraine has not ended, Jendras said.
“Three years have gone by now and people's interest waned,” the pastor said. “We need to get the message out there because [the war] is still going on, and it is still important, and it is still critical, not just for Ukraine's sake, but for Western Europe.”
The panel will include Archbishop Daniel, president of the Consistory for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., plus two Ukrainian soldiers wounded in battle who were sent to the U.S. for medical treatment, Jendras said.
Former Lehigh Valley representatives in the U.S. House Susan Wild and Charlie Dent will also attend. New U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie was invited to join but declined, Jendras said. Mackenzie spokesman Arnaud Armstrong said the congressman was unable to attend because the House will be in session Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
'Ukraine is still here'
Monday marks the three-year anniversary of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Some 46,000 Ukraine soldiers have died in the war, according to the Associated Press, citing Zelenskyy.
The AP reported leaders of France and Britain are making separate visits to Washington this week — part of European efforts to persuade Trump not to abandon Ukraine in pursuit of a peace deal.
Despite three years of grinding war, and recent Ukrainian losses on the battlefield, Jendras said he still has hope for a lasting peace in Ukraine.
“Ukraine is still here,” he said. “David can stand up to Goliath, and the Ukrainian people have shown themselves to be bright, and they're ingenious, and they’re brave and courageous… Ukraine will survive this.”
But, he added, there can be no “peace without justice.”
