Wednesday, February 19, 2025, 9:25AM |  12°
MENU
Advertisement
The Rev. John Charest is silhouetted against a stained glass window depicting the Most Holy Mother of God holding a protective veil, an image held dear by Ukrainian faithful, on Thursday at St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Carnegie. Father Charest said after the pandemic, he thought nothing would surprise him, but he was surprised by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
4
MORE

Pittsburgh’s Ukrainian community prays for peace amid Russia crisis

Stephanie Strasburg / Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh’s Ukrainian community prays for peace amid Russia crisis

In the Nataliya European Food Market in Greenfield, owner Nataliya Petrylo opened a Ukrainian flag on Wednesday with plans to hang it in the store’s front window along Murray Avenue, along with signs urging prayer for Ukraine.

“We are very worried,” said Ms. Petrylo. “We don’t want a war.”

Ms. Petrylo and her husband, Gregoriy, came to Pittsburgh from Ukraine 20 years ago and opened their market in Greenfield four years ago. They serve both a Russian and Ukrainian clientele, selling everything from candy to caviar.

Advertisement

A television at the market Wednesday was tuned to a speech by a Ukrainian politician. Later that day, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally announced a military operation in Ukraine amid reports of explosions in Kyiv, the country’s capital.

People fleeing the conflict from neighboring Ukraine arrive at Przemysl train station in Przemysl, Poland, on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022.
Yuras Karmanau, Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov and Dasha Litvinova
Russia presses invasion as it attempts to topple Ukrainian capital of Kyiv
Russia invades Ukraine

Early Thursday, Russian forces attacked, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, while civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. The Ukrainian government said at least 40 soldiers had been killed and dozens more wounded.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf condemned the attack, calling it an “unprovoked and unjustified Russian military invasion.”

“This attack on a peaceful country is shocking and its impacts will be far reaching,” Mr. Wolf said in a statement. “I urge democratic leaders across the globe to unite and respond decisively to this unjustified and unlawful attack.”

Advertisement

Like many Pittsburghers of Ukrainian ancestry, the Petrylos had watched anxiously over the last few weeks and months as Russia escalated its military build-up along the Ukrainian border. There are about 11,600 people of Ukrainian ancestry in Allegheny County and 21,180 in the broader Pittsburgh region, according to U.S. census data from 2019.


In pockets of Pittsburgh, the Ukrainian community makes its presence known.

Just a couple of blocks down from the Nataliya market on Murray Avenue in Greenfield is another small Ukrainian market called Kyiv.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a news conference on Friday in Tokyo, where he announced further sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, including export controls and an asset freeze on Russian financial institutions.
Raf Ca­sert and Sam Pe­tre­quin
Other world leaders join U.S. in slapping sanctions on the Kremlin over invasion

In Carnegie, there are multiple Ukrainian churches. The Rev. Jason Charron is pastor at one of them, Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church. Father Charron grew up in Canada but lived in Ukraine for three years. His wife is Ukrainian, and two of their seven children were born there.

They are in touch with family in Ukraine every day, Father Charron said, and while at first the Russian military operations seemed similar to what those in Ukraine have been living with since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, that has changed in recent weeks.

“It’s obviously becoming increasingly apparent that this is not like the former buildups that have been happening in the past eight years on the border,” he said. “This current aggression from Russia is a difference in kind, not a difference in degree.”

Father Charron’s family is mainly in western Ukraine in the city of Lviv, the same region from which most of his parishioners hail.

“There’s nothing they can really do,” he said of his family there. “The only thing is keep a full tank of gas in your car and head toward Poland or Hungary.”

In January, the Holy Trinity Church held special services to pray for Ukraine in response to a call from Pope Francis. There also will be special prayers for Ukraine on Sunday.

“People need to remember that prayer is like gravity: It’s unseen, but it influences everything around us,” Father Charron said. “Although there may be nations with powerful weapons, each of us has the capacity through prayer to turn men’s hearts to God.”

At the market in Greenfield, the crisis in Ukraine has been a common topic of discussion among customers in recent weeks.

The market serves a mix of Ukrainian and Russian customers, said Ms. Petrylo, and she and her husband switch between the two languages depending on the customer. None of their Russian customers had expressed support for an invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Petrylo said.

“We have many Russian customers who don’t like what Putin is doing,” he said.

The Ukrainian community in Pittsburgh isn’t nearly as large as those in cities such as Philadelphia and Chicago, but it has banded together before in crisis.

Tatiana Rad, of Marshall, helped organize her fellow Pittsburgh Ukrainians in 2014, putting together dozens of packages of items like boots and warm clothes to help support the Ukrainian army during Russia’s invasion of Crimea. At that time, her family also attended multiple rallies held to show support for Ukraine.

“Pittsburgh has a pretty small community, but we were still able to organize a huge amount of different things and events,” she said.

Ms. Rad, an electrical engineer who left Ukraine in the 1990s to come to the United States for work, said Wednesday that she was hoping that this time, Mr. Putin would stop short of full-scale war.

But even before the invasion began, she heard from friends and family who were already feeling the effects.

“It’s hitting every Ukrainian household,” Ms. Rad said, noting that she has some acquaintances who have already left the country. “The economy is dipping down; a lot of businesses are leaving Ukraine. Prices are rising, and people have small pensions — they cannot afford it when prices for food are going to grow. Ukrainians are already suffering.”

She remains faithful, however, that her country will endure.

“Ukrainians, they are a very brave people,” Ms. Rad said. “They are not going to bow to Putin.”

Anya Sostek: asostek@post-gazette.com.

First Published: February 24, 2022, 1:12 p.m.
Updated: February 24, 2022, 2:24 p.m.

RELATED
Irene Czornij Matthews, left, of Baldwin, and her longtime friend Margaret Klimko, right, of Brentwood — both 74 — stand for a portrait Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, at Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church on the South Side.
Dan Gigler
‘Putin needs to be stopped’: South Side Ukrainian church pierogi ladies despise despot
A file photograph taken on Dec. 8, 2020 shows graffiti on a building wall in the ghost town of Pripyat, not far from Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Ukraine announced on Feb. 24 that Russian forces had captured the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after a "fierce" battle on the first day of the Kremlin's invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbor.
William Branigin, David L. Stern and Claire Parker
Russian forces take Chernobyl zone, Ukraine says, raising fears of ‘ecological disaster’
Ukrainian servicemen sit atop armored personnel carriers driving on a road in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
Yuras Karmanau, Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov and Dasha Litvinova
Russian military’s assault on Ukraine — a ‘brutal act of war’ — rages on
Damaged radar arrays and other equipment is seen at Ukrainian military facility outside Mariupol, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Russia has launched a barrage of air and missile strikes on Ukraine early Thursday and Ukrainian officials said that Russian troops have rolled into the country from the north, east and south.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Russia-Ukraine conflict: Photos, videos show Russian military assault, Ukrainian reaction
American and Ukrainian flags fly beyond an angel statue in front of St. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, in Carnegie.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh reacts to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: ‘It became very real very quickly’
A flame is seen from an area near the Dnieper river in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
Andrew Goldstein
Pitt professor in Ukraine describes effort to keep his family safe as Russian military invades
KYIV, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 24: People stand around a damaged structure caused by a rocket on February 24 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Overnight, Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine, with explosions reported in multiple cities and far outside the restive eastern regions held by Russian-backed rebels.
Ashley Murray
Sen. Pat Toomey calls for oil and gas sanctions on Russia; experts differ
President Joe Biden speaks about the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, in the East Room of the White House in Washington.
Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller and Ellen Knickmeyer
Biden shifts troops to Germany and hits Russia with sanctions, saying Putin ‘chose’ war
Residents of Kyiv leave the Ukrainian capital following Russian attacks on February 24, 2022
Vladimir Isachenkov, Dasha Litvinova, Yuras Karmanau and Jim Heintz
Russia attacks Ukraine in act of 'full-scale war'after Russia invades; Biden denounces 'unjustified' attack
Victoria, 9, Sophia, 5, and their mother Oksana Kukhar, of Scott, pray during a service for peace in Ukraine on Wednesday at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Carnegie. Some congregants wore traditional Ukrainian embroidery to show solidarity to those in Ukraine.
Anya Sostek
Pittsburghers of Ukrainian ancestry watching Russia situation closely
People chant, carry placards and wave Ukrainian flags as they gather in Sydney, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, to demonstrate against Russian attacks in Ukraine.
Raf Casert and Foster Klug
Russian invasion of Ukraine: World expresses outrage, plans stronger sanctions on Moscow
Working pumpjacks are seen in the Montebello Oil Field in Montebello, Calif., on Wednesday.
William P. Davis and Kevin Granville
Stocks sink, oil prices jump as markets reel from Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
A woman and her daughter wait for a train as they try to leave Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday after. Russian troops launched their attack on Ukraine.
Jim Heintz
What to know as Russia unleashes attack on Ukraine
SHOW COMMENTS (17)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Traffic passes by U.S. Steel in Braddock on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. An activist investor has accused U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt of potential insider trading as the group pressures investors to support its own plan for the iconic Pittsburgh steelmaker, which includes a new board and abandoning a planned merger with Japan’s Nippon Steel.
1
business
Ancora launches ‘Make U.S. Steel Great Again’ campaign, accuses CEO of insider trading
Gov. Josh Shapiro is joined in the broadcast booth by Curtis Aiken before the start of Pitt-Syracuse on Tuesday night at Petersen Events Center.
2
sports
Governor Josh Shapiro aims to make Pennsylvania 'compete' in NIL, bring 'stability' to transfer portal
The WPIAL basketball playoffs are underway.
3
sports
WPIAL boys basketball playoffs: Down go the Highlanders, all the way out of PIAA playoffs
President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)
4
news
McCormick on board with Trump, DOGE shakeup while Fetterman blasts 'chaos, confusion'
Head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith watch a receivers and defensive backs drill at Steelers Minicamp at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex Thursday, June 13, 2024.
5
sports
Gerry Dulac: Next season’s major decisions loom this week for Mike Tomlin, Steelers staff
The Rev. John Charest is silhouetted against a stained glass window depicting the Most Holy Mother of God holding a protective veil, an image held dear by Ukrainian faithful, on Thursday at St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Carnegie. Father Charest said after the pandemic, he thought nothing would surprise him, but he was surprised by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.  (Stephanie Strasburg / Post-Gazette)
Nataliya and Gregoriy Petrylo display a Ukrainian flag at Nataliya European Food Market on Murray Avenue in Greenfield. The market serves both Ukrainian and Russian residents.  (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
Nataliya Petrylo speaks to a customer at Nataliya European Food Market on Murray Avenue in Greenfield. The market serves both Ukrainian and Russian residents.Hanging on the wall in the background is a Ukrainian flag.  (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
Gregoriy and Nataliya Petrylo listen to a customer at Nataliya European Food Market on Murray Avenue in Greenfield. The market serves both Ukrainian and Russian residents. Hanging on the wall is a Ukrainian flag.  (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
Stephanie Strasburg / Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST local
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story