Boston's Ukraine: Building Community Through Culture
By Natalie Vasileff
Boston, Mass. is home to a large immigrant population. The city’s neighborhoods are outlined by multiple and different ethnic groups, each richly claiming a home across the map of the city. While only a little of those neighborhoods are filled with an Eastern European immigration population, Russia’s ongoing invasion in Ukraine has allowed the Ukrainian community in Boston to become more apparent than ever.
Since February of 2022, local community-run organizations such as the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England and the Ukrainian Youth Association have gathered Ukrainian-Americans in Boston consistently. Groups like these not only spread awareness about the current war between Ukraine and Russia, but they also attempt to preserve culture; all of this is done through hosting multiple cultural events which bring people together.
​
The largest group that is responsible for carrying out these actions is the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England (UCCNE). Based in Boston, the group was organized in 2022, hosting over 52 events, including eleven protests and 28 culturally-centered events. At the heart of it are co-founders Anton and and Ivanka Titryakov.
​
The couple created the non-profit after the invasion had started. Although the organization first started out by hosting protests, it began to grow into much more: a space where Ukrainian-Americans in the Boston area could interact and journey through their struggles together.
​
​
The couple created the non-profit after the invasion had started. Although the organization first started out by hosting protests, it began to grow into much more: a space where Ukrainian-Americans in the Boston area could interact and journey through their struggles together.
One of the events the group is beginning to traditionally host a few times during the winter season is the Ukrainian Holiday Bazaar. The couple hosted the bazaar on December 2 in collaboration with the Ukrainian Youth Association, hosting the event in the historic building. While the event was small, over twenty local vendors joined together into the effort.
“Most of the products we have here today are from Ukraine itself. Most of our proceeds that we get from these events go towards collecting funds to help Ukraine in the war effort. A lot of it goes toward medical supplies because that’s what soldiers on the frontlines need most,” said Ivanka.
After learning that the couple originally came from the city of Lviv, I continued to learn that each Ukrainian’s story is different.
“My kids only got to see Ukraine once, and that was only a few years ago. I know that when I take them back it will never look the same as it did to them,” said Anton. “I’m still trying to understand that it looks different to me.”
Portrait of Anton Titryakov while discussing his children's visit to Ukraine
The Ukrainian Youth Association, which the Titryakov couple takes its children to, hosts programs for local youths to explore their Ukrainian heritage and identities. While most grown Ukrainian-Americans speak both Ukrainian and Russian, parents here firmly believe that their children should only learn to speak Ukrainian.
Many feel that a detachment from Russia in its entirety is necessary. Julia Parchuk and Julian Evnegin, both consistent attendees of all UCCNE events, are some of the many Ukrainians that believe this cultural shift is non-negotiable.
“This [the war] was the final push that Ukraine needed, and I think it’s time for us to do the same here,” said Evnegin. “We’ve always had these idiots on our backs.”
“I feel closer to Poles than I do to Russians,” said Parchuk. “The only difference that Poland had was the luxury of space. They are only one country away [from Russia]. The Baltics hate Russians, the Poles hate Russians. It starts to make you question why everyone feels this way. War is never, never good. That being said, this is what Ukraine did to finally sever that tie to Russia.”
Portraits of Julia Parchuk (left) and Julian Evnegin (right)
While organizations like UCCNE have the main goal to preserve culture, the constant and underlying ideology behind it is to raise pride for Ukraine and to finally disconnect from Russia for good.
“It’s like a toxic relationship that you’re just like, ‘I can’t get out of this.’ Now we just have to. It’s so stark. You can’t convince yourself otherwise,” said Parchuk.
Teaching children with Ukrainian heritage to “not convince themselves otherwise” is a widely-used technique, with plenty of other UCCNE members thinking the same.
In collaboration with Exccel Gymnastics and Climbing in Newton, Mass., UCCNE hosted a 4K color on October 23. The purpose was to raise funds for medical supplies to be sent to Ukrainian soldiers. Other than the primary wish to raise funds, members, of course, understand that teaching children more about Ukrainian history and national pride is important. Still, most understand that kids are just kids; the other primary wish is to just have simple fun.
Tatiana Kamarskaya, the owner of Exccel and one of the coaches there, was herself a member of the Ukrainian national gymnastics team. Hailing from Kyiv, she had won several titles and competed in the USSR Acrobatics Championships. Now, living in Newton, she seeks to teach her students to appreciate exercise and to have fun while doing it. Many of the kids that go to Exccel are Ukrainian.
“This is really fun. You know, kids and their friends and their families can come together and do something useful. It’s just fun overall. It’s good for kids and their overall fitness. Some of these kids and their families have been coming for years,” said Kamarskaya.
While interviewing Kamarskaya, she continued to pause every now and then to quickly greet friends passing by or to take pictures of children who had just finished the race. It was very clear that while this was all for a good cause, she just wanted the children she teaches to have fun.
All of the funds raised during the color run were given to Sunflower of Peace, another Boston-based organization which delivers medical supplies to soldiers fighting in Ukraine. At the heart of Sunflower of Peace is Kateryna Malakhova, a Newton-based real estate advisor. Most of her free time goes towards running Sunflower of Peace.
The organization has made the process of sending medical supplies simple; all essential supplies in high demand are carefully organized in a single backpack, making it easier to quickly save lives in critical danger.
“We decided instead [of supplying bunches of supplies] to have this backpack that can save ten to fifteen lives in one situation,” said Malakhova. Each backpack contains materials which are prepared so soldiers can save lives on the go. Materials include tourniquets, purified water used for eye injuries, needles which can puncture harmed lungs, and much more. Since the start of the invasion in 2022, Sunflower of Peace has raised nine million dollars within that year.
​
While Ukrainians like Malakhova, Kamarskaya, the Titryakovs, Parchuk, and Evnegin have made direct impacts through UCCNE, others have made sure to impact the Boston community in other ways.
Ilona and Irina Znakharchuk, once just Boston College students, had created a dorm-run baking operation into a full-time business. Solodko, a bakery located in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton, has shown another way to spread awareness about the war: through food.
The bakery opened in November 2022, combining modern desserts with those of traditional, Ukrainian cuisine. Started from scratch by the Znakharchuk sisters, the bakery has become a new place where Bostonians can come for a quick and sweet bite or for learning more about Ukrainian foods. Either way, the bakery’s story means more than just two sisters starting a company.
In 2018, the Znakharchuk sisters visited their grandparents in Ukraine. They were inspired by the comfort and nostalgia of familiar tastes and foods, and wondered if they’d be able to bring their rediscovered love for traditional Ukrainian desserts to the Boston area.
When the war had started in Ukraine in February 2022, the sisters sought to create a community space for both Americans and Ukrainians to support a local business while also bringing their culture to Boston.
“A big goal of ours was to make Ukrainian food palatable to the average Bostonian. We know there is a large Ukrainian population here, but we want to welcome others to try Ukrainian foods as well,” said Ilona.
Through their story, the Znakharchuk sisters show the unique perspective of the difficulties of being Ukrainian-American. Although the sisters had visited Ukraine before, they were still raised in Massachusetts. Like many children of the members of UCCNE, most have been born and raised in the United States. This would also include both Parchuk and Evnegin as well. This introduces the concept of “Americanization,” meaning that those with a foreign identity can transition into the American nationality and culture while living in the United States.
Immigration of Ukrainians into the Boston area plays into the concept of Americanization, bridging two nationalities. This has both positive and negative effects. Positively, this allows for immigrants to experience other immigrant perspectives and also feeds into the idea of the classic, American “melting pot.” Negatively, this can distance an individual from their culture and forge rifts in an individual’s idea of what their nationality is.
Through their story, the Znakharchuk sisters show the unique perspective of the difficulties of being Ukrainian-American. Although the sisters had visited Ukraine before, they were still raised in Massachusetts. Like many children of the members of UCCNE, most have been born and raised in the United States. This would also include both Parchuk and Evnegin as well. This introduces the concept of “Americanization,” meaning that those with a foreign identity can transition into the American nationality and culture while living in the United States.
Immigration of Ukrainians into the Boston area plays into the concept of Americanization, bridging two nationalities. This has both positive and negative effects. Positively, this allows for immigrants to experience other immigrant perspectives and also feeds into the idea of the classic, American “melting pot.” Negatively, this can distance an individual from their culture and forge rifts in an individual’s idea of what their nationality is.
There is little information known about the current number of Ukrainians in Boston, especially as the data consistently changes with the war’s status. The most accurate data I could find was collected through ZipAtlas, stating that there are over 1,877 Ukrainian immigrants located in Boston alone, ranking as the 35th city nationwide to have the largest Ukrainian immigrant population. Newton contains 1,197 Ukrainian immigrants, ranking as the 61st city nationwide. This would, of course, include many of UCCNE’s members. Rankings like these show how close these community members are with each other and how intertwined Ukrainians organizations are with each other in the area.
With there being little data or constantly changing information in regards to having access to immigration information, there must be reasoning behind it.
Historically, Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries have never been in an easy spot when it comes to identification. Until 1992, Ukraine was never considered an independent country, being stripped of its identity since Russian colonization and Soviet authority. Even as the conflict in Ukraine officially began in 2014 before the 2022 invasion, this still means that the Ukrainian identity has been warped and changed as Russia grew bigger and developed the Soviet Union.
When I interviewed Malakhova, she herself explained that her own grandfather originally came from Russia while her more recent family was born and raised in Ukraine. On the other hand, her cousins and friends in Donetsk, a Ukrainian city that is currently occupied by Russia and has been heavily controlled by Russia since 2014, consider themselves to be Russian despite being ethnically Ukrainian. The story of mixing Slavic ethnicities is not a new one; the establishment of the Soviet Union has created a web of nationalities that is still being unraveled.
While curating this project, there are a few main questions I wanted answered: what do ethnicity and nationality mean, especially when it comes to immigration? How can culture be preserved while it is being and has been destroyed? What does community truly mean, and how can it be fostered?
I was raised in Moscow, Russia - the epicenter of Russia’s politics, culture, and history. It is also the place which spews the continuation of the war in Ukraine. My mother is Ukrainian, and my father is a mix of Russian, Ukrainian, and Ashkenazi Jewish. Through war, revolution, and immigration, my heritage was never easy to understand. My grandmother and her family were uprooted from Mariupol, Ukraine to be brought into the Altai Mountains in Siberia, the range crossing over from Russia into Northern Kazakhstan. Joseph Stalin, in collaboration with the Red Army in the 1940s, had done this in order to move ethnic Ukrainians into remote and isolated parts of the country. While growing up in the Soviet Union, my mother had still lived in Ukraine for parts of her life and grew up speaking Ukrainian only at home. Still, she was stripped of her culture, language, and identifications of past family members when documents were destroyed during World War II. My mother later moved to Moscow to attend university.
My growing up in Moscow meant that I was entrenched in Russia’s national pride and understanding of history. My understanding of Ukrainian culture and identity was dwindling, moment after moment. I had only lived in and visited Ukraine a few times to connect with family. Moving to the United States when I was thirteen years old made me question my identity even more, introducing me to a population where most people had recognized Vladimir Putin as a bad person. While I knew this while living in Russia and the 2014 conflict had started, I realized it was bad – I didn’t know how bad until coming to the states.
I remember watching the 2014 conflict on television, seeing a child’s deceased body in an open casket while his family members cried around him in Ukrainian. This was a stark moment that I remember extremely clearly; it was a moment that transformed my thinking forever. Of course, the 2022 invasion has only made these feelings stronger.
I am not alone in my confused and essentially erased heritage; people like Malakhova and Kamarskaya and most other UCCNE members who had grown up in the Soviet Union have had similar experiences. The words “ethnicity, nationality, and identity” have become muddled, tangled by the complexities of the Soviet Union and its spread.
Hosting community events and spreading knowledge and appreciation in regards to Ukraine is not done lightly; it is built on the back of Ukrainian understanding, reconciliation, and coming to terms with what land can mean.
Organizations like the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England and the people behind them will continue to host events like these, far after the war is over. Until then, the community will continue to gather in order to address hardships, struggle, and mutual experience all together.
Sources List:
1. Ilona Znakharchuk from Solodko
2. Irina Znakharchuk from Solodko
3. Kateryna Malakhova from Sunflower of Peace
4. Tatiana Kamarskaya from Exccel Gymnastics
5. Anton Titryakov from UCCNE
6. Ivanka Titryakov from UCCNE
7. Julia Parchuk from UCCNE
8. Julian Evnegin from UCCNE​
9. Artem Dinh from the Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations
10. Serkhii Plokhii from the Harvard Ukrainian Institute
-
Julian (UCCNE)
​