Crowd gathers in Dixon for vigil supporting Ukraine

DIXON – A crowd gathered along Dixon’s Galena Avenue in front of the Old Lee County Courthouse on Thursday to demonstrate support for Ukraine.

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Veronika Chernova and Polina Kuptsova hold a flag during a vigil in support of Ukraine in Dixon on March 13, 2025. (Brandon Clark)

Among the crowd were Ukrainian families who fled their homes after Russia’s invasion of their country in 2022. Danylo Ratushnyi said Russian forces occupied his home city of Beryslav, Ukraine, during the first day of the invasion.

“I was occupied with my wife for about six months,” Ratushnyi said. “Then, we were deported by Russian soldiers through Crimea, the entire of Russia, Latvia and Poland, before we came here.”

Ratushnyi was at the Dixon vigil with fellow Ukrainian Maksyn Vovk, who also escaped the country with his wife a year and a half after the invasion.

“I stayed to help and volunteer,” Vovk said. “We survived many missile attacks, but after one missile dropped in my workplace, my wife and I moved to Europe because we were tired of being scared. Every day was a struggle for our defense.”

Russia launched an invasion of the country in 2022. Since then, Ukraine has struggled to defend itself with support from the U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies.

President Donald Trump paused U.S. assistance to Ukraine on March 3. The Trump administration lifted its pause on military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine on Tuesday after indications from Kyiv that it was willing to accept a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire with Russia, depending on Moscow’s agreement.