Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived this afternoon in downtown Scranton amid tight security that failed to deter ardent supporters.
Though the supporters never got anywhere near Zelenskyy, and his motorcade zipped by them without stopping, they stood unfazed for hours waiting for him to arrive and weren't disappointed when he didn't stop.
“It’s just, it's surreal, like, out of all the places he's coming here to Scranton, it's just wow, like he could go anywhere,” Scranton4Ukraine director Alex Groysman, 43, said while waving a large Ukrainian flag.
They gathered at two ends of the Cedar Avenue block occupied by the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, which Zelenskyy toured and met with state, federal and local officials.
Barricades and many state, local and federal law enforcement officials blocked access to the plant. Zelenskyy wanted to visit to thank workers producing the tens of thousands of 155mm shells that Ukraine uses to fend off Russia’s unprovoked attack for more than two years.
Speaking in Ukrainian and wrapped in a flag of her native country, Valentina Shemchuk, 62, who arrived in Scranton shortly after the war began, said she and her husband wanted to show their support.
“We want to say we stand with Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, that we stand with Ukraine during the day and during the night,” Shemchuk said.
Groysman was among about 20 who stood at the corner of Cedar and Orchard Street in South Scranton and waited more than two hours for just a glimpse of the motorcade.
He raved about the way Zelenskyy has helped Ukraine thwart Russia's ambitions.
“He’s been phenomenal,” he said. “From day one, instead of fleeing the country -- he had plenty of chances to do that -- he was going to stick with the ship. And if Ukraine’s going to go down, he was going to go with it.”
Speaking in Ukrainian and wrapped in a flag of her native country, Valentina Shemchuk, 62, who arrived in Scranton shortly after the war began, said she and her husband wanted to show their support.
“We want to say we stand with Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, that we stand with Ukraine during the day and during the night,” Shemchuk said.
Check back for updates.
