WEST SEATTLE WEEKEND SCENE: Ukrainian Independence Day rally at Alki

Last night we published an announcement of two events today on Alki commemorating Ukrainian Independence Day. The first was a 10:30 am rally at Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza; David Hutchinson sent the photos above and below:

Regarding the rally organizers’ choice of location, David included this observation and image:

A very appropriate location for this event. The original Alki Statue of Liberty was installed at this location by the Boy Scouts of America in 1952 during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The theme of their campaign, started in 1949 to celebrate the Boy Scouts’ 40th anniversary, was “Strengthen the Arm of Liberty”:

Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza was dedicated in 2008 as a new home for the statue, which had been recast and reinstalled on its old pedestal a year earlier. Meantime, today’s Ukrainian Independence Day rally was to be followed by a picnic on the beach at Alki, running until sunset, all welcome.

Mike August 24, 2025 (2:25 pm)

I recommend people watch Mr Jones so they have a historical reference to the horrors of Communism and Marxist ideology. This is what Ukraine is fighting against and has been for decades. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6828390/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Lagartija Nick August 24, 2025 (5:44 pm)

Russia under Putin is an Oligarchic Kleptocracy and bears little resemblance to the USSR.
- Mike August 24, 2025 (7:18 pm)
  
  You should read up on Putin’s background and his direct family connection to both Lenin and Stalin, in addition to his background in the KGB/FSB. Lenin and Stalin are directly responsible for an estimated 120,000,000 deaths of their own people. Communism and Marxist ideology that is the foundation of Communism is horrible.
  - Lagartija Nick August 25, 2025 (11:10 am)
    
    Lenin and Stalin have been dead for decades. The USSR collapsed more than 30 years ago. The government no longer controls the means of production, Putin’s crony pals do. Things change and modern Russia is nothing like the communist USSR was. By insisting that it is the same you are pushing a false narrative and spreading propaganda. You want to know what other dangerous ideology killed millions of people in history? Fascism did, and that is acutely more germaine to reality right now as we watch armed soldiers march through our city streets. Not some failed ideology from the early 20th century.
    - Mike August 25, 2025 (4:32 pm)
      
      You should do more research and educate yourself on the history of the USSR and who owned what. Putin is so tied into the USSR and trying to bring it back it would make your Bauhaus head spin. Ironic you used the name of a song by an English band named after what became a USSR controlled East German art school.
Derek August 24, 2025 (10:36 pm)

Mike that is a propaganda movie. Ukraine war is all about NATO membership and Russian expansion. Same thing US does. Putin is an extreme capitalist. It’s silly to pretend like we don’t have our own oligarchy here in the US and don’t do the same aggressive and violent expansion that Russia does. Did you miss the 2000s? And the 90s? And the 80s, etc. It’s incredibly dishonest to use an Ukraine protest as a soap box against Marxism (unrelated in every way to Ukraine and Russia war). Marxism in its very basic definition is the working class controls means of production. It’s power to the people over kings.
- Mike August 25, 2025 (8:05 am)
  
  Propaganda…. Wow
- Greg August 29, 2025 (7:17 pm)
  
  It’s sad but unsurprising that a Russian propagandist would post on our neighborhood blog.Putin’s war of aggression has nothing to do with NATO. NATO is clear on this: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/115204.htmUS is not equally evil by any definition of the word.

cheerful August 24, 2025 (8:04 pm)

It was a lovely day for a rally. I am glad people came out to support Ukraine.I know some people in Ukraine Defense Support. They’re doing good work getting supplies to Ukraine, people should check them out.https://ukrainedefensesupport.org/