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SUNNY ISLES BEACH (CBSMiami) – While Russia and Ukraine are on the brink of war overseas, Russians and Ukrainians in Sunny Isles are all hoping for peace.
“I worry and I’m concerned because you never know what a man like Putin would do,” Oksana Piaseckyj said.
Piaseckyj and her husband Peter both immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine. At a young age they were relocated to a German “displaced persons camp” after World War II. That was before they found sponsors for their arrival in New York. Over the years they have kept in touch with family and friends in the country of their heritage, and have kept close ties to the Ukrainian community.
“Also in the bombardment I can’t imagine how they would destroy these old museums,” Oksana Piaseckyj said.
She fears for the Ukrainian identity.
“If I’m Ukrainian why should I be a Russian?” she asked.
Her husband Peter doesn’t want to see any bloodshed.
“My concern is that millions of Ukrainians will die. That’s why Pope Francis and our bishops asked our church here in Miami to pray for Ukraine,” Peter Pisasekyj added.
For the longtime Sunny Isles couple, it seems a war is on the verge of happening. Coincidentally, their neighbors across the street are Russian. They’re worried too.
“We want a peaceful resolution, we want the war to not happen,” Ivan Meskevich said.
Meskevich and his family are united in wanting a peaceful resolution.
“We understand that Putin is only doing this this just to stay in power, that nobody but him wants this conflict,” he said.
This issue has ramifications that go beyond the borders of two countries.
“Many European countries depend on Russian petroleum products, mainly gas, for their fuel, and so either Russia is going to turn off the gas or Russia is going to charge more,” Alexander Crowther, a national security expert and professor at FIU’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs.
With this conflict playing out half a world away, CBS4 asked Crowther, why we all need to be paying attention to this.
“As people run around changing borders by force, it introduces instability to the international system. And we in Miami are integrally integrated into that system, so it’s going to have a negative effect on the Miami area,” he said.
As of this publication, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered “peacekeepers” to two separatists held regions in Ukraine.