Hundreds of protesters marched through lower Manhattan on Tuesday to criticize President Donald Trump’s decision to halt U.S. military aid to Ukraine amid its war with Russia. 

The nonprofit Razom for Ukraine organized the “emergency rally” one day after Trump signed an order to temporarily suspend over $1 billion in arms and ammunition to Ukraine. Demonstrators gathered in Astor Place at around 6 p.m., with many carrying Ukrainian flags and others holding signs that read “FREE UKRAINE,” “WE STAND WITH UKRAINE” and “TRUMP IS A TRAITOR.” Trump’s Monday order has sparked similar demonstrations in several major cities, including Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. 

The demonstration began with speeches from organizers and Ukrainian American community members, who urged attendees to contact their representatives to demand the United States support Ukraine and reinstate aid. After that, a representative from Razom led the crowd to have a moment of silence for the lives lost in the Russia-Ukraine war and sing both the Ukrainian and American national anthems.

“We want to encourage people to be involved so that members of Congress, members of the executives and Americans who are just sort of reading the news recognize that Russia invaded Ukraine and U.S. support for Ukraine is crucial,” Dora Chomiak, CEO of Razom for Ukraine, said in an interview with WSN. “It’s a bad move for the United States.”

About one hour into the demonstration, the group began marching down Broadway toward City Hall, chanting “Russia is a terrorist state” and “Putin is a war criminal,” and waving large Ukrainian flags. The march caused traffic backups and forced road closures, with some drivers honking their car horns in support of the protesters as they passed by. 

Trump’s decision to withhold aid to Ukraine came three days after the president and Vice President JD Vance “berated” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an Oval Office meeting, accusing him of not showing enough gratitude for over $180 billion in assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. A White House official said that Trump will not reinstate aid to Ukraine until he can “ensure that it is contributing to a solution” and Zelenskyy proves his commitment to ending the war. 

Speakers said that Trump’s Monday order will only exacerbate the crisis in Ukraine — where hundreds of thousands of soldiers have died and millions of people have been displaced since Russia’s invasion. Trump has repeatedly pressured Zelenskyy to negotiate an end to the war, and last month, he called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator” for not holding an election in the nation last year, despite martial law prohibiting the practice during times of war. 

Katya Pavlevych, a Ukrainian American resident who participated in the demonstration, said that she was “embarrassed” for the American government after the altercation at the Oval Office meeting, and that Trump’s orders to cut off support for Ukraine will only benefit authoritarian regimes. 

“I’m deeply disappointed with the direction the government took in foreign policy,” Pavlevych said in an interview with WSN. “This is a sign of American weakness, and we need to find our way back to foreign policy that represents their values.”

Contact Amelia Hernandez Gioia at [email protected].