Cooperstown raises Ukraine flag at Village Hall

The Village of Cooperstown’s Board of Trustees voted last week to raise the Ukrainian flag alongside the United States flag at the entrance to Village Hall on Main Street, welcoming Ukrainian emigre Aliona Yezhova, her son, Joshua Echavarria, and village residents to a brief March 11 celebration of the people of Ukraine.

“It means so much to me and my family that we have been made to feel so welcome here,” said Ms. Yezhova, a physicans’ assistant who moved to the village from Queens, New York, with her son. Joshua, a sixth-grader at Cooperstown Central School, carried with him a hand-painted Ukrainian flag emblazoned with a peace sign at its center.

Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh and village trustees greeted the family on the steps of Village Hall, pledging their support for them, their relatives, and their fellow Ukrainians in the now-war-ravaged nation.

“Some of my family was able to escape to Moldova but brother-in-law stayed behind in Kyiv to fight in the reserves,” Ms. Yezhova. “That this village wants to fly Ukraine’s flag helps bring awareness and remind everyone that the country needs us all to be thinking of them and praying for them.”

She said she was able to communicate with some family members through Skype, but Russia’s invasion had tested the resiliency of the region’s infrastructure.

“I know it is hard for people in this country to deal with the higher gas prices but it is such an important way to support Ukraine,” she said. “Thank you to this community for all of your support.”

[Editor’s note: This week’s allotsego.com carries a letter from Aliona Yezhova; read that letter here: https://www.allotsego.com/181291-2/]