Protests planned across Alaska in solidarity with Ukraine, ahead of Trump-Putin summit
- Corinne Smith
- Aug 15
- 4 min read
At least 16 events are planned statewide, including vigils, rallies and a large Ukrainian flag unveiling in Anchorage, to protest the presidents and show support for ending the war in Ukraine
By Corrine Smith
Alaska Beacon
Alaskans are planning demonstrations in solidarity with Ukraine across the state, ahead of the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump and Putin are expected to meet at the Anchorage military base, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. The two leaders then plan to hold a joint news conference following the meeting, which was confirmed by both the White House and the Kremlin, according to the political news outlet The Hill.
At least 16 protest events are scheduled to take place across Alaska from Thursday through Saturday, protesting the meeting and demonstrating solidarity with Ukraine, from Fairbanks to Kodiak to Ketchikan. In Juneau a protest is scheduled at 5 p.m. at Overstreet Park.
Nicole Collins is an organizer with the group Ketchikan Mayday for Democracy, which is planning a vigil on Thursday evening to show support for Ukraine.
“First and foremost, our goal is to communicate solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, to let them know that we all watched in horror as Ukraine was invaded over three years ago now,” she said in an interview. “Even though we’re on this island in Southeast Alaska, we are members of the human race, and we’re all part of this world, and we want them to know that we see them and we stand with them.”
Collins said the group started monthly protests in the spring, when members watched a meeting between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“The majority of us felt like something wasn’t right,” she said, and community members have come together since to show support for Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine.
The Thursday event is also to express outrage for the president’s invitation and welcome to Putin, she said. “Our secondary goal would be to show that we just have this utter disgust in a war criminal stepping foot on our precious Alaskan soil, our U.S. soil, and that we have great concerns over the fact that our president shows every sign of admiration towards this war criminal dictator that’s coming from Russia,” she said.
Putin has been widely condemned internationally for the invasion of Ukraine, where tens of thousands of people have been killed since 2022. More than 6.9 million Ukrainians have been displaced, and more than 13,000 civilians killed, according to the United Nations, which says the true number is likely far higher. Over 1 million Russians have been killed or injured.
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin related to war crimes. He risks being arrested if he travels to any of the 125 member states, which has impacted his ability to travel.
“This is far beyond left and right now, it’s about right and wrong,” Collins said. “And we feel like we have to speak out. We have to show our support for democracy and for decency, for honesty, for unity, not division.”
This will be the first in-person meeting between Trump and Putin since the war began.
Trump announced the meeting in Alaska last Friday, amid high-stakes negotiations around a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, but the president has not provided details on what a long-term deal would look like. Zelenskyy was not invited.
Riza Smith, an organizer based in Anchorage who served in the Air Force at JBER, said it feels like an about face for Alaska to welcome Putin.
“If Russia decides to, you know, escalate things against the U.S., we’re right nearby. If Russia decided, ‘Hey, we want this portion of land,’ or, ‘Hey, we want these resources,’ or something, we’re right nearby. So I think it impacts a lot of people a lot more strongly, especially for the military,” they said.
Various branches of the U.S. military in Alaska conduct regular exercises, as part of homeland security efforts, including patrols of the airspace and maritime border with Russia. Currently the U.S. Northern Command is conducting military drills known as Arctic Edge throughout the state.
“(For) the past 20 years, we’ve been dealing with intercept flights,” Smith said. “That’s affected our military for years. So it’s a little confusing, since about like 2015, when that kind of escalated, to see like a complete nonrecognition of them.”
In addition to protesting Putin, Smith said the planned protest actions are also condemning the Trump administration.
“I think we’re fed up with corruption. We’re fed up with people trying to take something that isn’t theirs. And I think the prime example of that is Russia and Ukraine. … Vladimir Putin has overstepped his bounds repeatedly with Ukraine. Donald Trump has overstepped his bounds repeatedly with Alaska … making these different claims, like offering to sell resources, or whatever he wants to offer people,” they said. “I think people are just kind of done with people, you know, doing something without their input.”
Smith also helped coordinate a calendar of solidarity events taking place across the state, from vigils to protest actions to a plan to unfurl a Ukrainian flag at the Delaney Park Strip in Anchorage on Friday.
“So if you just want to visit an office, that’s an option. If you want to rally hard on the side of the building, that’s an option. If you want to do sign making, if you just want to do a local community thing, or a barbecue, like, people are just kind of coming together. So it’s every kind of opportunity to just kind of build that community in Alaska.”
• Corinne Smith started reporting in Alaska in 2020, serving as a radio reporter for several local stations across the state including in Petersburg, Haines, Homer and Dillingham. She spent two summers covering the Bristol Bay fishing season. Originally from Oakland, California, she got her start as a reporter, then morning show producer, at KPFA Radio in Berkeley. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
