Star Tribune
Ukrainian ambassador visits Minnesota, urges people to remember Ukraine
Inside a gym-turned-medical supply room at the Ukrainian American Community Center in Minneapolis, stacked high with bags of tourniquets and wound treatment kits, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States urged Americans not to forget about Ukraine’s struggle.
Ambassador Oksana Markarova’s visit to Minnesota on Thursday was the first of a 10-state tour, primarily of the Midwest, to increase community dialogue about the war and bolster support for Ukraine. Called Whistlestops for Ukraine, the tour is hosted by the think tank German Marshall Fund of the United States the philanthropic Howard G. Buffett Foundation.
“We can win this one. It is very difficult … we are fighting this fight every day, there are a barrage of missiles and drones on peaceful cities every day,” Markarova said to a supportive crowd of about 50, including a handful of injured Ukrainian soldiers. “But we will stay the course. We need you, our friends, to stay the course with us.”
The war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that left tens of thousands of civilians dead and millions of people displaced.
It hasn’t let up. In recent days, Russian missiles tore through apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, local officials said Thursday, killing at least two people and burying families under rubble as the Kremlin’s forces continued to pound the fiercely contested area with long-range weapons.
Since the war began, the Ukrainian-American community in northeast Minneapolis and beyond has stepped up to support, by collecting money to purchase medical equipment to be sent off to the battlefield and by welcoming refugees in need of assistance. Minnesota is home to 16,000 people of Ukrainian descent, according Minnesota Compass data.
The ambassador was joined by Howard G. Buffett, head of the philanthropic organization, and Heather Conley of the think tank for the event that focused on the importance of continuing to support Ukraine as a stopgap to continued Russian aggression.
Ukraine never had any intention to attack Russia, Markarova said, pointing out how small the country is compared to Russia. Just like Ukrainian Americans who immigrated to Minnesota and built the community center, Ukrainians dreamed of living in peace, Markarova said. Their country’s choice to be Democratic and European was threat enough to Russian President Vladimir Putin, she said.
Buffett warned that if Ukraine is not successful in fighting Russia’s invasion, he predicts Russia will go on to attack a European NATO country and the United States will have no choice but to become fully embroiled in another world war with its greatest enemy.
“Americans have much more at stake in this than they realize,” Buffett said. “We will be sending our sons and daughters and our brothers and sisters to fight a war that has to be fought if it comes to other borders.”
The event also highlighted the work of Minnesota organizations and speakers like Dr. Yakov “Jacob” Gradinar who co-founded the Protez Foundation, which fits injured Ukrainian soldiers with prosthetics, as well as local refugee resettlement projects.
Other stops on Markarova’s tour of Minnesota included an agribusiness discussion at The Minneapolis Foundation, a visit to the Minnesota State Capitol with Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, a meeting with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a trip to the Minnesota Farmers Union with Gov. Tim Walz and a visit to the Protez Foundation in Oakdale.
The ambassador encouraged Minnesotans and Congress to support the supplementary budget ahead of what could be a life-threateningly cold winter if Russia attacks Ukraine’s energy grid once again, Marakova said.
The battlefield in Ukraine has seen few major changes in recent months. A Ukrainian counteroffensive that started in June dented deep Russian defenses in some areas but has failed to change the complexion of the 22-month war. Moscow has held firm in most of the areas it occupies while using the long-range weapons to inflict damage on Ukraine, including civilian areas.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
After splitting their two-game West Coast trip to begin the season, the Wolves improved to 2-1 with a 112-101 win over Toronto in their home opener. It was a wire-to-wire win that featured some strong bursts of play from the Wolves and other times when their decision-making was suspect. But those moments when they were on, specifically the start of the game and most of the third quarter, were enough to carry them against a shorthanded Raptors team that was without RJ Barrett, Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley.
Julius Randle had 24 points while Anthony Edwards had 24 on 21 shot attempts. Donte DiVincenzo had 16 off the bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return, though he was in the bench area for the final minutes after going to the locker room briefly.
The Wolves’ starting lineup had its best stretch of basketball on the season after that unit started off sluggish in the first two games. Mike Conley, who was 3-for-16 to open the year, hit two early threes to set the tone, though Conley would finish 2-for-8.
Donte DiVincenzo replaced him at point guard halfway through the quarter and continued the hot shooting from the point guard slot with three threes of his own. The Wolves forced five Toronto turnovers and had a 32-18 lead after one.
Coach Chris Finch toyed with some different lineup combinations in the first half as he had Conley and DiVincenzo begin the quarter together while having Joe Ingles run the point later in the quarter. It led to an uneven second, and the Wolves led 56-44 at halftime.
But the Wolves played inspired coming out of the break. Jaden McDaniels, who didn’t take a shot in the first half, had nine points in the opening minutes of the third. Edwards hit a pair of threes as they pushed their lead to 22. The Wolves weren’t sharp closing the night, and the Raptors had the game within right inside of two minutes, but the Wolves had built enough of a cushion.
Rudy Gobert. Gobert had 15 points and 13 rebounds and was the beneficiary of some lobs from his teammates like Edwards, Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Joe Ingles. Gobert also finished with four blocks.
Gobert had two blocks on one possession in the fourth quarter that got the crowd off its feet and Gobert pounding his chest. Gobert blocked D.J. Carton and Jamison Battle.
Star Tribune
Trump denigrates Detroit while appealing for votes in a suburb of Michigan’s largest city
NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan.
”I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is ”great,” but he thinks it ”needs help.”
The Republican nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the ”whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.
Trump’s stop in Novi, after an event Friday night in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan’s importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden carried it four years later.
Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers. It also has a significant Arab American population, and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters ”could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was banking on ”overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.
“When President Trump was president, it was peace,” said one of those leaders, Mayor Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights. ”We didn’t have any issues. There was no wars.”
While Trump is trying to capitalize on the community’s frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and a pledge to expand it to include refugees from Gaza if he wins on Nov. 5.
Star Tribune
‘Take our lives seriously,’ Michelle Obama pleads as she rallies for Kamala Harris in Michigan
”We are looking at a health care crisis in America that is affecting people of every background and gender,” Harris told reporters before visiting the doctor’s office.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden went to a union hall in Pittsburgh to promote Harris’ support for organized labor, telling the audience to ”follow your gut” and ”do what’s right.”
Harris appeared with Beyoncé on Friday in Houston, and she campaigned with former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen on Thursday in Atlanta.
It’s a level of celebrity clout that surpasses anything that Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has been able to marshal this year. But there’s no guarantee that will help Harris in the close race for the White House. In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Trump despite firing up her crowds with musical performances and Democratic allies.
Trump brushed off Harris’ attempt to harness star power for her campaign.
”Kamala is at a dance party with Beyoncé,” the former president said Friday in Traverse City, Michigan. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, is scheduled to hold a rally in Novi, a suburb of Detroit, on Saturday before a later event in State College, Pennsylvania.
