The head of the Manitoba branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress says Ukraine needs Canada’s support now more than ever.
Ukrainian Canadian Congress Manitoba Provincial Council president Joanne Lewandosky said Sunday morning while she’s grateful for how Canada has stood with Ukrainians, as Russia intensifies its attacks and support from the U.S. falters, there’s always room for more to be done, including the purchase of more ammunition.
“We owe it to those who fought for us … we owe it to those who are still defending Ukraine, and we owe it to our future generations too that we stood with them when it mattered,” she said.
Later Sunday afternoon, members of Manitoba’s Ukrainian community will commemorate the three years of war at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Lewandosky said she expects as many as 500 people to attend the rally.
“We have to understand the war is not over,” she said.
Multiple cities across Canada are also holding rallies at city halls, museums and community centres this weekend as part of a global day of action marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rallies spanning across the country in cities including Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver will be held today.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, in a major escalation of a conflict that began in 2014.
The invasion is the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, and has caused hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties.
Since the invasion, thousands of Ukrainians have fled to Canada as refugees.
‘Let their sacrifices be springs of hope’
Before a service Sunday morning at the Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Cathedral, Andriy Rabiy, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg, said Sunday and Monday would be days of mourning of the “tremendous loss of life.”
“Many of the people who come to pray here they actually do have relatives, immediate family, extended family, friends, schoolmates that are fighting and unfortunately, they [gave] up their life defending the country,” he said.
Rabiy also said his message to community members Sunday would be to “keep our hopes up” and remember the lives lost, so their sacrifices for Ukraine aren’t in vain.
“Let their sacrifices be springs of hope for us, whether it be individually, also a country, or the entire Ukrainian community, and for the entire world for that matter,” he said.
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