Hundreds gather at Municipal Plaza in Calgary to celebrate Ukrainian Independence Day

Hundreds of people celebrated Ukrainian independence Sunday outside Calgary City Hall.

Hundreds gathered at Municipal Plaza outside city hall Sunday to celebrate Ukraine’s 34th year of independence.

The event featured politicians from various levels of government, community leaders, Ukrainian newcomers and cultural performances.

“This is a big holiday of all Ukrainians,” said Anna Tselukhina, of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Calgary branch. “Ukrainians fought for independence for hundreds of years -- and 34 years ago, Ukraine became an independent, democratic and free state, and we celebrate this today.”

Unfortunately, the celebratory mood was somewhat muted, given that the country is currently at war with Russia.

“It is (muted) yeah, just because whenever we think about Ukraine, we also think about all those thousands of lives that were stolen by Russians,“ said Tselukhina.

”It’s a celebration, but it’s also with bitterness in our heart, because so many young lives were stolen, and this is not fair.”

She said the day was also an opportunity to thank Canadians for their support during a difficult moment in Ukrainian history.

“Because for us, for Ukrainians here in Canada and in any other countries in the world, this is a moment when we can show our solidarity with Ukraine. We also can thank all our friends and allies, Canada and other countries, who support Ukraine in this fight for continuing independence,” Tselukhina said.

The event was also educational, she said.

“This is also a way for us to teach our children about independence, about the history of Ukraine and the cost of it, and we also use it as an opportunity to encourage all the people who help in Ukraine right now, both Ukrainians, Canadians and everybody else, just to say, thank you, encourage them to keep on,” she said. “Because Ukraine will continue fighting -- and we want to reach (a) just peace for Ukraine.”

When asked if the recent meeting between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. president Donald Trump had improved the prospects for peace, she said not really.

“The ideas or the conditions under what Trump suggests the peace is not, first of all, it’s not according to Ukrainian constitution,” Tselukhina said.

It’s also something no Ukrainian finds acceptable, she added.

“It’s not what we want,” she said. “We believe that all those now temporarily occupied regions are Ukrainian regions, and even 100 years ago, they were Ukrainians with the same traditions as we are today.

“And we don’t want to give up our people, our territories,” she added. We know that many people there, they still waiting for Ukraine to come back, for United, for armed forces, forces of Ukraine to free those territories.

“And we receive messages for them just showing like small hand painted Ukrainian flags, saying, like, this place is Ukraine. Luhansk is Ukraine. Donetsk is Ukraine -- so we believe and we hope that we can have Ukraine in the international borders. And we don’t want to give up.”

She said Prime Minister Carney’s unannounced Ukrainian visit was heartening.

“We are really thankful that Canadian prime minister, he went to Kyiv today,” she said. “And the words he said, that is very encouraging for all of us here (in Calgary and) back (home) in Ukraine.”