Ukrainian-Calgarians to rally at city hall ahead of third anniversary of war

Hundreds of people gathered at Calgary City Hall on Sunday to stand in solidarity with Ukraine, three years since its full-scale invasion by Russia.

People gathered in cities across Canada Sunday, on the eve of the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, amid growing fears the U.S. will withdraw its support.

Rallies are being held at city halls, museums and community centres across the country to mark a global day of action as the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year.

In Calgary, a rally will takes place at city hall at 5 p.m. where the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) - Calgary branch has invited all Calgarians to participate in a protest against the invasion, launched by Russia on Feb. 24, 2022.

10,000 missiles

According to the UCC, Ukraine has experienced more than 60,000 hours of air raid alarms and survived nearly 10,000 missiles, 33,000 guided aerial bombs and 25,000 drones “launched by a hostile neighbour.”

Families have been forced to search for and try to bring back nearly 20,000 children who were kidnapped and deported to be raised as Russians, and to investigate over 100,000 war crimes committed against Ukrainian citizens.

Trudeau in Kyiv

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to be in Kyiv on Monday, one of 13 foreign leaders attending a summit on peace and security for Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed during a news conference in Kyiv Sunday evening that he will meet with Trudeau in person. The Prime Minister’s Office has not responded to questions about the visit.

Bartering for critical minerals

The summit comes as the United States has been meeting with Russia in an attempt to broker a peace deal — without Ukraine at the table.

In recent days, U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Ukraine of starting the war and appeared to be trying to barter with Ukraine for access to its critical minerals as part of any peace process.

Trudeau has said it’s crucial for Ukraine to be part of any peace talks.

2013 borders

For Calgarian Borys Sidoruk, Sunday’s rally commemorates the start of the full-scale invasion of 2022 – but he said it really began more than a decade ago.

“It actually started in 2014. Just a few days after the Sochi Winter Olympics, Mr. Putting decided Ukraine shouldn’t exist and invaded Crimea and then east Ukraine and the Donbas region,” Sidoruk said.

For the war to end, Sidoruk wants to turn back the borders to what they looked like in 2013.

“No one wants war – but having the war end without capitulation is what Ukraine community wants,” he said. “The current requirements is that Russia leaves Ukraine back with the 2014 borders which people might remember the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, the three countries – the U.S., Britain and Russian Federation –all guaranteed Ukraine’s borders and the price was they had to give up their nuclear arms.

“And so here’s one of the people who (in 1994) guaranteed the sovereignty of Ukraine invaded and wants to destroy Ukraine.”

Olesksandr Opimakh, his wife and four young children emigrated to Calgary from their home in eastern Ukraine at the end of November 2022.

When the full-scale invasion was launched by the Russians on Feb. 24, 2022, Opimakh and his wife were looking after three-month-old triplets.

Now, three years later, after listening to Donald Trump, he says, “I feel it’s just the beginning of the war.

“I do not prefer to talk about politicians and politics but the way it goes especially the last three weeks, I feel the same way I felt three years ago: that something is gonna happen.”

Largest and deadliest European conflict since Second World War

The invasion is the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since the Second World War 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.

According to Rev. Patrick Yamniuk from St. Vladimir’s Church in Bridgeland, around 25,000 Ukrainians have emigrated to Calgary.

“They are very grateful to Canada for opening the doors to them,” Yamniuk said. “For allowing them to come here and work and contribute to the community.

“But they fear now what will happen to Ukraine? What the results will be before peace comes to the land. But they definitely are praying for peace in Ukraine.

“There’s always hope,” Yamniuk added. “I think when the war began, people were surprised at the resiliency of the Ukrainians – the strength of them – that they were willing to do battle. And have really kept the war to a certain degree at bay, because it could be a lot worse.”

‘We are all tired of this war’

In Calgary, as his young son playfully pawed at his face, Opimakh summed up the situation.

“We are all tired of this war,” he said, “but we still need additional strength and we need power because we need to take care about the future of our kids, the future of our families – we need to fight. Thank you.”

Elsewhere, events are taking place in cities including Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver.

-- With files from CTV’s Tyler Barrow and The Canadian Press