A Ukraine-born TikTok star, who fled the country during the 2022 Russian invasion, marked this year’s Ukrainian Independence Day in a special way. On Monday, Andrian Makhnachov was welcomed to the Manitoba legislature to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence. Makhnachov explained his invitation to the legislature came after he posted on social media expressing his desire to gift Premier Wab Kinew one of the scarves he created in collaboration with Indigenous artist Brianna LaPlante. “When they reached out, I was super happy,” he said. “Also, I was happy because I’ve never been to the legislative building. I know they do have free tours, but I just had a feeling that I’m going to meet the premier, so I never went. I was super happy and a little bit nervous.” While at the legislature, Makhnachov got the chance to tour the historic building, meet Kinew, and gift him the scarf. Kinew also took Makhnachov to the legislature’s roof, where he got to see the dome and sign his name. He described the experience as “super exciting,” adding that Kinew’s calm demeanour helped him to relax. “[The premier] did a tour of his office, we exchanged gifts, he showed me the collection of his things. I saw a picture of his family,” he said. “We talked about a lot of different things, not just social media. We talked about some private life, my experiences and his experiences.” Makhnachov said Ukrainian Independence Day feels more important than ever, adding he was surprised by the premier’s knowledge of Ukraine and its culture. “I was really happy to have this opportunity to go there on this day and share something about it.” Makhnachov has grown to prominence on social media with his videos documenting his life in Winnipeg. So far, he has amassed nearly 120,000 followers on Instagram and over 420,000 on TikTok.
