Demonstration in support of Ukraine | “Being here is the least we can do”

Hundreds of people braved the cold on Saturday in downtown Montreal to show their support for Ukraine, two years after its invasion by Russia. The “least of things” according to several of them who note with sadness a lack of interest in the war.

Participants first gathered at the corner of Guy and Sainte-Catherine Streets West, downtown, then they headed towards Philips Square. At this location, loudspeakers broadcast songs in Ukrainian that many sang.

Throughout the participants of varying ages, there was only one constant: the blue and yellow of the many flags in the country’s colors.

For many, even after two years of war and even if they arrived in Canada several years ago, the commitment to Ukraine has not dried up, to the point where they show up to all the demonstrations in support of their country where they can go.

This is the case of Olga Lahno, who arrived in Canada in 2016 and met with her daughter Olga late Saturday afternoon. “I worked until 4 p.m., then when I got out my husband brought me here,” she says. “There is no temperature that will stop us,” she adds about the temperature we feel, which is close to -20 degrees Celsius.

“He was on the front line”

For others, whose exile is more recent, like Karyna Komarenko, who arrived from Ukraine with her son Pavlo in 2022, these gatherings have all the more importance.

“My husband died in the Ukrainian army at the start of the war. He was on the front line. Being here is the least we can do. In fact, there are two things we can do: give to the Ukrainian army and show our support,” she explains, her tone determined.

“And my son should know that,” she said, hugging the boy snuggled up in a flag in the colors of Ukraine.

Even though he settled in Canada more than twenty years ago, in 2002, Nicolai Rassolov continues to participate in as many events as he can. At the time of the interview, her older sister, who lives in Odessa, southern Ukraine, was hiding in a shelter after a Russian airstrike had killed a family of three civilians nearby the day before.

“The same goes for all Ukrainian families who are fighting not only for their lives, but also for the freedom of Ukraine and for the survival of global democracy in the face of tyrannical regimes,” he testifies.

Shortness of breath

Except that after two years, the mobilization is crumbling among the population, noted several Ukrainians met on Saturday.

“Oh my god, two years already!” It’s been so long,” exclaims Karyna Komarenko, sarcastically imitating the reaction of some of her relatives when she tells them about the war in her country. “For many of my friends, their only source of information is my Instagram account because I sometimes post about it. It’s sad,” she whispers.

Present on Saturday, as at almost all the demonstrations since the start of this war, the honorary consul of Ukraine in Montreal, Eugène Czolij, was delighted to see such a mobilization “while we are experiencing critical moments”.

“A lot of people think that maybe the situation has improved a little because we don’t hear as much, but the situation is as bad as it was two years ago,” he explains. The consul recalls that in 2023, alarm sirens for air attacks will go off 6,000 times across the country, according to what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an end-of-year speech. .

“We must continue to demand that government authorities, in each country, give maximum aid to Ukraine so that it can win this genocidal war and ensure peace and security in Europe,” he insists. .

Events like the one in Montreal were held in more than thirty Canadian cities, in support of Ukraine, according to the president of the Quebec provincial council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), Michael Shwec.

With The Canadian Press