Fresh out of the war, Ukraine’s new designated ambassador to Canada, Yulia Kovaliv, met with volunteers from the St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church on Monday evening. Its goal: to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the ground in Ukraine… as quickly as possible.
Posted at 8:28 p.m.
Formerly deputy chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky, Yulia Kovaliv was appointed Canadian ambassador by decree on March 10. She herself left war-torn Ukraine, via Poland, she told volunteers assembled at the Saint-Michel-Archange Ukrainian Catholic Church, located on Iberville Street in Montreal, Monday evening.
“My goal is to thank all the people and the volunteers for their work and their humanitarian support,” she told The Press. Because it’s precious. The volunteers of this church, like many others in Montreal, have collected donations since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia to bring them to the field. “The Ukrainian embassy is committed to providing them with logistical support so that humanitarian aid can be delivered in a timely manner,” she added.
Remember that the government of Quebec announced on April 7 assistance of $100,000 for the delivery of material shipments from Canada to Ukraine. The announcement was made in this same church, which has become one of the focal points of humanitarian efforts in Montreal.
Several other diplomats, including Eugene Czolij, honorary consul of Ukraine in Montreal, as well as members of the Polish consulate in Montreal, were also present to welcome Ms.me Kovaliv.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, special collaboration
Yulia Kovaliv, Ukrainian Ambassador-designate to Canada, speaks with volunteers and diplomats at the Ukrainian Church of Saint-Michel-Archange in Montreal. At his side, the pastor of the church, Yaroslav Pivtorak.
The importance of donations
Help in material donations is complementary to that in money, says Marta Zybko, a volunteer for more than a month at the Ukrainian Church of St. Michael the Archangel. Provided that the logistics are adequate, she says.
The volunteers of the Ukrainian Church of St. Michael the Archangel receive directly from the Ukrainian departments the list of the first necessities they need, explains Mr.me Zybko. These effects are then transported in small shipments by air, sealed in trucks in Poland and delivered to the main Ukrainian cities, which then redistribute them in the field.
“We are a small link in a large supply chain that works, supports Mme Zybko. We demonstrated this to the provincial government, which responded enthusiastically. In his view, it is not so easy to get supplies from the countries bordering Ukraine, already overwhelmed with the arrival of refugees. “We send what they need, because we have that information. »
Not to mention the children’s drawings, slipped into sleeping bags, which encourage those who receive the packages, in Ukraine, to hold on. “It’s the human aspect, too, that we can reach. And it does us good, ”summarizes the one who has worked for a long time in the financial world.
1er last March, Quebec granted $300,000 in aid, divided equally between the emergency funds of the international cooperation organizations Médecins du Monde Canada and the Canadian Red Cross. A second humanitarian aid of $700,000 was also announced on March 16 to support international cooperation organizations in Quebec.