Winnipeggers stand with Ukraine in rally

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This article was published 25/03/2022 (1074 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HOURS after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for global rallies against the Russian invasion of his country, Winnipeggers with ties to Ukraine marched to show their support.

The Manitoba council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress organized a short-notice rally from The Forks to the Provencher Bridge starting at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Zelenskyy had urged the international community to be visible in their support for Ukraine, and the local organization answered his call, planning the march as the latest of several rallies that have attracted thousands of Winnipeggers since Russia invaded Ukraine last month.

“I ask you to stand against the war, starting from March 24, exactly one month after the Russian invasion. Come to your squares, your streets, make yourselves visible and heard,” Zelenskyy said in English during a virtual broadcast on March 23.

Alexandra Shkandrij of the congress said it’s been heartening to see so many people rally and donate in support of Ukraine.

“The Manitoba community has been incredible. They have stood in freezing weather, on days like today they’re going to be standing there in the rain, and it’s not just people of Ukrainian descent… there are people from every community that makes up Manitoba that are coming out and standing in support,” she said.

“It’s heartwarming, it’s touching that so many people are opening up their hearts to Ukraine.”

One of the ways the congress is asking people to help out is by contacting politicians and their local representatives to push for easier travel arrangements to bring displaced Ukrainian refugees to Canada. They want to see more chartered flights to Poland and other European countries for refugees who are trying to get here, instead of having to pay their own way or have the right network connections.

“I know people are really tired,” Shkandrij said just before the Winnipeg rally began Thursday evening. “I know Canadians have lived through a lot. They’ve just gone through COVID… they’ve gone through a terrible winter, prices are going up; all of these things are really tough. But I really just want to emphasize that if Ukrainians are given the tools to win this war, we can end this, and we can stop being in a space where we’re fighting all the time.

More information about where to donate and how to help can be found on the congress’s website at https://www.ucc.ca/stand-with-ukraine/.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca