Prayers for a homeland under seige

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This article was published 27/02/2022 (935 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sleep-deprived members of Manitoba’s Ukrainian community kept rallying, praying, and fundraising over the weekend to support their loved ones overseas as Russian forces continue to cause havoc in their home country.

“I’m safe, physically, but my mind and my heart is not,” said Oksana Melnyk, outside Sts. Vladimir and Olga Ukrainian Catholic Church on Sunday morning.

The North End cathedral’s parking lot was packed with vehicles that had yellow and blue flags and decorations displayed in and around windows.

Oksana and her husband, Igor Melynk attended a special service at the parish to pray for the citizens and soldiers defending Ukraine and pay tribute to all those who have already lost their lives in the wake of last week’s invasion.

The duo moved to Winnipeg from Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in western Ukraine, “for a better life” in 2004. They both said Sunday they have not been able to get much rest since learning that the airport in the city, where many of their relatives remain, was bombed last week.

Oksana flinched when an emergency vehicle sped down McGregor Street, horns blaring.

“This is the sound my mom hears all day long,” she said. “When I hear this, it makes me sick because I know (my 77-year-old mom) has a hard time moving around the house, let alone going to underground places where she can hide.”

The couple was among thousands of people who gathered on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislative Building one night earlier to rally in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. They also took part in a similar rally at The Forks on Thursday.

Premier Heather Stefanson spoke to the crowd at the Saturday vigil, giving an impassioned speech during which she confirmed Manitoba will take-in Ukrainians via the provincial nominee program.

The Stefanson government — which oversees the province with largest number of Ukrainians per capita in Canada — has raised the eastern European country’s flag at 450 Broadway in a show of support against Russia’s attacks.

Halyna Shtoyko, one of the event organizers, said she was extremely grateful so many people braved the cold to participate in the Saturday rally, but she indicated she felt numb once she went home.

Last weekend, she was organizing playdates for her children. “And now the world is turned upside down,” said Shtoyko, who immigrated to Winnipeg when she was a teenager in 2000.

The Winnipegger said she has been devoting much of the last few days communicating with relatives in the capital of Kiev, raising awareness about the violence and destruction, and searching for ways to support Ukrainians on the ground.

Several members of Manitoba’s Ukrainian community are collecting funds and donations to personally fly much-needed items, such as two-way radios, to Ukraine via flights to neighbouring countries in the coming weeks.

“We are pushing and asking and pleading for the world to help and to understand that this is critical, because Ukraine is acting as the shield for the whole world right now. Nobody thought this could happen. What’s next?” she said.

Following a weekend of continued chaos overseas, many local Ukrainian-Canadians echoed similar sentiments.

Iryna Chernysh said she desperately wants to make sure the people of Russia understand that this is not a training program, as many have been led to believe, but rather an assault on Ukrainians. Chernysh said she has become increasingly frustrated listening to Russian media and messaging.

“My father-in-law and brother-in-law are in Ukraine and they already registered themselves to fight for freedom… They said: ‘We are staying. If not we, then who?’” she said.

The Winnipeg mother of young children noted that her immediate family, who came to Winnipeg six years ago in response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea, has been forced to postpone their spring plans to move home because of the latest events.

Chernysh showed up to a Sunday church service wearing a blue and yellow mask and two strings, each strand a different colour of her home country’s flag, tied onto her right arm.

“I just want people to know that I’m Ukrainian, and I’m for Ukraine, and Ukraine is a beautiful country,” she said, adding that despite being exhausted and afraid, she has faith in her country and her peoples’ resilience.

— with files from Katie May

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie