Hundreds gather at legislature for Ukraine

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This article was published 12/03/2022 (977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hundreds gathered outside of the Manitoba Legislative Building Sunday to rally support for Ukraine for the third week in a row, flags of blue and yellow hoisted along with protest placards.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the neighbouring nation nearly three weeks ago, leading to scores of causalities, including Ukrainian civilians. While many Ukrainians have stayed to defend their nation, millions have also fled as refugees, as the west supports the country with military and humanitarian aid.

The Sunday rally, organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress’s Manitoba chapter, again called for the federal government to provide Ukraine with more weapons, economic and humanitarian aid; for NATO to implement a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace; more economic sanctions against Russian oligarchs and businesses; and further support for refugees fleeing the now war-torn nation.

The rally also honoured Taras Shevchenko, a poet who called for Ukraine’s independence in his works and is considered a national hero. A wreath of blue and yellow flowers and wheat was laid in front of a monument to the 19th century activist on the west grounds of the Manitoba Legislative Building — he died March 10, 1861.

Iryna Konstantiuk, an University of Manitoba senior instructor of Ukrainian and Russian languages and Ukrainian culture, took to the podium to discuss Shevchenko’s 19th century poetry and the war now raging.

“This week Ukrainians all over the world honour Taras Shevchenko, the Ukrainian great poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, as well as folklorist and ethnographer,” she told the crowd.

“Over the centuries of Ukraine’s struggle for independence, Taras Shevchenko became a symbol of national pride, resistance and patriotism.”

Images of Shevchenko were prominent during the 2013-2014 Ukrainian revolution, which ousted a Russia-friendly president and precipitated the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014.

“Today the attention of the whole world is on Ukraine. Russia is committing genocide and war crimes — shelling, bombing and carrying out rocket strikes against civilians and Ukrainian cities,” she said.

Rally volunteer Mariana Sklepowich, a 38-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian who emigrated in 1993, said Shevchenko’s work is a point of national pride.

“(The rally was about) how his words resonate so much today, in addition to all the calls to action our community have been putting forward, it’s really poignant how 200 years later, the same sort of messages, the same words ring so true to us as a community, as a nation,” she said.

“Constantly fighting for their freedom, their rights and liberties… ‘Keep fighting, you will prevail,’” she said, quoting the poet.

Sklepowich said the weekend rallies have been a chance to grieve communally, as the war threatens her loved ones in the western city of Lviv near the border with Poland.

“It’s been very hard to focus on anything other than (the war),” she said.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera