Hundreds rally in downtown Vancouver in support of Ukraine

For the third consecutive weekend, hundreds of people gathered in downtown Vancouver to protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Sunday’s event at Jack Poole Plaza was attended by Mayor Kennedy Stewart, MLAs and the president of the Vancouver chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

“Every day, we wake up and we learn that the Ukrainian army has been defending their positions bravely on all front lines,” Irina Shyroka told the crowd as she detailed the Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s attack.

Many in the crowd spoke of difficult conversations with friends and relatives trapped in cities amid a relentless Russian bombing campaign that frequently targets residential neighbourhoods.

“I have friends who I talk to constantly who are waking up at 5 a.m. because of the bomb sirens,” said Oleh Feday, a Canadian born in Ukraine.

“They say it’s quite frightening to wake up and not know if your building will be whole after the day.”

Feday was selling t-shirts with Cyrillic letters spelling out a battle cry made famous by a Ukrainian soldier on tiny Snake Island in the Black Sea.

As a Russian warship approached, an officer took to the radio and spoke directly to the 13 Ukrainian soldiers on the island.

"This is a military warship. This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed,” the Russian officer said.

The Ukrainian soldier on the other end of the radio had a terse reply.

"Russian warship, go f*** yourself,” he said, which is the phrase on Feday’s t-shirts.

All 13 Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner by the Russians.

“I already donated all the cash I had,” Feday said. “So this is just a way for me to raise more money. This money is going to The Maple Hope Foundation.”

Other members of the foundation sold lapel ribbons in a bid to raise funds for those fleeing the violence – and those staying to fight.

“We’re raising money right now for medical aid. It’s coming in via Romania,” said Olivia Chorny, a nurse who makes the ribbons before going to sleep after working the night shift.

“We’re raising money for bulletproof vests because a lot of the civilians are fighting with just the clothes on their backs. And we’re also raising money for the women and children that have fled to the borders.”

While many of the people who attended the rally have a direct connection to Ukraine, others don’t and said they were there in solidarity because they are horrified by what they are seeing.

“It’s criminal. It’s criminal. I’m ex-military,” rally attendee Geoff Bruce said of the Russian military’s attacks on residential neighbourhoods.

“I can’t believe that they would target people like this and target civilians like this.”

Ukrainian Canadians in attendance said the outpouring of support from people across the country and around the globe is important to them.

“It’s always really felt like no one really cares about Ukraine, so this support honestly means the world to us,” said Chorny. 

Get in touch

Are you in Ukraine? Do you have family in Ukraine? Are you or your family affected? Send us an email.