Submitted by Kootenay for Ukraine
More than 30 local people from Kootenay for Ukraine group, Ukrainians and supporters of Ukraine, gathered on Sunday near Castlegar City Hall in order to recognize the tragic one-year anniversary of the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The participants of the rally held Ukrainian flags and posters, including “The War is Not Over,” “365 Days of Resistance”, “We Stand With Ukraine”, “Stop the War in Ukraine Together”, and others in support of Ukraine.
The gathering started with the land acknowledgement. Then, participants remembered the victims of war, Ukrainian children, civilians and military who were killed by Russian aggressors, and respected them with the minute of silence.
Olga Hallborg offered the supporters of Ukraine a perspective on what changed since the start of the invasion.
“First, Ukrainians showed the whole world that they are brave and unstoppable in their fight for the freedom, independence, and justice. Over the year of the war, Ukrainian army demonstrated remarkable advances, such as destruction of the Russian flagman ship Moscow.
“The second change, the world, which was hesitant about providing support to Ukraine at start, demonstrated huge support to Ukraine since that time: military equipment, humanitarian aid. I am very proud of our local community, which continuously raised funds to be delivered to Ukraine through Maple Hope Foundation, Ukrainian Canadian non-profit organization based in B.C., and through other means.
“Third, since a year ago, there were more people killed by Russia in Ukraine. We did not just lose them, and they did not just lose their lives: They were deliberately killed by the aggressor.”
Kathy Sterling, who attended the rally, shared that Ukrainian military are in need of 300 pairs of hand-knitted shooter mitts. They are knitted on four needles, but Kathy can help those who only can knit on two needles to learn how to knit on four. Please call Kathy at 250-365-6847 if you are interested in helping the Ukrainian army in this project. The design can be found here www.p2designs.com.
On this cold day, Kootenay for Ukraine volunteers and supporters greatly appreciated coffee, hot chocolate, and Timbits provided by Castlegar’s Tim Hortons and cookies provided by McDonalds. Thanks to donations during the event, $150 was raised for Maple Hope Foundation (Please access 2022 annual of the organization here to learn about their essential work: https://www.maplehopefoundation.org/updates/2022-annual-report/).
