Ukrainians seeking refuge in Calgary worry about support faltering on 2nd anniversary of invasion
Global News
Calgarians marked the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine on Saturday.
A rally was held in Calgary on Saturday to mark the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It was organized by the Calgary chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
Anna Tselukhina, who helped organize the rally, said it’s a way to remember those who have died and to remind the world that the war is still happening.
She also wants to raise awareness about all the problems Ukraine is facing now.
“Many Ukrainians who came to Calgary have relatives — their parents, especially elderly parents — who weren’t able to escape so quickly, or maybe because they’re older they don’t want to leave their place,” said Tselukhina, whose mother was killed in 2022 in the Luhansk region. “So many of them have the same situation: their parents died and people couldn’t go back to Ukraine for a funeral. So I’m not unique. It’s the reality of Ukrainians now.
“I live in a peaceful country now and I read about shelling in the news. But at the same time, this is what I’m thinking about often. Reading the news, knowing details about prisoners of war, about torture, about different war crimes committed in Ukraine. My heart is back in Ukraine.”
Nastasiia Shatna clearly remembers two years ago how she was woken by planes flying over her home and the sight of the Dnipro airport in flames.
“I woke up … I just saw airport already burned. The sounds of the plane — it was a bomb which flew so close by my house,” she recalled.