Windsor's Ukrainian community 'anxious' as tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalate

Mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine are leaving Windsor's Ukrainian community "anxious" and "upset," the president of the Windsor branch of the Canadian-Ukrainian Congress said.

"The local Ukranian-Canadian community is very much upset, probably confused as to why this situation has occurred at all," Lesia Nazarewich told CBC News on Tuesday. "Probably, at the same time, many of us may not be surprised by the extent of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's direction in going after Ukraine."

Concerns over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine have been growing in recent days. On Tuesday, both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United States President Joe Biden announced a wave of sanctions against Russia; the sanctions came after Britain and Germany announced measures of their own against Russia.

On Monday, Putin recognized — and began providing military support to — two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. The two regions — Donetsk and Luhansk — are collectively known as the Donbas, proclaimed themselves independent in 2014. That has led to armed conflict, and about 15,000 casualties.

Aurel Braun, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Putin has violated international law by recognizing and supporting the Donbas.

"It is basically seizing part of Ukraine and saying that these do not belong to Ukraine," Braun said. And in the address that Mr. Putin delivered [Monday], where he justified this recognition of a separatist region, he basically said that Ukraine is not a real country, it is an artificial construct, that ... being Ukraine is not a real nationality."

"So this is a frontal assault."

Braun said that after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was left with the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world. However, the country was persuaded to give it up in exchange for its territorial integrity, and sovereignty, he said.

"The countries that signed on to what was called the Budapest Memorandum were Russia, the United States and Britain," Braun said. "So here's Russia saying, 'well, in 1994, we recognized you as a country. In 1994, we recognized you sovereignty. And we convinced you to give up your nuclear weapons.'"

"'But now that you don't have those nuclear weapons, we are going to invade you.'"

Nazarewich said the developments have led to anxiety among members of Windsor's Ukrainian community, who are concerned for their friends and relatives in Ukraine, and worried about what may come next.

"After all, in 2014 [Putin] invaded Crimea, which was part of Ukrainian territory," she said.

Nazarewich said she's thankful for the aid Canada has provided to Ukraine so far.

"There are almost 1.5 million Canadians who also describe themselves as members of the Ukrainian Canadian community," she said. "Ukrainians have contributed very heavily to the development of this country. They helped open up the west, because they were agriculturalists and they knew how to farm, and they wanted to come to Canada for a better life and for an ability to own land, pass it on to their kids, and to farm."