‘Defend Ukrainian Sky’ rally draws attention to war in Ukraine

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More than 150 demonstrators rallied along Memorial Drive and marched into downtown Calgary on Sunday afternoon, calling for continued support from Ukraine’s allies in the war against Russia.

According to a Ukrainian Canadian Congress media release, Russia has conducted nine mass rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities in the first three months of 2024.

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The goal of the rally was to ask for more modern air defence systems to be delivered to Ukraine. Organizers also hope for tighter control of components that Russia may use for producing drones and missiles, and increased international pressure in adhering to the Rome Statute.

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“Many countries, they promised a lot, but they didn’t fulfill those promises yet,” said organizer and Ukrainian Canadian Congress board member Anna Tselukhina.

“We call to (the) Canadian government to help with this situation, to motivate and encourage our allies to fulfill the promises they gave.”

Tselukhina said that as Ukrainians, even though they’re in a safe country like Canada, their hearts and minds are back home.

“I’m afraid to open Facebook and read news sometimes, because it’s just so difficult to see all that news of residential buildings being hit in the middle of the night,” she said.

Tselukhina believes it is important to continue doing rallies and keep people aware.

“I have a lot of friends back (home), and like every night they write on Facebook, ‘another night is spoiled, another night spent sheltering somewhere’.”

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A protester in attendance Sunday, Ivanka Volkova, said she grew up in Ukraine. Her children were born in Ukraine, but the family had spent the last four years in Israel where her husband worked.

Volkova said they had to leave their possessions behind in Israel because of the rockets overhead.

Speaking of the conflict in Ukraine, she said, “Our country is bleeding, and our best men are dying on the frontlines, some of our good friends died on the frontlines too.”

Volkova’s mother is still in Ukraine, along with her husband’s parents.

She said that rallies like the ones on Sunday are a little thing they can do because their people need the world’s help.

“Our people are giving lives not just for our country to stand, but for peace, freedom, and democracy to continue in the world.

“If Russia manages to crush us, as they did many times in the past, it’ll set a precedent in the world,” said Volkova.

Estimates are that more than half a million people have been killed or seriously injured since the war in Ukraine began more than two years ago.

The results of a Leger poll in February this year found that Canadians’ support for sending military aid to Ukraine was rising.

Twenty-five per cent of the 1,529 Canadian adults surveyed said Canada should increase the support it sends to Ukraine in the form of military supplies, up from 20 per cent in October 2023.

— With files from Postmedia and The Canadian Press

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