Saskatoon Ukrainian community held rally in support of country

Several dozen people were at Saskatoon City Hall in the bitter cold early Wednesday evening to show their support for Ukraine.

The rally, held by the Saskatoon Chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, was made up of families, religious figures and even politicians. It occurred before Russia invaded Ukraine later Wednesday night.

Irina Matsuik, a volunteer with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), said the congress felt it needed to hold the rally to draw more attention to what’s happening.

Some of the news local families are getting from their loved ones in Ukraine is deeply concerning.

“This is the second rally we are holding in Saskatoon,” Matsuik said. “Hopefully it’s the last one for this purpose, but based on what we see in the news right now, we’ll probably have to do more.”

By more, Matsuik referenced sending money to loved ones in Ukraine, raising awareness in Canada, and speaking out about the Russian invasion.

She said the UCC is grateful so many countries are supporting Ukraine, but it’s not enough. So far, the sanctions haven’t deterred Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The aggression that is coming from Russia, President Putin seems to not care about anything or anyone and I’m personally skeptical (and) a lot of members of our community are skeptical that this would work,” Matsuik said.

“We know that there are more sanctions, more stiff sanctions and we hope to see that soon.”

Sergii Kaluton, whose family came to Canada from Ukraine 10 years ago, said he’s deeply worried about his family back home.

“We live on (the) west side, Ternopil, and the war is on the east side,” he said before Wednesday night’s invasion. “But this is still our country and if we don’t say anything, this will come to our house. We worry about all the families. All Ukraine is our family.”

Matsuik echoed that sentiment, adding many Saskatonians have immediate family in Ukraine.

“For us to wake up every morning in fear, trying to check the news to see whether there’s any escalation while we were asleep, that is terrifying,” she said.